new_gallery_pics_list += ''; new_gallery_pics_list += ''; new_gallery_pics_list += ''; new_gallery_pics_list += ''; //close off the last sheet Michael Leighton, 65, who has served as CEO of the Omaha Community Foundation">Omaha Community Foundation for 10 years, will retire in June; Sara Boyd, 36, will succeed him. Kelly: As city gives, Omaha Community Foundation">Omaha Community Foundation transitions

In the Omaha area and throughout the Midlands, generosity is a given.

But this Wednesday is an especially good time for people to give it up and donate to nonprofit groups the first Omaha Gives! And the number of donor accounts has increased nearly 250 percent.

A 1970 Creighton University graduate, Leighton then worked at Creighton for 32 years, including as chief fundraiser, before joining the community foundation.

Few things in the Omaha area, he said, are not affected by philanthropy, which has helped build major, visible projects.

Beyond that, he said, are things you don't see the people who are being sheltered and fed, the children being protected, the tremendous arts and cultural activities underwritten to a very large extent by philanthropy.

People elsewhere, he said, are beginning to notice what's going on here.

As we travel around the country, Leighton said, people say, 'What's in the water in Omaha?' This Wednesday is an especially good time for people to give it up and donate to nonprofit groups the first Omaha Gives! day. Its part of BTNs Games Nobody Else Wanted series. Omaha again leads the nation, with the least financial stress on households in 77 metropolitan areas. Without missing a beat, he told the people on the tour who were also swallowed whole "Now, we're inside the hippo's intestine..." Take the Omaha World-Herald with you and you could the next Travel Snaps winner. The 2011 Goodfellows fund drive provided holiday meals to nearly 5,000 families and their children, and raised more than $500,000 to help families in crisis year round.

The total of $634,000 of donations in tornado relief funds was a staggering amount, and the money came from everywhere from big donations of more than $100,000 to kids who sent in money from their lemonade stands or school fundraisers.

"We used two different funds to support our combined tornado relief efforts," said Knapp, president and CEO of the Community Foundation Serving Greeley and Weld County. It was really impressive to see the reach that these gifts had when they were coming back in."

Knapp said the first disbursements went out June 9 in the form of grocery gift cards to the tornado victims, who were also helped out with deductibles, medical bills, home restoration and other needs after applications for funding were sifted through.

"We helped victims from Platteville, Gilcrest, Milliken, west Greeley and Windsor ... "The majority of the donations went back to the people in the Windsor community only because there were more people impacted over there."

Windsor resident Brian Lessman, who was the chairman for the Windsor Community Foundation, an affiliate of the Community Foundation Serving Greeley and Weld County, said the spirit of community was completely overwhelming for that period of time.

"That was a really important thing that we probably miss on a day-to-day basis is that spirit of community, and it's sad to say that a tragedy took that, but certainly that tragedy brought out that spirit of both local and regional communities a lot and we can be really thankful for that," said Lessman, the former superintendent of Windsor-Severance Re-4 School District. I want to give Judy Knapp and that group a lot of credit for being able to establish that resource bank."

The Community Foundation helped out Windsor victims even a year after the tornado.

"We provided over $13,000 in counseling services over a period of 12 months following the tornado for victims from Windsor," Knapp said.

Tom Prenger, a Windsor Community Foundation member during the time of the tornado, said he also was surprised at the amount of money donated. The response came from everywhere.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (who was stationed at Windsor High School), the American Red Cross (stationed at the Windsor Community Recreation Center), the Colorado National Guard and volunteers who manned the old Steele's Market building and turned it into a collection center for victims who needed clothes, televisions, bedding items, kitchen supplies and other necessities made Windsor their home for many months.

Local government entities in Greeley, Fort Collins and Loveland came to Windsor the same day the tornado hit, helping to clear streets and cut down trees.

The morning after the tornado, chain saws could be heard throughout Windsor and front-end loaders and back hoes cleared the trees from the streets, sidewalks and yards.

Fire, police, parks and public works employees from Greeley responded quickly to Windsor's needs. Recovery started 60 seconds after (the tornado) left us."

Greeley City Manager Roy Otto said afterward that Windsor would have helped out the same way if a tornado had struck Greeley.

News Local Non-Profit Agency

Posted: May 18, 2013 9:19 PMUpdated: May 18, 2013 9:19 PM

Foundation Honors Families

The Bartlesville Community Foundation honored the Glenn Cox family and the Pete Silas family during it's Legacy Hall of Fame Celebration Saturday night. Theo voiced the sentiments of both couples when she thanked the Community Foundation Board and the community for the honor.

He also served as president of the Fredonia Alumni Association, chair of the Fredonia Faculty Council, and vice president of the Fredonia Emeritus Faculty and Staff Association.

He has also served the community in many ways outside of the college, including as secretary of the Hillman Memorial Music Association, president of the Dunkirk Free Library, treasurer of Troop 257 of the Chautauqua County Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and a director of the Chautauqua County Agricultural Association and the United Way of Northern Chautauqua County.

Schiavone, a senior partner of Lipsitz Green Scime Cambria LLP since 1987, has enjoyed a distinguished 30-year career in the legal profession. He has been named to the Best Lawyers in America in Corporate Law; Super Lawyers in Business and Corporate/Sports Law; Business First/Buffalo Law Journal's Who's Who in Law, and has received the AV Preeminent Rating, Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating for Legal Ability and Ethical Standards.

