Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF)

SVCF has been criticized as being a “Black Hole” for charitable donations due to IRS rules and SVCF practices which have allegedly allowed money to be held in DAF accounts for years with no required minimum payouts to charitable organizations (as are required of private foundations). This allows donors to receive large tax breaks immediately, before the donations benefit charitable causes. ⁵

In 2018, SVCF fundraiser Mari Ellen Loijens resigned amidst allegations of abusive management and sexual harassment. An independent investigation by the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner found that several of the allegations “were substantiated,” leading to the ouster of former CEO Emmet Carson following an independent investigation.  ^{6 7 8}

Since assuming her role as president and CEO in 2018, SVCF’s Nicole Taylor alleged that she was shifting the organization’s strategic plan to “support historically marginalized communities and advance gender, racial and economic justice” in Silicon Valley. ⁹

Background

The Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF) was established in 2007 through a merger of two smaller charities, beginning with $1.7 billion in assets. ¹⁰ Since 2007, SVCF has become widely known for its aggressive growth mindset. ¹¹ Until 2017, SVCF experienced relatively moderate growth, expanding from $1.7 billion in assets in 2007 to $5.3 billion in 2017. ¹² In that year alone, assets surged to $13.5 billion, surpassing the Ford Foundation. ¹² As of May 2019, SVCF was the ninth-largest charity and fifth-biggest donor-advised fund in the United States. ¹³ According to one ranking, in 2025 Silicon Valley Community Foundation was the second-largest foundation in terms of giving. As of 2025, it was the largest community foundation in the United States. ^{1 2}

In addition to managing DAFs, SVCF conducts investment research, hosts public discussions, pushes for left-of-center policy outcomes, and generates special projects and initiatives within the Silicon Valley community. ¹⁴

SVCF has drawn considerable criticism for taking in funds without distributing them for charitable purposes. ¹⁵ In 2017, SVCF assets grew by 64 percent, but charitable giving in the Bay Area by SVCF dropped by 46 percent, leading one nonprofit consultant to call the foundation the “Black Hole” of charity. ¹⁵ SVCF charges fees to hold donor funds in accounts with no minimum payout requirements, meaning that donors receive large, immediate tax breaks for supplying funding that can sit in a DAF indefinitely without actually being disbursed to charity as. ¹⁵

Grantmaking Activity

Grants from SVCF fund a variety of political and charitable causes. In addition to running donor-advised funds, SVCF runs several projects to which donors may give directly. ¹⁶ These include funds for the arts, emergency relief, environmentalism, housing, and the development of African countries. ¹⁶  SVCF also runs projects for left-of-center immigration assistance, for the Silicon Valley community, and regional development. ¹⁶

In 2017, SVCF, whether through its own charitable programs or in accordance with donor-advised fund-holders’ advice, disbursed a total of $1.8 billion in grants, a mere 16 percent of its total assets. ¹⁷

In 2023, SVCF reported disbursing $5 billion in grants, a little under half of the total assets with which it began the year. ¹⁸

Grantmaking to Other Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs)

In 2017, SVCF gave $725.5 million in grants to other grantmaking institutions, roughly 40 percent of all grants distributed in that year. ^{19 19} The largest single donation SVCF made in 2017 was to Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, another network of DAFs, in the amount of $553,432,667. ²⁰ SVCF distributed another $100,000,000 to Jasper Ridge Charitable Fund. ¹⁹ Other established DAF organizations, including Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, and the National Philanthropic Trust also received funding between $6 and $10 million from SVCF. ¹⁹ Some have criticized the practice of moving money around between donor-advised funds as an attempt for the very rich to use DAFs in order to avoid taxes, rather than to make charitable contributions. ²¹

SVCF also provided grant funding to prominent, controversial fiscal sponsorship organizations for the political left, including the Hopewell Fund ($270,000), NEO Philanthropy ($1,628,311), and the Tides Center and Tides Foundation (combined $37,267,150). ¹⁹

Education

In 2017, SVCF provided substantial grants for education, totaling hundreds of millions of dollars to public school districts, universities, and education advocacy organizations. SVCF provided grants to 91 universities in 2017 alone, including gifts in the tens of millions to Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, and Princeton University. ¹⁹ SVCF provided some of its largest single grants in 2017 to education-focused organizations, including a $13.9 million grant to the College Entrance Examination Board and an $8.2 million grant to College Track, a program that allows underprivileged students to complete college and receive a diploma. ¹⁹ SVCF also provided $12 million to Education Super Highway, an organization working to provide high speed internet in schools. ¹⁹

