Stewarding Resources
At Community Foundation Sonoma County, we believe in the power of connecting people, ideas and resources to benefit all who live here. One critical component of our mission includes ensuring that all funds are managed with prudent fiduciary oversight and good...
Discovered Artists
Ten years ago, the Artists Awards Endowment at the Community Foundation Sonoma County began supporting up-and-coming artists in our community. The fund was created by more than 50 Community Foundation donors between 2007 and 2011 with support from the James Irvine...
A Family’s Legacy
Brothers, ages 11 and 9, are put on a train alone to escape a growing threat to Jews as war looms. Their parents stay behind in Germany, hoping to join them after taking care of family affairs. They will never see each other again. Hans (“Hank”) Cohn and younger...
New Format for Quarterly Coffees!
We have deeply appreciated the opportunity to share coffee and conversation with more than one hundred nonprofit partners in 2016. This year we will offer a new format for Quarterly Coffee by inviting different members of our staff to sit in conversation with Karin....
Season of Sharing
Some organizations offer lavish parties or other year-end perks to their employees. At Community Foundation Sonoma County, the best perk for our staff is the opportunity to make grants to local nonprofits in our community which are personally meaningful to them. While...
Find Your Holiday Light
"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." Leonard Cohen We find ourselves in a season of contrasts of darkness and light. Today is the shortest and darkest day of the year. We reflect on the year coming to a close and chronicle our...
Winter Worries
In Sonoma County we consider ourselves lucky to escape the snowy, downright freezing weather that many of our fellow Americans contend with over the winter months. But that’s also taking for granted a dry, warm place to call home that insulates us from the elements....
Sonoma Wine Country Weekend Grant Workshops
We are excited to share that on December 2nd, 2016 Sonoma Wine Country Weekend will be launching the 2016-17 Community Grants Program, a broadly accessible, responsive grants program designed to address the most pressing needs in our communities. To learn more about...
Gratitude for Our Community
At Community Foundation Sonoma County, we regularly share things we are personally and professional grateful for. It is, quite frankly, part of our culture and the work we do every day. Recently, President and CEO Beth Brown led our staff through a “speed gratitude”...
The AIDS Fight for Civil Rights
A New York Times review of How To Survive a Plague – The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS by David France caught our eye. The review is beautifully written, inspiring and highlights the moving work AIDS activists and scientist undertook to create a...
The Gift That Keeps On Giving
Reframe the holidays in your workplace to include a more generous approach to your community and selves. Research shows that employee satisfaction is higher amongst individuals whose employers participate in community engagement (i.e. making donations, volunteering...
Family Holiday Guide
Preparing for family holiday gatherings is more than determining who gets the guest bedroom and who gets the sofa. It is more than finding gluten-free dessert recipes and the frenzy of assembling complicated toys at the last minute. Instead holiday family gatherings...
Saving Families
Expecting their first child, saving for a first home and working as a preschool teacher, all seemed well with a young family until their daughter’s birth had complications. The couple, having no health insurance, used all their savings on medical bills. Then, after...
There’s No (Good) Excuse to Postpone Estate Planning
There’s a saying attributed to Benjamin Franklin: “If you fail to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” This is especially true when it comes to estate planning. In my practice, I often encounter excuses as to why people fail to plan their estates. I encourage...
Local Health Assessment
The 2016 Sonoma County Community Health Needs Assessment is a large-scale look at the health of our community as developed collaboratively by local health care providers, health experts, county leaders and residents. The report informs and engages local decision...