MULTIPLY THE IMPACT: HOW CHALLENGE GRANTS HELPED HAITI
Chile Update
We are also closely monitoring the situation in Chile after a 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck early Saturday morning. You can log-in to give directly to relief organizations recommended by the community foundation’s grantmaking staff listed under Community Connections.
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Imagine giving $1 to a cause, but wishing you could do even more. Spreading the word to others who share your passion is one way to make a difference. You might even tell other donors that if they give a dollar you’ll match it with another dollar, thereby doubling the value of their gift. Now multiply that effect by a hundred or a thousand and you have something exciting that can truly scale.
Matching or challenge grants clearly attract more gifts and multiply the impact of one person’s generosity. But they do even more: they create a sense of shared action, common purpose and cohesiveness. Matching grants have recently provided a powerful way of connecting Silicon Valley Community Foundation donors and our global networks to Haiti.
In response to the devastating earthquake in Haiti on Jan. 12, donors quickly rallied around the idea of a matching challenge. On the day after the tragedy, Irene Scully, a community foundation donor advisor with a long-time interest in Haiti, stepped forward and offered to match up to $50,000 in contributions to the community foundation’s Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund. Gifts flooded in from places as far away as China and South America. The Scully match was met within 24 hours.
The next day, the dire situation depicted in media reports prompted donor advisor Lieve Roelandt to offer another significant matching grant of $50,000. That match, too, was met within hours.
Did you know?
Challenge grants can work for all sorts of causes, not just disaster response.
Whether you’re trying to raise funds for your favorite animal shelter, a community health clinic or your favorite public radio station, consider the leverage you can have by providing a challenge grant. The nonprofits you support will be proud to showcase the generosity of their committed donors and your gift will inspire others to join you on behalf of the cause you care about. If you have an idea for a matching challenge, please feel free to contact your philanthropy manager.
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Additional donors, some wishing to remain anonymous, offered challenge grants to leverage their resources for the benefit of the victims of the quake. As a result, the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund is matching up to $230,330 in gifts.
Janet Baumgartner explained why she decided to make a matching grant to the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund, “The idea of increasing the funds available appealed to me. I trusted the community foundation would really know how to parcel out the money over time so that it would have the most impact and go to the organizations that will best be able to deliver the needed services.”
Corporations such National Semiconductor, NetApp and Synopsys have also played an important role, mobilizing action and encouraging their employees to give to the community foundation’s fund. Atelier Avocado, a Menlo Park boutique that maintains a corporate advised fund at the community foundation, also contributed directly to the effort. Local middle school students from St. Lawrence Academy in Santa Clara encouraged donations of $5 each and pooled the gifts together for a donation of more than $1,500 to the community foundation’s Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund.
From Belgium to Baton Rouge, from Mountain View to Peru, more than 500 individuals and corporations responded to this unique crisis, totaling $554,513 in donations so far. Donors gave an additional $885,150 directly to nonprofit organizations through our online Community Connections program, featuring recommendations by our grantmaking staff. Together with the amount raised for the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund, more than $1.4 million in relief will be directed to Haiti through Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
Six nonprofit organizations were awarded $450,000 in immediate grants for their relief work (for details, read the press release). In addition, the community foundation intends to award additional grants from the fund to assist with long-term rebuilding efforts.
The need, of course, is immense, and continued support is essential. You can still give to Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund. Or log-in to give directly to relief organizations recommended by the community foundation’s grantmaking staff listed under Community Connections. Your donation will provide much needed support as Haitians work in the weeks and months to come to rebuild their lives and reconstruct their nation better and stronger than before.
