Look to local community foundations for humanitarian support
Like everyone, we at Los Altos Community Foundation are watching the images from the California Wildfires, Hurricane Ida, and Afghanistan. We are tracking these humanitarian situations and will update this page as more information arrives. As you look to donate to local relief efforts in California and Louisiana, we encourage you to connect with...
LACF… where community comes together
As I reflect on the last 12 months, I see a year of many changes and challenges coupled with significant accomplishments and activities. No one would have imagined how the pandemic and economic recession would affect our local communities, the Foundation, or our work. I believe we matured as an engaged local funder and will continue to grow in the coming year - and beyond.
Guiding us has been our philosophy and theme for the last year: LACF… where community comes together! We’ve taken these words to heart. We continued to deepen and strengthen our relationship with local communities and expand our relationships with donors and community members to assist them in their philanthropic journeys. Collaboration has been key as we sought new ways to build stronger and more meaningful relationships with our local and regional grantees, civic and elected leaders, and other organizations with whom we share priorities and values. These collaborations continue to inspire us, and we are humbled by the positive feedback we’ve received on our efforts thus far.
Why We Should Care About a K-Shaped Recovery
Since the pandemic began, there's been lots of speculation about how our economy - and communities - will emerge from it. Economists describe the various 'recovery curves' that have existed for some time. As we move from pandemic relief efforts to rebuilding, a new curve has entered into this economic lexicon that we should pay attention to -
the K-Shaped recovery curve.
Why Fiscal Sponsorships Matter
When I began my relationship with LACF as a board member, I was excited by the Foundation’s willingness to support emerging nonprofits through fiscal sponsorships. Fiscal sponsorships – where a supporting organization like LACF will accept donations on behalf of a project or entity that does not qualify for tax-exemption on its own – are not uncommon. Some community foundations will offer it as part of their services – but not many. LACF’s fiscal sponsorship approach has focused on filling service gaps in the local nonprofit environment, emphasizing providing administrative and back-end support. As we begin 2021, our relationships with our fiscally sponsored projects will shift to include organizational effectiveness support to our community leaders building new projects.
