Silicon Valley Community Foundation Employee Reviews about "community foundation"

Pros

The staff is highly competent and smart. Most truly enjoy what they do and care for the mission of fostering philanthropy. The main office is centrally located along the Peninsula/Silicon Valley and each work space is comfortable, modern and clean. Benefits are the best I've received from a nonprofit employer.

Cons

Your experience truly depends on your relationship with your supervisor. Promotions are rare but occur if you are willing to go above and beyond your job description AND be your boss' pet. Internal pay equity is extremely off - job postings for new employees post higher salaries than current, longer-term employees. There are also too many levels of management and a pervasive acceptance of a micro-managing style of management. Some processes are in place to maintain the high integrity and professionalism expected from the community foundation but most work-flow processes are frustratingly slow and just foster distrust and fear of making mistakes.

Pros

- Really enjoyed working with most of my peers...smart, funny, dedicated people - Access to some interesting events - Solid benefits

Cons

- Incompetent leadership - Major firings happened regularly without explanation - Fixed mindset...not a learning organization, making same mistakes repeatedly - Phony "culture of candor," can't speak truth to power and most ideas get dismissed out of hand - Outdated technology - No mission outside of being the largest community foundation in the world. Though its philanthropy advisors try to encourage donors to actually make grants, SVCF ultimately serves little purpose beyond helping the 1% evade taxes by putting money into charitable brokerage accounts. The result is increased wealth inequality and fewer dollars going to either nonprofits or public services. (Exceptions: Corporate Responsibility team, where money is granted out far more regularly, and Community Impact team, which does real good in the Bay Area on multiple fronts. However, Corporate Responsibility portfolio represents tiny portion of overall assets, and Community Impact budget is pathetically small for a now $13.5 billion institution.)

Pros

good benefits and free snacks

Cons

I worked at Silicon Valley Community Foundation for a year after feeling burned-out from week 2.