Community Funds
Together, We Help Borrego Thrive
Your generosity helps support local nonprofits, respond to community needs, and create opportunities for the people of Borrego Springs.
Through the Borrego Valley Endowment Fund’s Community Fund, we bring charitable giving and local partnerships together to strengthen the place we call home—today and for generations to come.
Borrego Springs is shaping a new vision for its economic future, one that reflects both the needs of our community and the responsibility we share to protect the valley’s limited natural resources.
With growing water constraints making current agricultural practices unsustainable, and limiting the large-scale expansion of golf once envisioned to make Borrego Springs “the next Palm Springs,” our community has an opportunity to pursue a more thoughtful and sustainable path forward. This new approach builds upon one of Borrego Springs’ greatest strengths: its extraordinary location in the heart of the world-class wilderness of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
Borrego Springs serves as the gateway to more than 1,000 square miles of pristine desert habitat, including the largest continuous state park in the lower 48 states and the only active rift valley in the Western Hemisphere.
At the center of this emerging nature-based tourism economy is Geotourism, a concept pioneered by the National Geographic Society. Geotourism encourages economic development that protects and celebrates the character, natural beauty, culture, and overall well-being of a community. It is an approach designed to nurture the qualities that make Borrego Springs so special while creating meaningful opportunities for the people who call it home.
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park generates more than $40 million in annual revenue and represents an asset with an estimated net present value of more than $1 billion. Protecting this remarkable resource while thoughtfully building a sustainable local economy is essential to Borrego Springs’ future.
To support this vision, BVEF invests in activities and initiatives that:
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Promote community education and build local capacity around the development of a nature-based economy guided by the principles of Geotourism.
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Develop a core curriculum celebrating the region’s unique history and natural assets for learners of every age—from kindergarten through the senior years.
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Encourage research into the region’s distinctive history and resources and help make that knowledge accessible to the community and the public.
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Build partnerships with institutions and organizations committed to developing and supporting year-round Geotourism in Borrego Springs.
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Regularly and thoughtfully assess the community’s economic progress—not only by measuring revenue, but also by considering the health, happiness, and overall well-being of our residents.
The Power of Giving
Your generosity helps strengthen the health, well-being, and future of the Borrego Springs community. Donate to the BVEF and your contribution will be put to work where the need is greatest, or you may designate your gift to support the cause that matters most to you.
Choose one of the giving options below and help create lasting, community-wide impact.
How to Receive Funds
How to Apply - The BVEF invests in those endeavors intended to create benefits on a community-wide or regional scale.
Who We Help
2023 Grant Awards
The BVEF is proud to support the enduring, community-wide benefits created by each of these initiatives and to support the missions of the recipient organizations whose dedication and hard work make Borrego Springs such a great place to live, work, and play.
The 2023 BVEF Community Foundation Grants have been awarded to:
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Anza-Borrego Foundation - $1,500 for translation of interpretive materials into Spanish.
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BASIC (Basic Education for Students in Need) - $28,500 for Summer Learning Academy.
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Borrego Art Institute - $10,000 for gardening skills and nutrition education for grades 1 through 5.
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Borrego Springs High School Basketball Program - $6,593 - this grant "matches" the program's Go Fund Me initiative, allowing the program to reach its goal of $10,000 to purchase basketball and athletic equipment for the girls' and boys’ sports teams.
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Borrego Village Association - $10,000 for Emergency First Aid/CPR and Wilderness First Responder training programs.
Past Grant Funding
The Tubb Canyon Desert Conservancy (TCDC) - developed a three-phase program for finding a biocontrol solution to the infestation of Sahara mustard that is destroying desert habitat throughout the southwestern United States. Using a grant from the Borrego Valley Endowment Fund, TCDC shared the results of the first two phases of its program with national parks, state parks, and government agencies across the Southwest, resulting in more than 40 letters that prompted 12 members of the US House of Representatives to request the USDA make phase three of TCDC’s program—the discovery and testing of biocontrol agents for Sahara mustard—a priority in its 2020-2025 Work Plan - $7,000
Borrego Springs Civic Foundation – $1,875
Borrego Springs Educational Foundation – $20,000 for High School Interpretive Course
Borrego Springs Performing Arts Association – $7,297
Borrego Springs Unified School District – $10,000 for Middle School Science Camp and matching funds for the school bus
Borrego Valley Stewardship Council for Sustainability – $27,500
Boys & Girls Club – $10,000 for Healthy Lifestyle Program
Christmas Circle Community Park – $8,000 for operating expenses.
Community Concert Association – $16,000
Local Gov’t Commission Community Water Consultant – $38,000
San Diego Hunger Coalition – $28,000 to fight rural hunger in Borrego Springs
Soroptimist Dream It, Live Your Dream Programs – $5,620
St. Barnabus Emergency Food Assistance program – $3,600
UC Irvine Air Quality Study – $66,883 to improve understanding and inform mitigation efforts related to air quality issues in the Borrego region