His service to SUNY Fredonia has included serving on the board of the Fredonia College Foundation as a member since 2004, including as its chair from 2010 and 2011. Tiffany, vice president for university advancement and executive director; and the rest of the foundation's board.

The mission of the Fredonia College Foundation is to promote, advance and support the activities and programs of SUNY Fredonia. A volunteer board of directors oversees its activities, and all contributions to the foundation are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Gifts to the foundation from alumni, employees, parents, foundations, corporations, businesses, and friends support SUNY Fredonia's most critical programs: scholarships, research, international study, internships, externships, academic departments, athletics and more.

California Community Foundation and NBC4 is now accepting nominations for individuals and organizations whose selfless service and charitable giving address an issue affecting Los Angeles communities.

Unsung Heroes is a biennial awards program of the California Community Foundation that celebrates the power and impact of philanthropy in Los Angeles, and recognizes the remarkable achievements of extraordinary individuals and organizations so that their example will inspire others.

California Community Foundation is a nonprofit organization established in 1915, dedicated to strengthening Los Angeles communities through effective philanthropy and civic engagement.

OXFORDSHIRE WEST FOOD BANK

THE 1,000 given to Oxfordshire West Food Bank will be enough to buy them a new industrial fridge so fresh food can be delivered to hungry families across west Oxfordshire.

The non-profit organisation was set up in April last year and has already helped 225 families.

WOOD FARM PARENTS AND TODDLERS

ADHD Oxfordshire will be able to support more families dealing with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder after getting 1,000.

PARKERSBURG - A Parkersburg High School graduate who co-wrote a book that has become a major seller on Amazon.com will be in Parkersburg to meet with the participants in a program of the local community foundation.

Nina Vasan wrote "Do Good Well" and on June 3 will meet the Civic Leaders Fellowship participants in the program sponsored by the Our Community's Foundation-Parkersburg Area Community Foundation, Judy Sjostedt, executive director, said.

Vasan graduated from Parkersburg High and was raised in Vienna.

"We're excited-we believe the 26 student leaders in our program, with the eight joining us from the Community Foundation of the Ohio Valley-can learn a lot from Nina," Sjostedt said.

Vasan and co-author, Jennifer Przybylo, met 10 years ago when they were high school students in Prudential's Spirit of Community Awards program. Those using the book can also join an online support network for leaders and social innovators.

Students will receive Vasan's book, billed as a guide to student leadership and engagement.

A public book signing will be held after the program at 4 p.m.

Share the Dream contest to feature six local endowments Saturday, May 18, 2013

The Share the Dream Participants for 2013 are represented by (from left) Dean Gambill (Putnam County Community Foundation community development director), David Boswell (Greencastle High School Alumni Scholarship), Nancy Rosa (Habitat For Humanity of Putnam County), Tom Graffis (Morgan Beck Small Endowment for Learning Castle Preschool at First Christian Church), Lindsay Stegman (Purdue Club of Putnam County Scholarship) and Joe Martin (Bainbridge High School Alumni Scholarship).

"Greencastle High School Alumni Association Scholarship, Purdue Club of Putnam County Scholarship, and Fillmore High School Alumni Association Scholarship are previous Share the Dream winners," Dean Gambill, community development director of the Putnam County Community Foundation, said.

Husband, wife receive award from community college system - SWVA Today: Wytheville Husband, wife receive award from community college system

Pictured, left to right, are Virginia Community College System Chancellor Glenn DuBois, Rita Dixon, Bill Dixon, Peggy White and WCC President Charlie White.

Bill and Rita Dixon of Wytheville have received the 2013 Chancellor's Award for Leadership in Philanthropy.

They were nominated for the award by Wytheville Community College.

The Dixons have been long-time supporters of Wytheville Community College.

Bill Dixon was the recipient of the Wytheville Community College Distinguished Service Award in 2000 and the WCC Improvement of Administration Award in the same year.

Rita Dixon worked at New River Community College from 1975 to 2001, when she retired as director of student development.

Bill Dixon also recently established the "Rita Hurt Dixon Scholarship Endowment" at New River Community College.

The Chancellor's Award for Leadership in Philanthropy luncheon was hosted by the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education (VFCCE) to honor the leading philanthropists from each of Virginia's 23 community colleges as well as the statewide foundation.

How this data can be used to advance the social change conversation is at the core of my business and the Place2Give website.

At the Connections 2013 conference CCVO hosted earlier this month, CEO and co-founder, Michael Lenczner shared with the attendees how AJAH is able to map out connections between funders (government and corporate) with charities seeking funding. The value of his data, isnt the contact info of potential funding providers; its how those funders connect with charities, what their history of giving is and how a charity can best position themselves to receive funding from that grantor. This type of data analysis is called descriptive it provides information to users in order to understand their marketplace better.

Yesterday at the Analytics Big Data and the Cloud II conference held simultaneously in Calgary and Edmonton I explained how the Place2Give data is aggregated from multiple sources to create a platform that provides real-time information on the charitable marketplace. Such as a charitable giving strategy planning tool (Advisor Toolbox) that integrates with existing CRM systems SugarCRM and Salesforce; we also license access to our data for other solutions. Working together with organizations, donors, companies and general online consumers of charity information we are mapping out our data. Tags: Advisors in Philanthropy, Ajah, Analytics, Calgary, CCVO, Charitable organization, Charity (practice), Cloud Computing, Idea Economy, Nonprofit organization, philanthropy, Place2Give, salesforce, SugarCRM, Watson