Sacramento Region Community Foundation Celebrates $22.2M Awarded From Local Donors in 2025 and Looks Forward to a Promising 2026

Grantmaking at a Glance

The Sacramento Region Community Foundation is the leader in managing, facilitating, and connecting generous local donors with deserving grant recipients. In 2025 alone, local donors awarded a whopping $22.2 million through Sacramento Region Community Foundation.

“Each grant and scholarship reflects generosity, care, and responsiveness,” said Kerry Wood, CEO of the Sacramento Region Community Foundation. “Every gift, no matter the size, represents an act of care for community and helps ensure resources reach organizations where they can make a difference. The end result is meaningful, substantial, and astounding. In fact, since our inception in 1983, the cumulative total is more than $300M in grants made to enhance the people and nonprofits in our region.”

Grant highlights from 2025:

More than three-quarters of total dollars awarded ($17.1 million) supported causes located within the Sacramento region, including grants to local nonprofits and scholarships for students attending area schools.Grantmaking in Youth Development and Food, Agriculture, and Nutrition increased significantly over 2024, aligned with focused investments to address food security in Yolo County and youth educational outcomes in Sacramento’s Del Paso Heights. The increase also reflects the local philanthropists’ response to emerging needs, such as emergency relief tied to SNAP funding instability.The majority of grants were awarded through customized giving accounts established by local people, families, and businesses at Sacramento Region Community Foundation and its partner, Yolo Community Foundation. Grants also include a portion of donations made during a record-breaking Big Day of Giving, the region’s annual giving event.

Breakdown of impact by Sacramento Region counties in 2025:

Sacramento County$12.1 million awarded through 3,000 grantsTop mission areas supportedArts, Culture & HumanitiesHuman ServicesYouth DevelopmentOrganizations receiving significant support include:Sacramento Philharmonic & OperaRoberts Family Development CenterSacramento Food Bank & Family ServicesYolo County$3.7 million awarded through 700 grantsTop mission areas supported:Food, Agriculture & NutritionEducationHuman ServicesOrganizations receiving significant support include:UC Davis FoundationYolo Food BankCity of DavisPlacer County$1.1 million awarded through 450 grantsTop mission areas supported:Animal-relatedEducationCulture & HumanitiesOrganizations receiving significant support include:Feeding the FoothillsPlacer SPCAPlacer Land TrustEl Dorado County$300,000 awarded through 150 grantsTop mission areas supported:Animal-relatedYouth DevelopmentHuman ServicesOrganizations receiving significant support include:Youth Making a DifferenceAmerican River ConservancyBoys & Girls Club of El Dorado County

Looking forward to 2026, the Sacramento Region Community Foundation will offer a robust variety of grant opportunities to organizations caring for animals, offering bicycle safety courses, and supporting seniors.

The Sacramento Region Community Foundation also provides the vision, leadership, and engine behind Big Day of Giving, which returns on Thursday, May 7, 2026. To date, the flagship program has generated more than $117 million for hundreds of area nonprofits since its inception in 2013.

Community members, businesses, and/or organizations interested in establishing funds in partnership with the Sacramento Region Community Foundation can learn more at www.sacregcf.org/donors. For more information about the center of philanthropy in the greater Capital City region, please visit www.sacregcf.org.