North Valley Community Foundation Record Breaking Fundraising Efforts

Chico, California (October 13, 2008) – The results of the Annie B’s Community Drive were announced at the Chico City Plaza celebration on Saturday, October 11.   From August 1st to September 30th, 169 participating organizations, raised a total of $1.2 million. The donations came in from 3,700 individual donors. Each organization will receive approximately 10.5% in additional grant funds from the Annie B’s Grant Pool of $100,000 though North Valley Community Foundation. A complete list of organizations and funds received is available at www.nvcf.org.

“Once again, we are thrilled with the response of our community,” states Alexa Valavanis, CEO of North Valley Community Foundation. “This tremendous volume of donations is a great indicator of the generosity of our community. This was accomplished in spite of adverse economic conditions, further evidence that our community deeply values the services of our nonprofits.”

During August and September, participating organizations in Butte, Glenn, Tehama and Colusa counties were actively seeking donations from their supporters. All local nonprofits were eligible to join. Donors were encouraged to give with the incentive of grant funds as a percentage match for donations made through the Annie B’s Community Drive. One hundred percent of all Annie B’s donations go directly to participating non-profits.

The Annie B’s grant funds are made possible through a donation of $250,000 (over five years) from anonymous donors.  The Community Foundation adds an additional $50,000 each year to the pool, through the support of local businesses.  This year’s Co-Challengers and Supporters included; New Urban Builders, Prudential California Realty, Holbrook’s Furniture Clearance, P,G&E, the Cootsona Family and Stoner, Jeffers and Associates Accounting. Additional funds came from Smucker’s Quality Beverages, the Sweeney Family, Tittle & Co, Safor Corporation, Soroptimists International of Chico, the Noon Exchange Club of Chico, UBS Financial Services, Lundberg Family Farms, Richard Matson Law Firm, the Stewart, Humphries, Burchett and Molin Law Firm, and the Nishio Family.

“We are especially thankful to our Co-Challengers and Sponsors,” according to Valavanis. “These individuals and firms made large contributions, all of which are distributed to the 169 participating organizations in four counties, through the grant pool. This program is not possible without them!”

During the City Plaza celebration, more than 40 nonprofit organizations filled the Plaza with displays of the services they provide. In addition to recognizing Annie B’s sponsors, awards were given to the following organizations; Excellence in Fundraising, River Partners; Largest Amount Raised ($66,000), Sacred Stones Project; Outreach Award (largest number of donors, 1000) Biggs Gridley Wellness Foundation; Spirit of Annie B’s, Butte County Libraries and the Conscientious Coalition (Sunshine Kids Club, Innovative Preschool, California Vocations, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and Independent Living Services); Best New Participant; Congregation Beth Israel; Down to the Wire Award, Blue Oak Charter School; and Angel Award, Adri Nishio. Finally, the Generous Heart Award went to an anonymous donor who contributed to 16 different organizations through Annie B’s.

This is the second year for this project, with North Valley Community Foundation challenging our region with $500,000 in percentage grants (over five years) for local nonprofits. The Annie B’s Community Drive is designed to encourage giving to local nonprofits, thus helping these organizations move towards self-sufficiency. Following the 2007 campaign, a total of $889,000 was distributed, bringing the total for the two years to $2,208,343.
In addition to increasing support for local nonprofit organizations, the goal of Annie B’s Community Drive is to help organizations fulfill their missions in sustainable ways and to increase support from donations. Many participating organizations will use this opportunity to create and/or increase their endowment funds at NVCF. 
NVCF is a nonprofit, philanthropic organization that builds financial resources to meet community needs through grants and programs primarily for residents in the Butte, Colusa, Glenn and Tehama counties.  With net assets of over $6.5 million, NVCF provides financial and administrative services to donors, professional advisors and nonprofit organizations with the goal
of enriching the quality of life for community members. Since 1986, over 200 individuals, families, businesses, and community groups have established funds at the Foundation. 

North Valley Community Foundation is one of approximately 700 community foundations throughout the United States that provides similar services. Each is dedicated to increasing philanthropy and improving and enriching the lives of community members in a specific geographic area.

The NVCF office is open Monday – Friday, 8am-5pm and by appointments on the weekends. NVCF is located at 3120 Cohasset Rd., Suite 8 in Chico, California, (530) 891-1150. Visit the NVCF website, www.nvcf.org, to learn more about programs and services.

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