May 6 of this year marked the first online giving event in Silicon Valley: Silicon Valley Gives, an effort spearheaded by Silicon Valley Community Foundation. During one 24-hour period, 14,889 donors made more than 21,869 unique donations to 674 local non-profits, for a total of $8,000,833. You can check out the complete report here.
This week I attended Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s 2014 regional meeting, where President and CEO Emmett Carson celebrated the success of this first Silicon Valley Gives and invited the audience to help SVCF make next year’s version “bigger and better” for our amazing local non-profits.
The truth is that here in Silicon Valley, all the energy and innovation isn’t just in the startup and tech communities. Across the region, non-profit organizations tackle complex issues ranging from homelessness to education to climate change to female empowerment. I see the success of Silicon Valley Gives as the community’s vote of confidence in the innovative and important work of local non-profits.
Our local Microsoft team sponsored Silicon Valley Gives in 2014 because we wanted the opportunity to support the entire non-profit community in Silicon Valley—the effort helped non-profits recruit new donors, and it supported a series of trainings that strengthened those non-profits. We shared our spaces – our offices and our local retail stores – to celebrate the spirit of giving. Many of our employees participated in Silicon Valley Gives, which was no surprise — 84% already donate their time and money to causes they love.
We are ready to top $8,000,000 on May 5, 2015. Microsoft will host the first information session for Silicon Valley Gives 2015 on Monday, October 27. Non-profits can register here and sign up at www.svgives.org to stay informed about 2015 plans. Join us!
