A time to give

Community members have a window of opportunity to give back to local nonprofit organizations and to make their contributions count. Sept. 30 is the last day to make a donation through the Annie B’s Community Drive—the annual philanthropic campaign focusing on organizations in Butte, Glenn, Colusa and Tehama counties.

That fundraising drive—organized by the North Valley Community Foundation—is now in its seventh year. This year, there are more than 250 organizations signed up, waiting to take in donations.

What makes Annie B’s so special—and different than other local fundraising drives—is that each donation is bolstered by an additional pool of funds. That is, 100 percent of each contribution goes directly to a donor’s chosen nonprofit. However, the organization then receives an additional percentage of money from a grant. According to the foundation, last year’s percentage grant was 9 percent.

That’s a significant amount of money and an incentive to supporters to open their pocketbooks.

This is a great time to give, for a number of reasons. For starters, tax season will soon be upon us, and all of the contributions are tax-deductible. Another reason to give is that many of these nonprofit organizations are struggling in the wake of many years of economic volatility, which has reduced the level of financial support not only from the public but also from public agencies. But perhaps the best reason to give to these worthy organizations is that they work so hard to help make our communities better places to live.

Moreover, giving makes us feel good. That’s been scientifically proven. Go to www.nvcf.org to learn more about the Annie B’s drive and to make a donation.