SVCF gave significant funding to organizations that advocate for the expansion of charter schools, providing $9.1 million to Charter Fund Inc, a venture capital organization which funds growth in charter schools. ¹⁹ SVCF also provided funding for Pacific Charter School Development ($4,000,000) and Success Academy Charter Schools ($2,000,625). ¹⁹

Criminal Justice and Immigration

The SVCF made substantial grants to left-of-center criminal justice organizations in 2017. The SVCF gave its largest criminal justice-related grant to the Forward US (stylized FWD.us) Education Fund, a left-leaning immigration and criminal justice policy organization, in the amount of $11.8 million. ¹⁹ SVCF provided its second-largest criminal justice reform grant to the Measures for Justice Initiative in the amount of $7.9 million. ¹⁹ Measures for Justice is an organization which compiles criminal justice data provides a database for citizens to serve as watchdogs over local enforcement. ²² SVCF also gave $5.8 million to the left-of-center American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Foundation of Northern California. ¹⁹

The SVCF has given several grants specifically focused on anti-prison advocacy, including $1.6 million to the Families Against Mandatory Minimums Foundation and $1.8 million to the Civil Rights Corps. ¹⁹ In 2017, SVCF additionally funded the left-of-center Drug Policy Alliance with a $1.4 million grant. ¹⁹ Outside of funding specific policy initiatives, SVCF provided grant funding to a number of left-of-center criminal justice think tanks in 2017. These include the Brennan Center for Justice ($225,000), the Vera Institute of Justice ($875,000), and the controversial Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) ($712,603). ¹⁹

In 2017, SVCF also offered several grants to left-of-center immigration organizations, specifically those focused on legal advocacy for illegal immigrants. These include grants made to the American Immigration Council ($1.5 million), the Immigrant Legal Resource Center ($1.7 million), and the National Immigration Law Center ($524,825). ¹⁹

In 2023, SVCF gave $125,000 to A New Way of Life Reentry Project, a nonprofit dedicated to helping former felons. ²³

Environmentalism

In 2017, SVCF made increased grants to environmentalist organizations, including providing $2.2 million to the left-of-center Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). ¹⁹ SVCF gave further grant funding to other left-of-center environmentalist groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council ($164,615), the Sierra Club Foundation ($1.1 million), the Greenpeace Fund ($13,250), and the Conservation International Foundation ($1 million). ¹⁹

Alongside environmentalist organizations, the SVCF offered substantial grants to left-of-center animal advocacy and animal liberation organizations. SVCF disbursed the largest of these grants to the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) in the amount of $681,500. ¹⁹ The ALDF is best known for its national fight to give animals legal standing in courts of law. ²⁴ SVCF also provided grants to Animal Equality ($292,000) and the Wildlife Conservation Network ($564,100). ¹⁹

In a 2025 interview with Inside Philanthropy, SVCF president and CEO Nicole Taylor said climate action remained a “top priority” among the organization’s donors. ²

SVCF was reported as being among the top 30 funders of members of Louisianans Against False Solutions (LAFS), a coalition of weather-dependent energy advocacy groups. SVCF gave $1,338,350 to LAFS groups between 2020 and 2025. ²⁵

Abortion

SVCF provided numerous grants to organizations supporting the expansion of access to abortion across the United States. In 2017 alone, SVCF provided over $2.5 million in funding to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and affiliated local Planned Parenthood organizations. ¹⁹ SVCF also provided grants to organizations advocating for the legal expansion of abortion services, including $89,450 to the NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation and $1.3 million to the Center for Reproductive Rights. ¹⁹ SVCF also supported the National Network of Abortion Funds, an organization which directly funds abortions for individual women who cannot afford them, with a grant of over $1 million. ¹⁹

After the Supreme Court released its landmark decision Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health, which ended the recognition of a constitutional right to an abortion, the SVCF vowed to continue to protect abortion rights. Nicole Taylor, the president and CEO of SVCF, said “Today’s Supreme Court decision effectively overturns 50 years of a woman’s constitutional right to reproductive healthcare — a right that has enabled women to more equally participate in society and has had many benefits for women and their families. Now, that right will be out of reach for millions of Americans.”²⁶She went on to say that “we will continue to invest in organizations that reduce systemic disparities in order to create a more equitable future where women’s rights and dignity are prioritized and respected.”²⁷

