Sparking Local Giving: Lessons & Impact of Magnify Community

Emily Dickinson wrote that the capacity to terminate is a specific grace. Sometimes a nonprofit actually does close its doors – and can do so gracefully. Such is the case with Magnify Community, a three-year venture designed to spark local giving in Silicon Valley that was co-founded by Pacific Foundation Services’ clients Sand Hill Foundation and Sunlight Giving, amongst other local family foundations. 

This innovation lab established local giving incentives based on nonprofit knowledge sharing, peer-to-peer donor learning, and movement building that will now carry on in new homes:

• Donors interested in learning more about how to pursue local giving can participate in the Silicon Valley Action Lab at The Philanthropy Workshop.
• Magnify’s timely and comprehensive issue briefs on Educational Equity and Housing Justice are available through Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
• An encyclopedic toolkit of learning resources for donorsinterested in deepening their philanthropic journey was created and offered free, as a parting gift.
• And for the dedicated philanthropoids amongst us, the Magnify Community staff shared compelling reflections on what they learned which reside on their time-limited website.

Magnify Community was able to catalyze an additional $35 million to local community-based organizations in Silicon Valley during their short tenure. The local giving movement is yours. Where will you take it?