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.