Race

The Silicon Valley Community Foundation was one of the original donors to fund the creation of the California Black Freedom Fund (CBFF) at the end of 2020. The CBFF is a left-of-center grantmaking organization that funds California-based groups that seek to eliminate what it perceives as systemic racism. It used funding from the original donors to provide grants that went towards advocacy for targeted redistricting, so-called racial equity, and the firing of who it determines are racist police officers. ²⁸

Since assuming her role as president and CEO in 2018, SVCF’s Nicole Taylor shifted the organization’s strategic plan to “support historically marginalized communities and advance gender, racial and economic justice” in Silicon Valley. ⁹

In 2020, as a response to the death of George Floyd, SVCF had launched the California Black Freedom Fund with a $100 million initial endowment to finance “grassroots Black-led organizations.” As of 2025, its endowment had swelled to $200 million. In July of 2025, the Fund was spun off to become an independent organization and was renamed “the Black Freedom Fund.” From 2020 to 2025, the Fund reportedly received over $97 million in donations, and as of 2025 had re-distributed $45 million to 206 nonprofit organizations “that serve Black people” in California. Under the leadership of executive director Marc Philpart, the Fund began the Legal Education, Advocacy, and Defense for Racial Justice Initiative to provide pro bono legal consulting and training to nonprofit organizations. In a 2025 interview with the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Philpart was highly critical of the second Trump administration’s opposition to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs and policies. ^{29 30}

Left-of-Center Think-Tanks and Media

SVCF supports various left-of-center governance think-tanks and media organizations with grant funding. In 2017, SVCF gave $662,000 to Common Sense Media and $22,000 to Democracy Now Productions. ¹⁹ SVCF also gave $727,461 to the left-of-center Center for American Progress, a group advocating for liberal social and economic policies. ^{19 31} In 2017, SVCF gave a $1.3 million grant to the Center for Popular Democracy, a left-of-center voter mobilization and policy initiative. ^{19 32}

In 2023, SVCF gave $1.76 million to 19th News, a left-of-center media organization that runs “The Amendment” by Errin Haines, a newsletter that involves “incisive analysis on gender, race and power.” ^{23 33}

Bay Area Nonprofits

Under CEO Nicole Taylor, who began her tenure in 2018, SVCF significantly increased its grantmaking towards local Bay Area groups. In 2025, SVCF gave out a total of $2.4 million to nearly 100 Bay Area nonprofits that are working with communities that they claim have been historically discriminated against. Taylor claimed that developments and funding cuts within the second Trump Administration will “be devasting,” highlighting that their support for local nonprofit groups is in an attempt to bolster support that may have been lost following Trump administration policy ³⁴

In 2025, SVCF announced the creation of its Community Lifeline Fund, a “rapid response” initiative for local, Bay Area organizations involved in housing, healthcare, legal service, and food security. The Fund is reportedly dedicated to “thousands of residents” in the San Mateo and Santa Clara counties “who rely on federally funded programs for basic needs.” ³⁵

As of 2025, under Nicole Taylor’s tenure as president and CEO since 2018, SVCF had awarded $2.4 million to 96 local Bay Area nonprofits “working with communities that have historically faced discrimination and lack of access to resources.” ²

Housing

Silicon Valley Community Foundation invests in various affordable-housing groups and initiatives. As of 2025, SVCF said its “recent grantmaking” had “focused on supporting grassroots community organizing efforts led by neighbors and/or equity-focused coalitions that work to advance affordable housing solutions.” It stated that all proposals should aim to support the “3Ps of housing,” which are “production, preservation, and tenant protection.” ³⁶

In 2025, SVCF through its Capacity-Building and Leadership Investment (CBLI) program held a retreat in Scotts Valley for 150 leaders from Bay Area nonprofit and public agencies to help them address the shared goal of solving what they had identified as a housing crisis in the region. The cohort discussed building “grassroots networks and mobilizing people to shift inequitable policies.” One attendee shared how “organizations serving immigrant communities are facing such difficult times” and said SVCF’s commitment to “building safer and more welcoming spaces felt both timely and necessary.” ³⁷

In 2025, SVCF reportedly donated a total of $970,000 to “affordable housing” initiatives. ³⁸

In October 2025, SVCF announced it had created a $200 million fund known as the Building Impact Initiative to foster affordable housing construction projects in the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento over 10 years. At launch, it had a set goal of constructing and preserving 7,400 “affordable homes” by working in conjunction with the Silicon Valley Housing Trust. Officials said the Fund will quickly disburse needed funds without the need for building authorities to compete for grants. It was projected to secure $5.7 million in “annual rent savings for low-income households,” and sought to “reduce reliance on cars by supporting housing near jobs and transit.” SVCF reportedly solicited $40 million in funding from Apple, Wells Fargo, the Packard Foundation, Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, Grove Foundation, and San Francisco Foundation. ^{39 40}

