Target Your Gift by Selecting Your Excellence Grants Fund
The Community Foundation of Lafayette is excited to introduce both our New Donation Opportunity as well as New Excellence Grants Funds. The Community Foundation is grateful for every donation we receive and takes great care when disseminating your donations to community nonprofits through our Excellence Grants program.
How We Accomplish This
Our Grants Committee is extremely dedicated to evaluating every grant application we receive and thoroughly researches each nonprofit that submits a request. Many hours are spent not only reviewing a grant request but understanding how an organization intends to use the grant money to make a positive impact on the community. Through our Excellence Grants program, you can be certain that your donation will be directed to nonprofits that we have identified as valued, worthy and respected.
Target Your Gifts
If you donate $500 or more, you may direct 50% of your donation to one of our new Excellence Grants funds (detailed below) while the remaining 50% of your donation will go into the general fund, Friends of the Foundation. This unrestricted fund allows the Community Foundation to use donations to carry out our mission. We do this by among other things, awarding discretionary grants to a wide variety of local nonprofits, helping these organizations achieve their mission of serving the community. Additionally these funds allow the Community Foundation to support projects including the Lafayette Library and Learning Center, The Stage at the Lafayette Reservoir, Lamorinda Village and the Park Theater.
Each donation below $500, will be directed to the Friends of the Foundation Fund.
New Excellence Grants Funds
The Community Foundation has reevaluated our Excellence Grants categories and created new funds. Our major donors now have the opportunity to direct their donation to causes they care about to fulfill their charitable intent. This fresh approach allows us to better serve the needs of our community.
The new grant funds are:
- Human Services––helps individuals and families meet basic needs for food, shelter, clothing, and safety
- Seniors –-contributes to senior needs including socializing, transportation and self-reliance and personal care
- Youth Development and Education–-promotes positive youth development and academic achievement for student success
- Arts and Culture–-supports visual, performing, symphonic, dance, poetry, and arts education
- Friends of the Foundation—allows the Community Foundation to use donations at its discretion, including, but not limited to awarding discretionary grants to local nonprofits serving the needs of our community