Giving Fund
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SUMMER 2025 TAHOE DONNER GIVING FUND CAMPAIGN!
10 For 10: A Decade of Giving Back
Donate from June 1 to July 31, 2025!
Celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Tahoe Donner Giving Fund! Look back with pride at the incredible difference we’ve made together – neighbors helping neighbors, one donation at a time – and look forward so we can continue to help meet the needs in our community.
LOOKING BACK WITH PRIDE
❤️ Because our mission is to inspire generosity and charitable giving among Tahoe Donner members in order to support deserving programs and youth in the greater Truckee community, we’ll be sharing stories like this from the past ten years.
Meet Michaela Ness, a Truckee High Distinguished Scholar, who received the first Giving Fund scholarship in 2015. She attended the University of Nevada, Reno, as an English major with an interest in teaching, and graduated in 2019. At the time, Michaela told us that her love of literature blossomed in her freshman year of high school. “It cemented my career choice as being a high school English teacher. I want to be able to give back to the area I call home and the community I love.”
Michaela is pictured here being presented with the first-ever Giving Fund scholarship by the Tahoe Donner Giving Fund Committee’s founding co-chair, Merle Fajans.
TEN YEARS, TEN MILESTONES
❤️ Reflect the past ten years of member support for the mission of the Tahoe Donner Giving Fund:
- 8 ways to give – it’s easy to give, in any amount: Click here.
- 10 years of philanthropy – from 2015 to 2024, we’re still going strong and doing good.
- 20 award cycles – scholarship and nonprofit grant cycles occur annually.
- 37 nonprofit grant recipients — strengthening local programs and vital services.
- 74 scholarship recipients — helping local students achieve their dreams.
- 1,000+ donors — a community of neighbors fueling real change.
- 6,000+ volunteer hours — dedicated time and energy from passionate volunteers.
- $250,000 traditional scholarships awarded — investing directly in students’ futures.
- $400,000 nonprofit grants awarded — helping local organizations grow and serve.
- $1,240,000 IMPACT scholarships awarded — empowering first-generation and underrepresented students.
That’s $1,890,000 in scholarships and grants supporting our community, thanks to every Tahoe Donner member who contributed to the Giving Fund during the past decade.
LOOKING FORWARD, WITH YOUR SUPPORT
With your help we can keep this momentum going for future scholarship recipients and nonprofit grants. Your gift today can make a difference to our community now and in the future.
❤️ Give a one-time gift of $10 — for the 10th year of the Giving Fund.
❤️ Give a one-time gift of $100 — $10 for 10 years of the Giving Fund.
❤️ Give a one-time gift in any amount to support the Giving Fund.
❤️ Give a monthly gift, automatically, by joining the Giving Circle.
Thank you!
The Tahoe Donner Giving Fund Committee volunteers: Marcia Argyris, Melissa Welch Barker, Lisa Boyd, Carla Brown, Diane Campbell, Mary Fahey, Fred Hertlein, Nan Meek, Toni Moore, Betsy Noonen, Natalie Shea, and Karen Stine
The Tahoe Donner Giving Fund Committee is chartered by the Tahoe Donner Association Board of Directors to administer the Giving Fund, which is an affiliate fund of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation, EIN 68-0416404. All contributions are voluntary and are tax-deductible as allowed by law. Tahoe Donner Giving Fund grants and scholarships are made through the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation’s annual review process.
Thanks to the generosity of Tahoe Donner members, Tahoe Donner Giving Fund grants and scholarships are made through the Giving Fund Committee’s participation in the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation’s annual review process, which awards scholarships in the spring and nonprofit grants in the fall. Member contributions to the Tahoe Donner Giving Fund help those in need, support our youth, protect special places, and make our community a better place for all of us.
Founding Partner
We are very grateful to Jaime Waltman Legare of Elements Mountain Co. for her support from the inception of the Giving Fund. As our Founding Partner, Elements donates $1 for each of their snow removal clients, totaling over $4,000 annually, to cover all our operating expenses thus making 100% of your contributions available for grants and scholarships.
Thank you.
The Tahoe Donner Giving Fund Committee is chartered by the Tahoe Donner Board of Directors. The Tahoe Donner Giving Fund is an affiliate fund of the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, EIN 68-0416404. All contributions are voluntary and are tax-deductible as allowed by law.