Monterey County Gives! — Fifty Days, 141 Big Ideas and You

Visit the website at: http://www.montereycountygives.com

Monterey County Gives! is here! Don’t ask how two exclamation points can appear in one sentence. Just know it is somehow appropriate where Gives! is concerned. Gives!, the brainchild of Monterey County Weekly founder and CEO Bradley Zeve, has grown every year since adopting its current format in 2009. Last year, gifts and matches combined topped $1.3 million. This year will include more nonprofits and more match money than ever before.

Fatalism is generally a safe defense at the outset of a giving campaign: Convince yourself it simply can’t surpass last year, then smile if somehow it does.

So, OK, we’re feeling optimistic.

The reason is that Gives! has a new partner. What has always been an initiative of the Monterey County Weekly and the Community Foundation for Monterey County (CFMC) now includes the Monterey Peninsula Foundation. This year, Monterey Peninsula Foundation wanted to focus some of its resources on a coordinated giving campaign and so it came knocking with a major grant to greatly increase the Gives! match.

What does that mean?

It means that every dollar you give to support your favorite organizations will be supported by a higher level of match.

Who are these guys? Are they different than the CFMC? Glad you asked.

The Monterey Peninsula Foundation is a nonprofit that hosts two golf tournaments each year. The Nature Valley First Tee Open provides support for the First Tee of Monterey County as well as the National First Tee organization. The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, a premier PGA TOUR golf tournament, brings together global leaders in sports and entertainment to fuel $9-11 million of annual grant-making to area nonprofits.

The CFMC works with individuals and families (or businesses such as the Weekly) to implement their charitable visions. The CFMC granted $11 million in 2014. So while the two are different organizations with different funding sources, they seek similar impacts in Monterey County.

Gives! is gaining steam. Monterey Peninsula Foundation’s grant is compounding long-standing support by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel, the Cannery Row Company, the Weekly and the CFMC. The more partners we have, the more each gift is leveraged, and the more you, me, your friends Chuck and Darlene, your co-workers Maria and Sal, and your aunt Lucinda are incentivized to give.

Look at the list of nonprofits. Now try to imagine Monterey County without them. Think of the gaping void of services and quality of life. We’re all touched by our nonprofit community so it makes sense that we all support it.

Gives! is worthy of an exclamation point. Maybe two.

http://www.montereycountygives.com

DAN BALDWIN is president and CEO of the Community Foundation for Monterey County.

STEVE JOHN is president and CEO of the Monterey Peninsula Foundation.

MC Gives! Goals

$2,000,000 2,000 donors by midnight Dec. 31, 2015

Matching Grant

$325,000

+ Challenge Grants

$375,698

= $700,698

as of press deadline

Special Awards

$2,500 Ingenuity Award to the nonprofit that offers an exciting and innovative approach to their sector’s challenges.

Two $1,000 awards, one for the organization with the most donors and one for the organization with the most donors age 35 and younger.

Challenge Grants

$375,698 in Challenge Grants from 84 donors

In the spirit of MC Gives!, many nonprofits raised specific Challenge Grants from key supporters to spur more giving and donors.

Below are the Challenge Grants as of the Weekly’s press deadline.

Animal Welfare Assistance Group | $500 | Dr. Shawn Borges

Arts Council for Monterey County |$500 | Board of Directors

Big Sur Charter School | $5 | Scout, 7 years old

Big Sur Charter School | $300 | Anonymous

Blind & Visually Impaired Center | $10,000 | The Flicker Family Trust

Blind & Visually Impaired Center | $5,000 | Ron and Ann Kihara

Blind & Visually Impaired Center | $500 | John Henry Dunn Kraus and Judy Pa

Blind & Visually Impaired Center | $150 | Mr. and Mrs. Michel Nasr

Blind & Visually Impaired Center | $100 | Gold Coast Tattoo

Center for Photographic Art | $25,000 | Anonymous

Elkhorn Slough Foundation | $31,554 | Robert Hartmann

Ensemble Monterey Chamber Orchestra | $7,500 | Board of Directors

Everyone’s Harvest | $3,600 | Board of Directors and Executive Director

Friends of the Monterey Public Library| $500 | The Lori & Lou Flagg Memorial Youth Fund

Friends of the Pacific Grove Public Library | $1,150 | Board of Directors

Friends of the Pacific Grove Public Library | $500 | The Lori & Lou Flagg Memorial Youth Fund

Fund For Homeless Women | $10,000 | Anonymous

Gathering For Women | $10,000 | San Carlos Cathedral - Loaves & Fishes

Gathering For Women | $7,000 | Board of Directors

Gathering For Women | $1,000 | Anonymous

Gen Giammanco Foundation | $200 | International Estates Inc.

Gen Giammanco Foundation | $250 | Anthony Giammanco Construction, Inc.

Girls Inc. | $5,700 | Board of Directors

Hospice Giving Foundation | $12,000 | Board of Directors and Patricia and Mark Boitano Charitable Fund

Legal Services for Seniors | $2,000 | Jean Hurd

Legal Services for Seniors | $1,000 | Roberta & David Elliott

Legal Services for Seniors | $500 | Pinnacle Bank

Legal Services for Seniors | $500 | Leach & Walker, A Professional Corporation

Legal Services for Seniors | $1,000 | Genesis Freightlines, Inc.

