It All Started with a Few Modest Gifts
and The Vision of a Small Group of Palo Altans

In 1977 members of our community, led by Jeanne Arthur a Palo Alto attorney, met to discuss the creation of a fund that could solicit and receive private money for programs that benefited the Palo Alto community. The intent of these visionary founders was to create a permanent method of providing “community capital” for Palo Alto’s nonprofit services.

In 1979 the Palo Alto Fund was established as one of the geographical funds of the Community Foundation Silicon Valley (CFSV), known then as the Community Foundation of Santa Clara County. Six Palo Alto community organizations were asked to appoint a representative to serve on the Fund’s Board of Advisors. The original advisors were Gary Fazzino and later Betsy Bechtel for the City of Palo Alto, Joan Johnson for the Palo Alto Unified School District, William Seethaler for the Chamber of Commerce, Andy Doty for Stanford University, Roger Smith for the Palo Alto Banking Committee and Charlie Schultz for the Bar Association. Leonard Ely served as the Fund’s informal advisor and it was Leonard who encouraged the board to build an endowment rather than serve as a pass-through grant maker.

The Palo Alto Fund received its first gift from the sale of Learning House which was a project of Bernice Mitchell, a long time community activist. The funds, $59,000, were set aside for the benefit of children, particularly in the Palo Alto area. When the Fund awarded its first grants, totaling $12,000, to three local nonprofits, its real work had just begun.

Following these early days, other community members and groups began to contribute to the Palo Alto Fund. In 1985, the Fund received $100,000 from the dissolution of the Palo Alto Credit Union. This gift was identified as the Kopriva Fund, named after Robert C. Kopriva, the long time Executive Director of the Credit Union.

In 1987 a “Pooled Income Fund” was established with the Community Foundation of Silicon Valley, thereby giving donors an additional opportunity to make deferred gifts to the community. In 1991, the Fund held its first grant reception, awarding $20,000 to thirteen local nonprofits. That same year, the Board of Directors announced a community campaign to increase the asset base of the Fund to $1,000,000.

During the Palo Alto Centennial 1993-1994, the Palo Alto Centennial Board of Directors solicited community donations in celebration of the City’s first 100 years. The names of all donors who gave more than $100 to the Centennial were permanently engraved on a large stone plaque that can be seen today, in the alley adjacent to University Art, off Hamilton Avenue. When the Centennial concluded at the end of 1994, the Centennial Board gave the Palo Alto Fund its net proceeds of $526,000, The Fund’s Board of Directors accepted this generous gift which significantly increased the Fund’s permanent asset base and the Fund’s ability to award grants to promising programs run by community nonprofits.

In 1994, the Fund hired its first, part-time Executive Director Mary Davey and utilized a small office, at the Palo Alto Weekly, for storage of Fund records. This space was donated by the Weekly’s Publisher and long time Fund Board member, Bill Johnson.

In 1995 the Fund’s Board of Directors voted to add the word “endowment” to its name to define its community investment role and to reaffirm its commitment to being an endowment rather than a pass through fund. Three years later, in 1998, the Fund became an independent 501(c)3 with the Community Foundation Silicon Valley continuing to manage its portfolio of investments. As the asset base of the Fund increased, the Board of Directors realized the importance of informing local residents about the role of a community endowment in supporting local charitable organizations. The Board initiated an educational outreach campaign to the broader community.

In 1998 the Board initiated the successful “$2 Million by 2000” campaign. At the same time, the Board of the Community Fund Silicon Valley designated the Fund as the grant-making advisor to the $700,000 Billie Achilles bequest which was left to the Community Foundation for the benefit of Palo Alto area communities. The Fund continues to award grants, of approximately $35,000 per year, from the Billie Achilles Fund at Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

By the end of 1999, the Fund reached and exceeded its goal of $2 Million by 2000. In 2000, the Board awarded approximately $100,000 in grants to 21 local nonprofits. The Fund also created its first Advisory Board in 1999.

In 2002, the Fund established a permanent office at the Foundation Incubator, Embarcadero Road. Cammie Vail became the Fund’s 3rd Executive Director in 2002. The Fund decided to change its name to more clearly reflect its mission. The Board voted to adopt the name: The Palo Alto Community Fund and to add the tag line “. . . endowing our future” whenever feasible.

In the middle of 2007, the Fund’s assets exceeded $4M. In the spring of 2009 the Fund received a grant of $50,000 from the Packard Foundation which enabled it to grant over $238,000 to 32 local nonprofits.

The Fund continues to focus on its mission to:

• create a permanent community endowment supporting local nonprofits;
• strengthen our community by awarding grants to innovative programs;
• encourage promising start-up programs such as Shoot for the Stars which became Eastside College Prep, Leadership Palo Alto which became Leadership Mid-Peninsula and the Avenidas Fitness Camp for Seniors which is emerging as a national model.

Contributions to PACF help ensure that the Fund will continue to help meet the needs of Palo Alto and surrounding communities for generations to come.