LatinXCEL Fund

Silicon Valley Community Foundation created the LatinXCEL Fund in partnership with the Castellano Family Foundation to fundraise for “Latinx-allied nonprofits” in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area. The LatinXCEL Fund claims that “Latinx communities experience wide disparities in income, education, health and housing” and aims to address these disparities through donations and research. ⁴¹

In fiscal year 2023, the Castellano Family Foundation reported an “asset transfer” of $1.3 million to SVCF on its tax return. ⁴²

Equity Forward

Silicon Valley Community Foundation administers and operates Equity Forward, a fund that aims “to address systemic barriers” in Silicon Valley inspired by the critical race theory-derived concept of “inequity.” Equity Forward claims to combine the efforts of “nonprofit, higher education, government,” and for-profit sectors to address the “massive economic gap that exists and has only widened after the COVID pandemic” in Silicon Valley. Major partners of the initiative include Faith in Action Bay Area, Sacred Heart Community Service, San Jose City College, and Santa Clara University. Its advisory committee is made up of leaders from these groups, as well as SVCF president and CEO Nicole Taylor and Maria Noel Fernandez of Working Partnerships USA, among others. ⁴³

In the 2023 to 2024 period, SVCF’s Equity Forward provided grants to the 12 private colleges and universities in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties that are members of the Equity Forward Anchor Network (EFAN). EFAN is a partnership with Stanford Impact Labs that encourages educational institutions to promote “equity and diversity.” With the funds, Gavilan College “increased its faculty diversity by 17 percent” and San Joke City College gave “rental assistance” to students. ⁴⁴

In 2024, SVCF’s Equity Forward granted San Mateo County $490,000 to “implement a framework that supports community- and data-driven decision making that addresses inequity.” The David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Grove Foundation contributed funds to support the grant. That spring, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors approved an ordinance which “creat[ed] conditions” for residents to “fully participate in economic and social opportunities” in the county. ⁴⁵

In 2025, SVCF’s Equity Forward reported that it provided grant support to the City of San Jose to investigate how the city might “remove barriers that often prevent residents from actively participating” in the political and civic process. The study concluded the City must “allocat[e] dedicated time and budget for community engagement,” invest “in translation services to engage non-English speaking residents,” and provide “services—such as childcare and food—that reduce barriers to residents’ participation.” A community leader with the nonprofit SOMOS Mayfair established an alliance with the City of San Jose to inform residents on governmental resources and support. ⁴⁶

In 2025, SVCF reportedly donated a total of $410,000 toward “advancing financial stability” for people in the Bay Area. ⁴⁷

In a 2025 interview with Inside Philanthropy, SVCF president and CEO Nicole Taylor said her goal was to make Silicon Valley, which she characterized as “one of the most inequitable regions in this country, if not in this world,” “more equitable for everyone who lives here.” She added emphatically: “we are actively working to make this region more equitable.” ²

LGBT Advocacy

In 2023, Silicon Valley Community Foundation disbursed $1 million to Born This Way Foundation for “Youth Development.” Born This Way is a mental health foundation that runs an “LGBT National Youth Talkline” and a “Trans Lifeline.” ^{23 48}

Voter Mobilization

The Voter Registration Project (VRP), also known as Everybody Votes, is a voter mobilization group that hosts voter registration drives targeted at demographic groups it has identified a Democratic voting blocs. Its founding goal, according to a confidential summary memo from 2015, was to “re-shape the electorate” by registering 6.3 million “African Americans, Latinos, unmarried women, and young people.” It is run by individuals with long-standing connections to left-of-center nonprofits, including the AFL-CIO labor union federation, George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, and the State Voices network of liberal state-level advocacy groups. ^{49 50}

In 2018, Mind the Gap sent a memo to Silicon Valley donors about the “Everybody Votes” campaign and its goal of electing Democratic politicians. Mind the Gap is a super PAC co-founded by Paul Brest and Barbara Fried, mother of the disgraced and convicted crypto investor Sam Bankman-Fried. The memo specifically recommended that the donors contribute to the tax-deductible Voter Registration Project, and asked them to keep its name a secret. ^{51 52}

In 2019, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation donated $2.48 million to the Voter Registration Project and $150,000 to the Voter Registration Project Education Fund. That year, it also gave money to similar voter mobilization groups, including $103,000 to League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, $75,000 to League of Women Voters of California Education Fund, and $3.65 million to the Voter Participation Center. ⁵³

