About the Collaboration for Social Impact

Through the Collaboration for Social Impact, Santa Barbara Foundation elevates our commitment to advancing the strength and capacity of Santa Barbara County nonprofits.

Life in the nonprofit world means daily challenges, which have only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes finding and training effective leaders, collaborating with other nonprofits, and raising enough funds to operate – all while providing ongoing services to an increasing need. The Santa Barbara Foundation believes the key to strengthening the social sector is to ensure its leaders and organizations have the knowledge, skills and resources to fulfill their mission. Strong nonprofits lead to a strong community.

The Collaboration for Social Impact (CSI) draws on the expertise of a diverse and experienced group of executive leaders who have long worked on the front lines of nonprofits. The Collaboration facilitates workshops, seminars, coaching and mentoring, along with public and social sector advocacy. These are developed and implemented through an ongoing coordination with community leaders and partner organizations. The Collaboration supports capacity building in the areas of leadership development, technical assistance, financial management, technology, cross organizational collaboration, as well as personnel health and wellness.

The development of CSI is advised by an esteemed group of nonprofit executive leaders who live and work throughout Santa Barbara County. Each member resides on the CSI advisory group for a limited term insuring new voices inform the evolution of the program.

The current CSI Advisory Committee includes:

• Lisa Brabo, Chief Executive Officer of Family Service Agency
• Ashley Costa, Executive Director of Lompoc Valley Community Healthcare Organization
• Mariela Marin, Executive Director of Community Counseling and Education Center
• Beth Skidmore, Executive Director of Rooted Santa Barbara
• Kai Tepper, Executive Director of Children’s Creative Projects
• Lauren Trujillo, Executive Director of Santa Barbara Public Library Foundation
• Edwin Weaver, Executive Director of Fighting Back Santa Maria Valley
• Steve Windhager, Executive Director of the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden

Liz Thasiah, Vice President of Programs serves as the contact person for the Collaboration for Social Impact and the program is supported by Community Engagement Coordinator Maria Caudillo.

If you are interested in contributing to the Collaboration for Social Impact to help bolster the capacity of the social sector, we welcome your partnership and appreciate your support.

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The State of Nonprofits in Santa Barbara County

This report offers a comprehensive overview of the nonprofit industry in Santa Barbara County. Despite facing various disruptions such as recovery from the global pandemic and economic inflation, the report’s findings offer valuable guidance for stakeholders such as funders, practitioners, and government agencies to work together towards bolstering the sector. Furthermore, the data presented in this report can serve as a crucial resource for future and longitudinal studies on the nonprofit industry in Santa Barbara County.

Our hope is that this report will foster greater awareness and understanding, lead to increased investments in the nonprofit sector, help organizations improve their leadership and management abilities, and lift up key areas that require further investigation.

Santa Barbara Foundation would like to acknowledge the researchers at The Center for Evaluation & Assessment at UCSB as well as the many nonprofit professionals who took the time to provide valuable information on the state of their organizations.

Learn more.

Nonprofit Sector Resources

The Santa Barbara Foundation believes that the key to strengthening the social sector is nonprofit leaders and organizations having the knowledge, skills and resources to fulfill their mission. A healthy social sector improves the social outcomes for our communities – strong nonprofits lead to a strong community. To that end, we have curated a catalog of nonprofit sector resources we encourage you to consider in your effort to develop your organization and your own nonprofit career.

Small Capacity Building Grant Program

Small Capacity Building Grants (formerly Express Grants) are awards of up to $6,000 aimed at strengthening the organizational capacity and programmatic effectiveness of nonprofit organizations serving Santa Barbara County.

SMALL CAPACITY BUILDING GRANT PROGRAM

CalNonprofits Membership

The Santa Barbara Foundation, with support from the COVID-19 Joint Response Effort, is partnering with CalNonprofits to provide FREE 1st year memberships for Santa Barbara County nonprofits. Click here to learn more.