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About

Our mission is to connect people who care to causes that matter for a just and thriving West Marin

West Marin Fund provides grants and training for local nonprofits and convenes key stakeholders. Our aim is to identify and fund equitable solutions to challenges facing people who live, work, and visit in coastal Marin County, California.

The Fund serves Marin’s coast, from Muir Beach in the south to Dillon Beach in the north. The area includes the 11 unincorporated villages of Muir Beach, Stinson Beach, Bolinas, Olema, Inverness, Inverness Park, Point Reyes Station, Marshall, Dillon Beach, Nicasio, and Tomales. We call this area West Marin.

The Fund is a 501(c)(3) California public benefit nonprofit corporation. All donations to West Marin Fund are fully tax-deductible.

Values

Our brand is driven by these guiding principles

Stewardship

We are champions for the unique communities of West Marin and for the region as a whole. We hold West Marin Fund in the public trust, building enduring assets and maintaining the highest standards of integrity and transparency in donor relations, community service, institutional governance, and fiscal management.

Equity & Inclusion

We believe that our communities are more vibrant when all members can thrive and participate fully in community life. We inspire giving and are committed to distributing assets to help all people in our region flourish.

Collaboration

We believe that we are stronger when we work together. We value the transformative power of partnerships based on mutual interests, trust, and respect.

Responsiveness

We act strategically to ensure maximum effectiveness and enduring impact, supporting ongoing services and also seeking new approaches to address changing community priorities. We strive to bring excellence, compassion, humility, and a spirit of generosity to all that we do.

Personality

Our brand is characterised by the following qualities

West Marin Fund is part of the social fabric of West Marin, both as a valued contributor and as a resource. There is a high level of trust in West Marin Fund, with stakeholders counting on the foundation to make good decisions about the money they invest, other local organizations looking to the Fund for leadership in key issue areas, and big funders such as County of Marin and Marin Community Foundation gleaning local knowledge from the Fund. As West Marin Fund manages competing needs and priorities in the community, the organization keeps its values at the forefront.

Keywords

These keywords drive the direction and vision of the brand design

Community-focused • Compassionate • Forward-thinking • Inclusive • Modest • Practical • Professional • Timeless

Writing

Style

West Marin Fund uses Chicago style for copyediting. Most importantly, Chicago style uses a serial comma (i.e. “excellence, compassion, and humility” versus the AP style, “excellence, compassion and humility.”). The only exception where we may consider leaving the extra comma off is on high-profile design treatments like headlines and titles on posters, banners, etc. Reference The Chicago Manual online.

Name

Use our full name, West Marin Fund, in copy. We do not put “the” in front of West Marin Fund. Informally, the best abbreviation is “the Fund.”

Hyphenations

The words grantmaking, preschool, and nonprofits should not be hyphenated.