In 2020, Silicon Valley Community Foundation donated $4.34 million to the Voter Registration Project and $50,000 to the Voter Registration Project Education Fund. It also gave money to similar groups, including $3.24 million to the Voter Participation Center, $175,000 to the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, and $75,000 to the League of Women Voters of California Education Fund. ⁵⁴

In 2021, SVCF gave $1.354 million to the Voter Participation Center. ⁵⁵

In 2022, SVCF gave $2.55 million to the Voter Registration Project, $103,500 to the California League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, $2.93 million to the Voter Participation Center, and $600,000 to the Voter Formation Project. ⁵⁶

In 2023, SVCF gave $8.55 million to the Voter Registration Project, $250,000 to the Voter Formation Project, $100,000 to the Georgia Muslim Voter Project, and $1.15 million to the Voter Participation Center. ²³

Funds Based at SVCF

Silicon Valley Community Foundation is a donor-advised fund (DAF) provider, meaning it sponsors a number of donor-advised funds controlled by outside donors to the organization. SVCF invites people to open DAFs under its guidance, telling interested parties to call or email the SVCF team to “put your vision into action.” It has a print-out brochure explaining how DAFs work and explains that it is willing to partner with a donor’s advisory team in establishing a fund. It advertises the ability for DAF giving to be either selectively or completely anonymous, promotes their tax advantages, and touts them as well-suited for “special customization” and for “sensitive succession plans.” SVCF also notes that it facilitates grants to foreign countries and that it charges lower services for this work than its competitors. ^{57 58}

On its 2024 tax return, SVCF reported that it had 1,011 donor-advised funds, with an aggregate value of grants to the funds of $2.8 billion and an aggregate value of grants from of $3 billion. It reportedly possessed 102 other funds and accounts that were not technically DAFs. As SVCF is not legally obligated to disclose the names of these funds or their grant recipients, a total list of these DAFs is unknown. ⁵⁹

SVCF has received criticism for its maintenance of DAFs from those who believe DAFs are exploited to allow sponsors to benefit from tax deductions without disbursing their money to charitable groups. Critics have pointed to the fact that SVCF’s assets swelled to over $12 billion in 2021, while grants made only amounted to $2.5 billion that year. Additionally, from 2017 to 2021, 22 percent of SVCF’s disbursements merely went to other DAF providers such as Fidelity Charitable and Schwab Charitable, or to entities that their donors control, a practice critics referred to as a “shell game.” ⁶⁰

Open Philanthropy Project Fund

Also see Open Philanthropy Project Fund (Nonprofit)

The Open Philanthropy Project Fund, or Coefficient Giving as of 2025, is a donor-advised fund (DAF) that was previously housed at SVCF. The fund was formed in 2014 following the merger of two foundations: GiveWell, established in 2007 by hedge fund investors Elie Hassenfeld and Holden Karnofsky; and Good Ventures, established in 2011 by Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and his wife, Cari Tuna. ⁶¹

By 2017, Open Philanthropy Project began operating independently of both GiveWell and GoodVentures. The Project usually recommended donors send their grants to the Open Philanthropy Project fund, the DAF housed by SVCF. In 2021, Open Philanthropy stated that the support for the fund came “primarily” from Moskovitz and Tuna, “though historically other donors have contributed as well.” The fund operated in conjunction with two independent nonprofits, the 501(c)(3) Open Philanthropy Project and 501(c)(4) Open Philanthropy Action Fund. All three funding vehicles supported a combination of nonideological and center-left political causes, mainly to 501(c)(3) organizations but also to private ventures such as Impossible Foods “to accelerate the development of plant-based meats” as well as to social-welfare groups such as the housing and transit advocacy group Greater Greater Washington. In 2019, it simplified its name to “Open Philanthropy.” At that time, it had disbursed roughly $1 billion in grants. By 2025, it had disbursed a total of more than $4 billion over its existence. ^{62 63}

In November 2025, Open Philanthropy was renamed “Coefficient Giving” to reflect its “broader mission” and its “focus on amplifying impact through research and partnerships.” It explained that its mission began to switch from a “funder primarily supporting one foundation” (namely Good Ventures) to a “philanthropic partner to multiple major donors,” particularly when it launched the Lead Exposure Action Fund and the Abundance and Growth Fund, which welcomed in “significant support” from donors beside Good Ventures. As of 2026, Coefficient Giving claimed to have more than 150 staff members around the world and had scrubbed any mention of it being a DAF of SVCF from its website. ^{64 65}

