Today the Annenberg Foundation and the California Community Foundation (CCF) officially announced the next phase of LA n Sync — the Annenberg Foundation’s acclaimed initiative bringing together the academic, civic, nonprofit, business, and philanthropic sectors to pursue and win highly competitive public funding opportunities for the Greater Los Angeles region. Effective immediately, CCF will administer LA n Sync and serve as its new home and hub.
This hugely impactful collaborative is a defining moment in the world of Los Angeles Philanthropy in that it has been supported by a coalition of foundations since its inception, including: Annenberg Foundation, The Ballmer Group, Blue Shield of California Foundation, California Community Foundation, The California Endowment, The California Wellness Foundation, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Goldhirsh Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, Leonetti/O’Connell Family Foundation, Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles, The Philip & Muriel Berman Foundation, Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, Rose Hills Foundation, and Weingart Foundation.
LA n Sync was launched at the Annenberg Foundation in 2013 to solve a critical problem: state and federal money just didn’t flow into Los Angeles, often because of the long-held perception that the region, with its 88 cities and complex mix of city, county and state agencies and jurisdictions, was too big and too fragmented. It was indeed difficult for government officials to navigate LA County, and at the same time it was difficult for cross-sector collaboratives to be leveraged across the region. Dollars that could have flowed in from Sacramento, Washington and beyond simply couldn’t find their way here.
LA n Sync was created to fill the breach, establishing the infrastructure to help local communities and programs seek out, apply for, and win lucrative state and federal grants. LA n Sync identifies major funding opportunities, then works to support applicants such as local government agencies and non-profits through direct technical assistance, expert grant-writing, help raising matching funds when necessary, and connection to strategic partners, all while managing the whole process from start to finish.
The effort has fueled initiatives all across the region. To date, LA n Sync has helped secure more than $191 million in federal and state grants that fund a vast array of community programs, including the Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute, Affordable Housing/Sustainable Communities grants, and Active Transportation Programs in the cities of San Fernando, Culver City and Whittier, to name just a few. LA n Sync also helped make Los Angeles the only city in the United States with two Promise Zone designations.
“For such a fundamentally simple concept, the impact of LA n Sync has been profound,” said Wallis Annenberg, President and CEO of the Annenberg Foundation and founder of LA n Sync. “Through its measurable success, LA n Sync has not only introduced a new model of civic synergy, but changed the way communities communicate and collaborate in order to advance public well-being. We always knew that eventually we would be limited in what we could do to grow the initiative, especially when advocacy would be needed which is outside the purview of the Annenberg Foundation. I could not envision an organization more uniquely qualified to lead the program forward than LA n Sync’s long-standing and trusted strategic partner, the California Community Foundation.”
“The Annenberg Foundation’s impact on the Los Angeles nonprofit community cannot be overstated. Through LA n Sync, it has brought a vast amount of funding to our vibrant and diverse county, helping to transform the lives and futures of millions of Angelenos,” said Antonia Hernández, President and Chief Executive Officer of the California Community Foundation. “As a longtime collaborator on LA n Sync, we understand the power and potential of this unique program, and we are honored to help lead its next stage of growth.”
CCF has played an integral role in the success of LA n Sync by housing and managing the partnership’s Strategic Response Fund (SRF), a pooled fund used to provide matching grant commitments from local funders for LA n Sync-supported funding opportunities in addition to serving several key advisory roles throughout the program’s first phase. The growing importance of LA n Sync to the Los Angeles nonprofit community has been driven in part by its ability to efficiently deploy SRF funds on short notice to cover the local grant-matching requirements on funding applications. To ensure a smooth transition, LA n Sync will retain Ellah Ronen, a key staff member who has served as LA n Sync’s Program Officer at the Annenberg Foundation.
Contact:
Maria Gonima / Annenberg Foundation
213.403.3039
mgonima@annenberg.org
Chris Compton / California Community Foundation
213.413.4130
marcomm@www.calfund.org
About the Annenberg Foundation
The Annenberg Foundation is a family foundation that provides funding and support to nonprofit organizations in the United States and globally. Since 1989, it has generously funded programs in education and youth development; arts, culture and humanities; civic and community life; health and human services; and animal services and the environment. In addition, the Foundation and its Board of Directors are directly involved in the community with innovative projects that further its mission of advancing a better tomorrow through visionary leadership today. Among them are Annenberg Alchemy, Annenberg Learner, Annenberg Space for Photography, Explore, GRoW@Annenberg and the Metabolic Studio. The Foundation encourages the development of effective ways to communicate by sharing ideas and knowledge.
