Needs
Private gifts are essential to the Center's ability to respond to people who turn to us for life-sustaining and life-saving services. For most of our history, they were our only significant source of income. Nowadays, while government grants are the largest single source of funding, at almost 60%, they never pay for the entire program's cost, and some crucial programs have no grant funding at all. Private donations also help support the Center's very efficient infrastructure; this fiscal year, the Center needs to raise nearly $2.65 million in private gifts to support our many programs and services. We must raise and additional $3.12 million in government grants and program fees.
Our greatest need is private, unrestricted funds to invest in organizational capacity building. To be an effective champion for the community and sustain our current roster of programs, we need to raise additional funds to hire more qualified and passionate staff and provide them with the proper tools and workspaces to serve. These gifts position us to improve the quality and impact of these services, especially for the most marginalized - that includes BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and Trans folks and our LGBTQ+ seniors. Critical Center programming will also benefit from these funds, like our Economic Justice Program, where we provide community workforce development and employer training. We can offer additional life-skills workshops and recreational therapies for our youth housing program residents with more funding. The cost to fulfill current service demand and position us where we can add these essential pieces can be upwards of $200,000-$400,000 annually.
Our second most significant need is for renovation of our new headquarters in Lavender Heights. In 2019 we purchased this building and are nearing completion of our $6 million Capital Campaign to pay off our mortgage and renovate the space to fully meet the community's needs. Our current "Welcome Home" Capital Campaign still has $150,000 to raise to fully realize our Sutter Health matching gift. Please reach out directly at 916.442.0185 to learn more about this important campaign. You can also visit saccenter.org/welcomehome directly to make your Capital Campaign gift now.
Our third greatest need is board members and volunteers. We seek board members with expertise in finance, communications, faith communities, and corporate management. We are also constantly seeking out volunteers who are critical in helping to organize advocacy work, fundraising efforts, office tasks, and providing direct service to clients. In order to implement the Sacramento Pride Festival and March alone requires nearly 1,000 volunteers annually.