As of 2026, Alexander Berger was the CEO of Coefficient Giving. Berger had previously been a board director of Open Philanthropy, and was the first employee hired by the organization. Dustin Moskovitz had stepped down from a leadership position and Cari Tuna had assumed his former role as chair. ^{61 66 67}

Jan Koum

In 2014, co-founder of WhatsApp Jan Koum gave roughly $555 million to launch a DAF with Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Koum is known for supporting open-source projects and Jewish causes. Around 2021, Koum reportedly launched K18n Foundation as a “supporting organization” of SVCF, which Inside Philanthropy characterized as a philanthropic vehicle whose requirements “fall roughly between those for a private foundation and a donor-advised fund.” ^{68 69}

As of 2024, SVCF controlled K18n Foundation from a legal standpoint, with then-president of SVCF Nicole Taylor along with SVCF’s general counsel and chief financial officer holding three of the five directorships on K18n’s board. In 2022, K18n’s top recipients included the European Jewish Association, itrek, Oshman Family Jewish Community Center, Birthright, the Stanford Jewish Center, and the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS. ⁶⁹

The Jill + Nicholas Woodman Foundation

In 2014, Nicholas and Jill Woodman, the founders of the camera tech company GoPro, donated $500 million in GoPro shares to Silicon Valley Community Foundation to establish the Jill + Nicholas Woodman Foundation, a donor-advised fund to be housed at SVCF. They did not state what organizations to which they planned to donate, but did mention educational, housing, and environmental causes and initiatives seeking a cure for Ebola as causes that interest them. ^{70 71}

Laurene Powell Jobs

From 2017 to 2019, Laurene Powell Jobs’ nonprofit organization Waverley Street (formerly Emerson Collective Foundation) gave $185 million to a DAF housed at Silicon Valley Community Foundation. ^{72 73}

Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have a DAF housed at SVCF called the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Donor-Advised Fund. According to a November 2018 report, the couple had donated roughly $1.96 billion to the DAF up to that point. ^{74 75 76 77}

In December 2013 alone, Zuckerberg and Chan donated 18 million Facebook shares to SVCF, worth an estimated $990 million at the time. According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, it was the largest single donation by any American philanthropist that year. In 2012, Zuckerberg and Chan had donated nearly $500 million in Facebook stock to SVCF, which was considered by the Chronicle to be the second-largest gift donated that year. ^{78 79 80}

Reed Hastings

In 2024, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings donated two million Netflix shares (worth approximately $1.1 billion at the time) to Silicon Valley Community Foundation, where he and his wife Patty Quillin have a DAF. Hastings and Quillin established their SVCF DAF in 2016 with a $100 million donation. According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, their DAF largely supports educational organizations. As signers of the Giving Pledge, Hastings and Quillin had reportedly donated nearly $2 billion to their DAF and other nonprofits between 2014 and 2024. In 2020, they donated $120 million, divided in thirds among the historically Black colleges Morehouse College and Spelman College and the Black scholarship organization UNCF. ^{81 82 83}

Criticism and Controversies

Funding to the Center for Tech and Civic Life (2020)

In 2020, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation funneled $328,176,850 to the Center for Technology and Civic Life (CTCL), a left-leaning Chicago-based nonprofit that redistributed the funds as COVID-19 “relief grants” to thousands of county and city elections offices. The funds came from Mark Zuckerberg’s Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which maintains a donor-advised fund account at the SVCF. From the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, SVCF funneled a further $69.5 million to the Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR), a left-leaning nonprofit that redistributed the funds to secretaries of state. ⁸⁴

Critics have alleged that both the CTCL and CEIR funds were used to boost Democratic turnout in key battleground states in the 2020 election, helping to defeat President Donald Trump ⁸⁵

Opposition to Donor-Advised Fund Regulations

In July 2019, former SVCF key fundraiser Chuck Brown came out in opposition to SVCF and DAFs more generally, arguing that they place growth over philanthropic endeavors. ¹¹ Brown claimed that in SVCF’s goal of raising $1 billion per year, conversations with those opening DAFs centered on tax breaks, rather than charitable projects the donors desired to pursue. ¹¹ The statement came on the heels of a lawsuit against Fidelity Charitable which aimed to increase the transparency of DAFs. ¹¹ As of 2019, the SVCF reported that 100 of its more than 1200 DAF accounts had not made a single charitable grant in four years. ¹¹