About the California Community Foundation
The California Community Foundation (CCF) is a public, charitable organization that has worked to improve the quality of life in Los Angeles County communities for more than a century. It encourages philanthropy and serves as a steward of 1,600 charitable funds and foundations, including 150 scholarship funds. Since 2000, CCF has made more than $2 billion in grants, with a particular focus on the arts, education, economic opportunity, health, housing, immigrant integration, nonprofit sustainability, and youth empowerment. It promotes civic engagement and social action through collaboration with leaders, systems change, and leadership in the nonprofit, public and private sectors. For more information, visit www.calfund.org.
CCF seeks to reduce the burdens on nonprofits with core operating funding so great organizations can continue doing good works. We also invest in our nonprofit partners’ sustainability beyond grant support, including workshops and training in leadership development, fundraising, financial management and communications, so they can achieve their missions with greater efficiency and impact. Our Planned Giving Tool Kit helps nonprofits learn how to incorporate planned giving into their development strategies and even provides them with customizable donor outreach materials. And through programs like LA Counts and LA n Sync, we’re helping Los Angeles nonprofits gain access to the resources and information they need to expand their impact on our community’s greatest needs.
The “Great Recession” may be over, but L.A. need is rising, the organizations we count on to address our most pressing issues are overstretched and the charitable giving that sustains them is on the decline. “The Generosity Gap: Donating Less in Post-Recession Los Angeles County,” a first-of-its-kind study from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs in partnership with the California Community Foundation, uncovers the concerns and motivations of Los Angeles donors and the extent of the county’s growing gap in charitable giving.
New study finds decline in giving amid urgent and rising need in Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES – June 3, 2016 – A study commissioned by the California Community Foundation (CCF), and conducted by the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, finds that local giving is on a decline, with Los Angeles County residents declaring $7.16 billion in 2006 charitable deductions compared to $6.03 billion in 2013.
The Generosity Gap: Donating Less in Post-Recession Los Angeles County shows that in many L.A. communities, donations are ebbing as needs surge, particularly for families in poverty, youth, the elderly and the homeless. Released today at the Center for Nonprofit Management’s 501(c)onference, the report combines IRS data with a first-of-its-kind survey that asks Angelenos about their charitable giving to L.A. causes. It explores the current fiscal context for giving and offers a snapshot of the behaviors, patterns and motivations by Los Angeles County donors.
“Local nonprofit organizations form a powerful network dedicated to serving the county’s most vulnerable residents, but we know they are stretched for resources,” said Antonia Hernández, president & CEO of the California Community Foundation. “We as a collective region must tap into our talent and generosity of spirit to build stable organizations that can make a lasting difference in Los Angeles County.”
Some of the report’s major findings include:
- Los Angeles County residents are donating $1 billion less to charitable causes than they did in 2006. And those with greater capacity to give overall are giving a lower proportion of their household income.
- Median nonprofit revenues continue to decline dramatically in Los Angeles County.
- White, Latino, Asian American/Pacific Islander, African American and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender donors in Los Angeles give at similar rates across most causes. They vary, however, in the proportion of their giving that goes mostly or entirely to locally focused organizations.
- Given the opportunity to make a large gift to Los Angeles, donors’ highest priority would be ending homelessness. But of their contributions to basic needs causes and combined-purpose organizations in 2015, only one-third went to locally focused nonprofits.
- Planned giving is strongly connected with support for locally focused charitable causes, through both bequests and current contributions, especially among donors under 40.
“UCLA and CCF are local institutions that seek to transform donations from a few into opportunities for many,” said Bill Parent, project director and lecturer in public policy at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. “It is our hope that a better understanding of charitable giving in the region can benefit donors and nonprofits alike, as we work together to build better futures for all Angelenos.”
Commemorating its 100th year, CCF has hosted a range of activities to inform and inspire L.A. residents to give back to their community, whether through volunteering their time, donating to their favorite causes or creating a legacy for future generations. CCF aims to draw attention to complexities, trigger dialogue and encourage solutions to Los Angeles County’s most pressing challenges with this study.
The Generosity Gap was written by J. Shawn Landres and Shakari Byerly, with Paul Ong, Silvia González, Mindy Chen, and Bill Parent of the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs’ Center for Neighborhood Knowledge, through support from CCF.
The California Community Foundation is committed to improving the quality of life for all Los Angeles County residents by addressing the root causes of the county’s most urgent problems. The foundation has served as a public, charitable organization since 1915, empowering donors to pursue their own personal passions and to collaborate with us in transforming Los Angeles County. For more information, please visit www.calfund.org.
The UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs is a leading institution for research and scholarship in the areas of public policy, social welfare and urban planning and other areas vital to the continued health and well-being of our global society. Learn more at luskin.ucla.edu.
CONTACT
Taleen Ananian
tananian@www.calfund.org
(213) 452-6203