East Bay Participating in Online Fundraisers

Bay Area community foundations are participating in a nationwide online fundraiser Tuesday to distribute funding to hundreds of local nonprofits and celebrate the 100th anniversary of community foundations.

The first community foundation was founded in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1914 to provide a network of grant funding for local causes. Since then, more than 1,600 community foundations have sprung up around the world.

The Silicon Valley Community Foundation is one of three local community foundations participating alongside the nationwide Give Local America fundraiser. As of about 1 p.m., the foundation had raised nearly $4 million for about 700 participating nonprofits. The participating organizations include food banks, animal shelters, breast cancer research, theater groups, and other nonprofit groups throughout Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.

The Silicon Valley Community Foundation is taking the online efforts a step further with outreach events throughout the day today including at Microsoft and Whole Foods stores and other locations, organizers said. Volunteers at those locations will have Microsoft Surface tablets available so people can make online donations on the spot, Silicon Valley Community Foundation spokeswoman Sue McAllister said. "It's really gratifying to see people getting so involved and excited about supporting local nonprofits in Silicon Valley," McAllister said.

The community foundation is also offering prizes to top fundraisers once an hour.

East Bay Participation
Meanwhile, two community foundations based in the East Bay have raised more than $100,000 for organizations in Alameda, Contra Costa counties and beyond.

The East Bay Community Foundation is helping raise money for 140 nonprofit organizations here, as well as organizations based in other cities like San Francisco and Fresno, spokeswoman Jeri Boomgaarden said Tuesday.

She said that the fundraiser had exceeded expectations so far and as of about 1 p.m. had raised nearly $90,000, with donations expected to pick up in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, the Richmond Community Foundation had a separate fundraiser focusing solely on the Richmond and Contra Costa County areas and had raised more than $34,000 as of about 1 p.m.

"One of the most successful things about this campaign so far has been the utilization of social media," Boomgaarden said.

She said that the visibility of the individual nonprofits as well as the community foundation itself has "grown by leaps and bounds."

"It's really pretty amazing," she said. Donations may be made by clicking the above links.

--By Bay City News