April 29, 2008

Media Release for the Community Foundation for the Twin Tiers
Contact: Marilyn Bok, Board Chair, 570-888-4759
For Immediate Release

Workshop on Grantmaking to be Offered for Local Non Profit Organizations

The Community Foundation for the Twin Tiers will sponsor a nationally recognized expert to conduct a workshop on “What makes an Effective Approach to a Foundation” for local non-profit organizations. It will be held on Thursday, May 29, 2008 from 9:00 am to 11:15 am at the Towanda Country Club on Route 6 East of Towanda.

The presenter for the workshop will be Mr. Bill Somerville, a nationally recognized expert on creative grantmaking. He has consulted at over 325 community foundations in the United States., Canada and the United Kingdom on effective operations and grantmaking. Mr. Somerville publishes two periodicals: Building Community Foundations, distributed to all community foundations worldwide, and Dialogue, distributed to non-profit organizations on fund development. He has taught courses on philanthropy at both Stanford University and a local community college.

Bill is a recipient of the 2004 Gerbode Fellowship Award in recognition of outstanding achievement as a non-profit executive. He is a founding member of the National Advisory Board, Haas center for Public Service, Stanford University, and a member of the University of California, Berkeley School of Social Welfare Advisory Board. He is president and founder of Philanthropic Ventures Foundation and has 47 years of experience in non-profit work.

Mr. Somerville will hold a discussion on using professional philanthropy to help non-profits survive. People should come with questions related to their experiences. He recommends people visit his website www.venturesfoundation.org to acquire an idea of who he is.

Reservations are required due to space limitations and will be taken on a first come first served basis. There is a ten dollar registration fee and checks should be made payable to CFTT. The deadline for registering is May 27, 2008. Registrations can be made by email, snail mail, website or telephone. Contact information is listed below.

The Community Foundation for the Twin Tiers (CFTT) is a non-profit public foundation established in 2002 by a diverse group of local leaders and residents. The Foundation encourages community philanthropy to enhance the quality of life for those who reside in Bradford, Sullivan and Tioga Counties in Pennsylvania and Tioga County in New York State. The CFTT was the fastest growing Community Foundation in Pennsylvania in 2006.

The mission of the CFTT is to continuously improve the present and future quality of life in the counties served by the Foundation. It establishes endowment funds from contributions of many individual citizens, corporations, other foundations, other charitable organizations and government agencies for charitable purposes. As the endowment funds grow, it uses the interest earned on these funds to make grants consistent with the goals and interest of the donor and, in the case of undesignated funds, to organizations or projects that serve identified community needs.

To learn more about the CFTT or in establishing a fund, you can contact the organization by any of these methods: telephone - 570-888-4759; fax - 570-888-2179; email - cftt@stny.rr.com.

CFTT is dedicated to making a difference locally "for good - for ever^TM"