One 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 while pondering the future of philanthropy in Napa Valley.

The focus was on community foundations, which were then gaining popularity across the country – including in Sonoma County – as effective, low-cost models 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 lawyer Nicky Suard, the meeting organizer.

Thirty years later, Napa Valley Community Foundationn succeeds on a scale that no one at that Silverado Trail wine meeting could have ever imagined.

The foundation currently has 12 employees and administrative costs representing 3.75% of the total budget. The profit this year was $11.4 million.

Since 1994, the nonprofit agency headquartered in the City of Napa has distributed more than $106 million to dozens of nonprofit organizations in the Napa Valley and currently controls $83 million in assets.

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

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

The central goal of the Napa Valley Community Foundation, however, remains the same as it has always been: directing donations to charitable causes.

Among the many nonprofit organizations that rely on the agency’s help are Napa court appointed special counsel program, or CASA, which helps children who have been released into the care of the court for their safety and protection.

With a staff of three, Napa CASA handles about 100 cases a year and most of its clients – from newborns to age 21 – live in foster care.

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

“Without that, it would be really, really difficult,” she said.

DiVerde said the support isn’t just about money, but something bigger.

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

Powered by donations

Community foundations are public charities that make grants to benefit people living in defined geographic areas. There are more than 900 such organizations in urban and rural communities across the country, according to the Council on Foundations.

Agencies typically funnel money to charities in two ways: through donor-advised funds, which are charitable investment accounts with the sole purpose of supporting certain nonprofit organizations, and through portfolios of discretionary grants, in which foundation board members direct their contributions.

Community foundations also connect parties interested in charitable giving.

“It’s 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 of all the inhabitants of the valley. The money we have also gives us access to the world and some influence. This is why people answer my calls.

The foundation has experienced significant growth over the past seven years, fueled largely by donations during times of disaster 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.

The largest donors since 1994 include the estate of Jane Mead, a poet and author who died in Napa in 2019; the estate of David and Jane Gotelli, who were longtime residents of Napa; more than 25,000 unduplicated donors for the 2017 wildfires, and Napa Valley Winemakerswho contributed $10 million to establish the foundation’s Disaster Relief Fund in response to the 2014 South Napa earthquake.

The Napa Valley Community Foundation’s largest grants have gone toward disaster response and recovery, legal services for immigrants, worker housing and education, including scholarships.

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