Yes. Donations to the Wish Book Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, are tax deductible. The tax ID number is 77-0229665

NO! All donations are held in strict confidence. The Wish Book Fund will not provide donor information to anyone. Names are published on this website and in The Mercury News only with your permission. We take donor privacy very seriously and only publish names when we have your consent.

Yes. You can also send your donation by mail using this downloadable donation form. Fill out the coupon, attach your check or credit card information (please do not send cash) and mail it to:

The Mercury News Wish Book
c/o MediaNewsGroup
P.O. Box 909, San Jose, CA 95106 

Yes. Donations are accepted year round. Just go to the donation page. Please note that direct donations to certain Wishes may be fulfilled, but you can still contribute to the general fund, which will be distributed to local charities throughout the year.

Sorry, we are unable to manage donations of any type of goods, including toys, holiday food baskets, clothing, furniture, automobiles, etc. Please email wishbook@bayareanewsgroup.com, and we may be able to suggest organizations that accept such donations.

Wish Book maintains transparency on all costs that are essential to advance the mission to help as many as possible in the Bay Area. The Bay Area News Group covers all printing and costs for producing the stories, and staff time. There are some costs to offer secure online donation option, issue tax receipts to all donors, postage, and to select and fully vet all fund recipients in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz counties, and those costs remain around 5%, and for 2022, we received a grant to cover those costs as well. ALL of your donation goes to work helping here in the community.

During the annual fundraising effort, reporters and photographers from the The Mercury News and other Bay Area News Group news publications document the challenges  facing individuals, families and nonprofit organizations in our community and their successes in meeting those challenges. These stories are published in The Mercury News and on its website. The paper publishes lists of contributors and coupons advising readers how to contribute, as well as ads throughout the paper and online to further encourage readers to help their neighbors in need. Wish Book also manages the grant-making application process, distribution of donated funds to the grant qualified nonprofit organizations, processes readers’ donations, maintains the nonprofit accounting and reporting, and provides all donors with tax receipts in a timely manner.