Chico, California (August 25, 2010) – North Valley Community Foundation has once again launched its annual Annie B’s Community Drive.  The Annie B’s Community Drive is the largest community-wide grant program in the region.  All nonprofit organizations and charitable causes in Butte, Glenn, Tehama, and Colusa counties are eligible to participate in this innovative program.   The Drive is in its fourth year, with one more year to go.

The CEO, Alexa Valavanis, works with an anonymous local donor who gives a $50,000 grant each year and North Valley Community Foundation adds another $50,000 to a grant pool.  Participating nonprofits raise money during this 2-month campaign and receive a percentage grant from this pool for monies raised at the end of the Drive.  We are always looking for local businesses to assist with this grant pool, thereby maximizing the impact of charitable giving in our communities.

This fourth year started August 1, with 163 charitable causes participating in the program.   The Annie B’s Community Drive is designed to encourage giving to local nonprofits during a two-month donation period, August 1 - September 30.

During the first three campaigns, over $3,000,000 in contributions for local nonprofits was matched by $300,000 from North Valley Community Foundation, allowing donors’ contributions to make an even greater difference in the region.

Gifts are made to NVCF by a donor on behalf of the qualified local charity.  Nonprofits receive 100% of these donor contributions plus monies added from the grant funds available. The total amount of donations determines the match percentage.  Donations can be mailed to North Valley Community Foundation at 3120 Cohasset Road, Suite 8, Chico, CA 95973, or by going online to nvcf.org/donate.

A special event will be held September 16 in conjunction with the Thursday Might Market at the Chico City Plaza highlighting participating nonprofits.  The areas of service represented by nonprofits participating in the Drive are vast, ranging from animal welfare, education, scholarships, healthcare, environment, community services, older adult services, human services, the arts, youth development, and international services.  A complete list of participating nonprofits is available online at our website.

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.  When the economy is down, what better way to give.  A donor gives a little, NVCF gives a little, the nonprofit gets all of it.  

The NVCF office is open Monday – Friday, 8:30am-5pm and by appointments.  NVCF is located at 3120 Cohasset Rd., Suite 8 in Chico, California. Call (530) 891-1150 with any questions or visit the NVCF website, www.nvcf.org, to learn more about programs and services.

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