In January 2020, the California state legislature advanced Assembly Bill 1712 through committee, which would require greater financial disclosure from DAF accounts. ²¹ The bill, if passed, would require that DAFs disclose the details of how often accounts sit on donated funds without actually disbursing the funding to charity, which would provide hard evidence for the often-volleyed criticism of DAFs being used as indefinite tax havens disguised as philanthropic endeavors. ²¹ Proponents of DAF regulation argue in favor of establishing a five percent minimum payout from all accounts. ²¹

SVCF came out in opposition to the California proposal, while the nonprofit advocacy group CalNonprofits stated its support. ^{21 86} As of early 2020, the bill was awaiting an Assembly floor vote. ⁸⁶ The bill failed to pass out of committee in February 2020. ⁸⁷

Labor and Sexual Harassment Scandal (2018)

In April 2018, the Chronicle of Philanthropy published a scathing report which detailed allegations of abusive behavior and sexual harassment against Mari Ellen Loijens, the former top fundraiser at the foundation with a decorated past in finance. ⁸⁸ The Chronicle interviewed 19 of Loijens’s former employees, many of which claimed that Loijens created a toxic work environment, which included screaming at employees, making lewd comments in the workplace, and attempting to kiss a subordinate. ⁸⁸

Several employees accused Loijens of sexually inappropriate behavior in the workplace, alleging that Loijens routinely commented on people’s appearances, made advances on subordinate staff, and so frequently made inappropriate comments that her subordinates developed a code word to say to her out loud each time she crossed a line. ⁸⁸

Rebecca Dupras, a former vice president for development at SVCF, told The Chronicle that Loijens’s abusive behavior was well-known among executives at the foundation, claiming that then-CEO Emmett Carson routinely shut down complaints of her behavior, even from fellow executives. ⁸⁸ The Chronicle further alleged that Loijens’s behavior created high turnover within the company, having four vice presidents for development and three vice presidents for corporate responsibility who reported to Loijens in just five years. ⁸⁸

The Chronicle presented the allegations to Emmett Carson, the then-CEO of SVCF, prompting an internal investigation by SVCF into the allegations, led by independent investigators from Thompson Hine law firm. ⁸⁸ Just one day after The Chronicle published the allegations, Loijens resigned from her position. ⁸⁹

Soon after Loijens resigned, allegations began against Carson, who was accused of sheltering her and enabling abusive behavior in order to maintain her stellar fundraising record and grow the foundation. ⁹⁰ Former employee Maria Moreno publicly stated on Twitter that she had filed complaints against both Carson and Loijens, but that she was eventually forced out herself due to the “toxic work environment” at SVCF. ⁹⁰

One week later, Carson was placed on paid leave, and SVCF hired the Boies Schiller Flexner law firm to investigate the claims. ⁹¹ After interviewing 82 people, the firm found that “many allegations from current and former employees were substantiated.” ⁶ The firm further reported that Loijens and Carson contributed to a “workplace culture issues at SVCF, including a fear of speaking out or reporting workplace issues…as well as distrust of HR leadership.” ⁹¹ The report further found that inappropriate behavior “was often inadequately addressed or overlooked,” and that racial, sexual, and otherwise inappropriate comments were “‘normalized’ within certain divisions” of SVCF. ⁹¹ Carson left SVCF following the release of the report. ⁶ Altogether, the scandal cost SVCF more than $1.4 million between hiring investigators and fulfilling severance packages. ⁹²

In April 2019, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art hired Carson to serve as its new CEO. ⁹³ In response, 23 former SVCF employees sent an open letter to the Lucas Museum board, requesting that the board reconsider the hiring and remove Carson from the position. ⁹³

While the cause behind the drop is not certain, critics pointed to a 40 percent fall in contributions, from $2 billion to $1.2 billion, between 2018 and 2019. SVCF’s grantmaking also dropped by 26 percent from $1.9 billion in 2018 to $1.4 billion in 2019, and SVCF’s total assets were $9.2 billion, a substantial decline from its 2017 peak of $12.5 billion. ^{94 95 96}

However, SVCF saw a financial recovery in 2022, with $2.5 billion in contributions, $4.2 billion in grants made, and $10.4 billion in total assets. ⁹⁷

Funding

Financial Overview

The following is an overview of SVCF’s finances from 2006 to 2019: ⁹⁸

Despite its name, SVCF is not classified as a private foundation but a 501(c)(3) public charity. This is a common practice for community foundations.