Legal Services for Seniors | $500 | Iverson’s Tree Service

Legal Services for Seniors | $500 | Carmel Valley Rotary Club

Legal Services for Seniors | $500 | Kellie D. Morgantini & Mike Novo

Legal Services for Seniors | $1,500 | Fenton & Keller, A Professional Corporation

Legal Services for Seniors | $500 | Integris Wealth Management

Legal Services for Seniors | $1,500 | Central Coast Senior Services, Inc.

Legal Services for Seniors | $1,063 | Carol & Don Hilburn

Lyceum of Monterey County | $500 | Maria Owen

Lyceum of Monterey County | $1,000 | Anonymous

Lyceum of Monterey County | $200 | Elaine Herrmann

Marine Life Studies | $5,000 | Anonymous (“Huge Fan”)

Marine Life Studies | $200 | Martin’s Irrigation Supply, Inc.

Marine Life Studies | $250 | Sea Lion Whisperer

Marine Life Studies | $1,000 | Reva Lowe

Marine Life Studies | $250 | The Raw Connection - A Healthy Pet Store

Marine Life Studies | $1,000 | Moss Landing Boat Works and Monterey Bay Marine

Meals on Wheels of the Monterey Peninsula | $1,000 | Jean Hurd

Monterey Symphony | $35,000 | The Buffett Fund

Offset Project | $5,000 | Anonymous

Old Monterey Foundation | $200 | Kip and Jay Hudson

Orchestra in the Schools| $1,000 | Franklin Legacy Fund

Orchestra In the Schools | $3,400 | Board of Directors & Staff

Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History | $10,148 | Anonymous

Pacific Repertory Theatre | $500| The Lori & Lou Flagg Memorial Youth Fund

Pacific Repertory Theatre | $25,000 | Anonymous

Pajaro Valley Community Health Trust | $3,000 | John and Caroline Eiskamp

Partners for Peace | $10,000 | The Lori & Lou Flagg Memorial Youth Fund

Papillon Center for Loss & Transition | $4,000 | Papillon Center Board Members

Peace of Mind Dog Rescue | $42,000 | Tom & Jennifer Werde

Peace of Mind Dog Rescue | $14,000 | Boand Family Foundation (Dr. Lucinda McDermott)

Peace of Mind Dog Rescue | $5,000 | Peggy Gerosin

Pinnacles Partnership | $500 | Teknova

Pinnacles Partnership | $250 | Craig & Rochelle Fischer

Pinnacles Partnership | $200 | Mike Novo

Pinnacles Partnership | $750 | Timothy Regan

Pinnacles Partnership | $100 | Karen A. Dorn

Planned Parenthood Mar Monte | $4,000 | Anonymous

Planned Parenthood Mar Monte | $1,000 | Jean Hurd

Planned Parenthood Mar Monte | $5,000 | Barbara & Arthur Babcock

Point Lobos Foundation | $500 | Cynthia Vernon

Rancho Cielo Youth Campus | $15,000 | Boand Family Foundation (Dr. Lucinda McDermott)

Read To Me Project | $5,000 | Alex Lilley

Read To Me Project | $4,000 | The Upjohn California Fund

Reading is Fundamental | $250 | Mary Alicia McRae

Reading is Fundamental | $100 | Audrey Varner

Reading is Fundamental | $50 | Ellen Wynn

Reading is Fundamental | $40 | Ken and Denise Pollak

Restorative Justice Partners, Inc. | $680 | Board of Directors

Ventana Wilderness Alliance | $5,057 | Dr. Larry Manes

Ventana Wildlife Society | $500 | Linda Zimmerman

Ventana Wildlife Society| $8,000 | The Fenton Family Gift Fund

Youth Music Monterey | $5,000 | Dorothy and Patrick Micheletti

Youth Orchestra Salinas | $1,000 | Board of Directors

Youth Orchestra Salinas | $1,000 | Youth Orchestra Salinas Board

Youth Orchestra Salinas | $5,000 | Joanne Taylor Jonson

Important Dates

Nov. 12

MC Gives! kicks off and website goes live at www.mcgives.com

Dec. 1

#GivingTuesday is an international day of giving. You can participate through Monterey County Gives!

Dec. 16

Shop at Whole Foods in Monterey and they’ll donate 5 percent of all purchases to Monterey County Gives!

Dec. 31

The Monterey County Gives! campaign ends at midnight

Thanks to Monterey County Gives! Partners and Sponsors

PARTNERS

Monterey County Weekly

Community Foundation for Monterey County

Monterey Peninsula Foundation

Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel

David and Lucile Packard Foundation

Cannery Row Company

SPONSORS

Whole Foods

Doolittle Fund of the Community Foundation for Monterey County

Cynthia Snorf Fund of the Community Foundation for Monterey County

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Monterey County Gives! is a special project of Monterey County Weekly’s Community Fund, a donor-advised fund at the Community Foundation for Monterey County.