Sacramento Literacy Foundation

A nonprofit organization

$24,290 raised by 113 donors

81% complete

$30,000 Goal


In order to participate in our economy and our democracy, you must be able to read. The Sacramento Literacy Foundation is dedicated to all children achieving grade-level reading, particularly in the Sacramento Region.

The Foundation is both a community literacy convener and a fundraising foundation that has strategically focused on collaboration within the literacy community to achieve positive results faster.  Pre-COVID, 3rd grade reading proficiency was 44.4% county wide and post COVID, 3rd grade reading proficiency went down to 37.7% county wide.  COVID has spotlighted our educational deficits and increased the achievement gap between more and less affluent communities. 

The goal of getting all children reading at grade-level is big and needs your help.  Our goals include putting diverse books in the hands of homes of our poorest children, increasing funding for summer reading and after-school high-dosage tutoring programs in our elementary schools and advocating for evidence-based direct reading instruction including the Science of Reading 

Your support continues to bring us closer to our vision of having all of our children achieve grade-level reading. Clearly there is much to be done.  With adequate resources from private and corporate philanthropy we can get there.  

You can support our work through this platform or through our website at www.sacramentoliteracy.org/give-today.

Giving Activity

Mission

The Sacramento Literacy Foundation's mission is to help all children in our community -- through funding, advocacy, and collaboration -- read at grade-level.

Needs

Operations: Our operations manage a day-to-day fundraising operation, two major events per year: Authors on the Move and the Walk 4 Literacy, 2-3 smaller author events hosted in Sacramento venues, the Community Literacy Map designed to report on Children's Literacy in Sacramento, and is the local convener for the National Campaign for Grade-level Reading. We host a monthly literacy check-in with literacy professionals in the region.

Endowments: We manage a Children's Literacy Endowment that makes distributions to summer reading programs that help advance grade-level reading for children. We also have an Operations Endowment, knowing that by 2025, 20% of our operational budget needs to be funded by endowment distributions. We are growing the corpus of both endowments which is paramount to the Literacy Foundation's long-term sustainability.

Community Literacy Map: In its 5th year of reporting, the Foundation's Community Literacy Map requires ongoing costs associated with gathering data and maintaining the GIS system underlying the map. The map now measures the COVID-19 slide at the State, County, City, School District and School level.

Volunteers: Event volunteers are routinely needed for Authors on the Move, Walk 4 Literacy, small author events, and the SHRA Promise Zone Book Giveaway.

Board Diversification: We are always focused on diversity and are always looking for community members with a passion for children's literacy who can bring resources to that goal.

Equity Statement

Reading is the top equity skill and those who struggle to read are often, low-income citizens from black and brown communities. Our work is committed to reaching Sacramento's highest need students first.

Organization Data

Summary

Organization name

Sacramento Literacy Foundation

other names

SLF

Year Established

1984

Tax id (EIN)

68-0029756

Mission Category

Education

Operating Budget

$1,000,001-$5 million

Organization Need

Funding: Unrestricted, Funding: Program, Volunteers, Board Members

Demographics Served

Youth & Children, Low-income individuals/families, General population

BIPOC Leadership

Board Chair

Local Counties Served

Sacramento

Equity Statement

Equity Statement

Address

2901 K Street, Suite 204 Suite 204
SACRAMENTO, CA 95816

Service areas

Sacramento, CA, US

Phone

916-836-3540

Social Media