As of 2018, SVCF had more than $13.5 billion in assets, making it the largest community foundation in the United States and almost as large as the Ford Foundation, the country’s largest philanthropy. ⁹⁹

Donors to SVCF

SVCF is highly dependent upon substantial donations from a relatively small number of ultra-wealthy donors. According to its 2019 annual report, SVCF received 70 percent of its contributions from 11 donors; in 2018, 75 percent of its contributions came from just 10 donors, up from 69 percent of all contributions from 11 donors in 2017. This trend increased to the point where, in 2022, SVCF received 86 percent of its contributions from seven donors. In 2023, it received 73 percent of its contributions from eight donors. ^{100 101 102}

As of May 2018, at least 17 billionaires had donated to SVCF, including high-profile, left-of-center donors. ¹⁰³ Most donors placed shares of stock into donor-advised funds (DAFs), allowing the donors to benefit from upfront tax benefits and the power to advise the disbursement of their donations. ¹⁰³

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg gave the largest donation to SVCF in its history up to 2018, amounting to $1.75 billion in Facebook stock in 2010. ¹⁰³ In 2018, he gave an additional donation of $200 million. ⁹⁹

Most of the other billionaire donors are Silicon Valley CEOs or founders of companies, including WhatsApp cofounder Brian Acton, Twitter founder and CEO Jack Dorsey, and notable left-of-center donor and Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings. ¹⁰³ Howard Schultz, the Starbucks chairman who explored a presidential campaign as an independent in 2019, has also given to SVCF. ¹⁰³

In 2025, TIME magazine listed Nicole Taylor on its “TIME100 Philanthropy” list for that year. The entry disclosed that TIME’s owners and co-chair Marc and Lynne Benioff have financially supported SVCF’s efforts. ¹⁰⁴

Grants from SVCF

Despite acting as a grantmaking organization, SVCF disbursed just $1.8 billion in grants in 2017, just over 14 percent of its total assets. ¹⁹ That same year, SVCF assets increased from just $5.3 billion to $13.5 billion, surpassing the assets of the Ford Foundation. ¹² Though SVCF is not required to publicly disclose specific asset sources, the increase likely came from the appreciation of SVCF investments, which include potentially 36 million Facebook shares, donated by founder Mark Zuckerberg. ¹²

Leadership

CEO and President

As of 2023, Nicole Taylor was the CEO and president of SVCF, having taken office in December 2018.  ⁹⁹ Taylor previously served as vice president of the Arizona State University Foundation. In that role, she was responsible for overseeing estate and gift planning, annual giving, and foundation relations. Since assuming her role, Taylor shifted the SVCF’s strategic plan to “support historically marginalized communities and advance gender, racial and economic justice” in Silicon Valley. In a 2022 interview with Inside Philanthropy, Taylor detailed how her upbringing and life experiences inform her core commitment to racial and social equity. “Equity is part and parcel of our entire sector, and my hope is that the sector really embraces it,” she said. “I don’t just mean institutional funders; it’s all donors, individuals, families and corporate givers, because it’s going to take all of us working together and who are giving to take equity seriously, not just one part of the philanthropic sector.” ^{9  99}

In 2025, Nicole Taylor went on the record criticizing the “Big Beautiful Bill” championed by President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans, claiming that it was going to eliminate $1 billion in Medicaid funding in Santa Clara County. “When you cut half of the budget that supports four hospitals and 15 health clinics, that is going to be devastating,” said Taylor. ²

In 2025, TIME magazine listed Nicole Taylor on its “TIME100 Philanthropy” list for that year. The entry disclosed that TIME’s owners and co-chair Marc and Lynne Benioff have financially supported SVCF’s efforts. ¹⁰⁴

Emmett Carson is the founding CEO as well as the previous president of SVCF from 2006 until his resignation in September 2018, following an independent investigation into allegations of sexual harassment against top staffers. ⁶

Board of Directors and Other Staff

In August 2024, SVCF announced the hiring of Marie D’Costa as the new executive vice president of philanthropic partnerships and Moses Zapien as the new executive vice president of community action, initiatives and policy. Prior to working at SVCF, D’Costa served in several roles with the New York Community Trust since 2017 including vice president and chief development officer and chief development and marketing Officer. ^{105 106} Prior to working for SVCF, Zapien previously served as CEO of the San Jose Community Foundation, was the County Supervisor and Deputy District Attorney for San Joaquin County in California, and a member of the city council for Stockton, CA. ^{105 107}

In May 2026, SVCF announced they had hired Ann O’Leary and Kate Mitchell to serve on the Foundation’s board of directors. O’Leary is the vice president of OpenAI as well as the former chief of staff to California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). Mitchell is the founder of Scale Venture Partners and the former chairman of the National Venture Capital Association. ¹⁰⁸