Napa Valley Community Foundation Celebrates 30 Years of Philanthropy

On a fall evening in 1994, about 70 people gathered in a conference room at ZD Wines on Silverado Trail, taking in sweeping views of the vineyards and discussing the future of philanthropy in Napa Valley.

The focus was on community foundations, which were growing in popularity throughout the country at the time, including in Sonoma County, as an effective, low-cost model for channeling donations to local charities.

Prominent Silicon Valley philanthropist Bill Somerville, the keynote speaker, extolled the virtues of community foundations, as did Napa business attorney Nicky Suard, the meeting’s organizer.

Thirty years later Napa Valley Community Foundationn achieved success on a scale that no one present at the Silverado Trail Winery meeting could have ever dreamed of.

The foundation currently employs 12 people and administrative expenses account for 3.75% of the total budget. This fiscal year, revenue was $11.4 million.

Since 1994, the Napa-based nonprofit agency has distributed more than $106 million to dozens of nonprofit organizations in the Napa Valley and currently has $83 million in assets under its control.

In recent years, the agency has distributed $6 million to $11 million annually in grants and scholarships, in addition to an operating budget of $1.5 million to $2.3 million, foundation officials said.

The agency’s mission has expanded over time to include relief and recovery efforts during wildfires and other natural disasters, helping legal immigrants achieve citizenship and coordinating with Sonoma County officials to launch a supportive housing program to address the affordable housing crisis.

However, the primary purpose of the Napa Valley Community Foundation remains the same as always: directing donations to charitable causes.

Among the many non-profit organizations that rely on the agency’s assistance are: Napa Court Appoints Special Counsel program, or CASA, which assists children who become court dependents to ensure their safety and protection.

Napa CASA’s three-person staff handles about 100 cases a year, and most of their clients — ranging from newborns to 21 years old — live in foster care.

Julie DiVerde, who has led Napa CASA for 17 years, said the agency receives between $10,000 and $20,000 a year from the community foundation through donor contributions.

“It would have been very, very difficult without it,” she said.

DiVerde said support is about more than just money.

“It comes from the community, from the people who believe in us,” she said of the foundation’s generosity. “It’s powerful. It has value when it’s hard work, kind of depressing work.”

Fueled by donations

Community foundations are public charities that benefit people in specific geographic areas. There are more than 900 such organizations in urban and rural communities across the country, according to the Foundation Council.

Agencies typically direct money to charities in one of two ways: through donor-advised funds, which are charitable investment accounts for the sole purpose of supporting specific nonprofits, and through discretionary grant portfolios, to which fund board members direct contributions.

Community foundations also bring together parties interested in philanthropy.

“This is really about mobilizing resources and solving problems at the local level,” said Terence Mulligan, who has led the Napa Valley Community Foundation since 2004. “We use the money to try to improve the quality of life for everyone in the valley. The money we have also gives us the ability to buy in the world and some influence. That’s why people answer my phone calls.”

Over the past seven years, the foundation has achieved significant growth, primarily through donations during natural disasters and from legacy donors, including through estate plans.

Since 2016, annual donations managed by the foundation have ranged from $3.6 million to $28.7 million.

Major donors since 1994 include the estate of Jane Mead, the poet and novelist who died in Napa in 2019; the estate of David and Jane Gotelli, longtime Napa residents; over 25,000 non-recurring donors to fight the 2017 bushfires, and Napa Valley Winemakerswhich contributed $10 million to create the Disaster Relief Fund in response to the 2014 South Napa earthquake.

The Napa Valley Community Foundation’s largest grants went to disaster response and recovery, legal services for immigrants, housing and workforce education, including scholarships.

The agency’s largest grants include $5 million for Brannan Center in Calistoga and $200,000. Monarch Justice Center.