Does charity begin at home? Silicon Valley’s wealthiest donors skip their own backyard

SILICON VALLEY’S WEALTHIEST RESIDENTS are steering billions of dollars to national and global causes instead of investing in their own backyard — a trend that’s persisted for at least five years.

The region’s richest donated $1.52 billion to philanthropy this past year, according to a recent report from the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. But just 8.6% of that money went to fund local needs in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. A whopping 79% of money left the region to support causes outside the Bay Area, the state and even the U.S.