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50 nonprofits to be aided by Berkshire Bank Foundation & Orion Grassroots Network09:10AM / Thursday, October 08, 2009
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. - This year has been a difficult one for nonprofits in Berkshire County. Charitable giving is down while demand for their services is up, causing great strain on nonprofit budgets.
In response, the Berkshire Bank Foundation is teaming up with the Great Barrington-based Orion Grassroots Network to deliver the Network’s signature services to fifty Berkshire County nonprofits, including free access to GrantStation.com, the best online fundraising research database available today.
Each eligible group will gain a year's access to the entire array of services furnished by the Orion Grassroots Network, including discounted health insurance, informative conference call trainings on nonprofit management topics, and more. But the free access to GrantStation.com is perhaps the most used of the Network’s services, and the most valuable: an annual membership normally costs $599.
“Our desire is to have strong nonprofit partners that can help meet social needs in the communities Berkshire Bank serves,” said Peter J. Lafayette, Executive Director of the Berkshire Bank Foundation. “We provided a grant for this project because we feel it is an innovative way to help nonprofit organizations find additional grants to sustain their operations.”
Al Bashevkin, Director of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition in North Adams, is enthusiastic about the program. “Having GrantStation available to us here at the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition will be a tremendous asset to our fundraising program,” he said.
Erik Hoffner, Coordinator of the Orion Grassroots Network, agreed. “Many Network members using GrantStation.com this year have reported successfully raising more money. In combination with the other membership services, we can help Berkshire County nonprofits do their good work better.”
Nonprofits working in the areas of education, social services, or environmental stewardship are encouraged to contact Erik Hoffner at the Orion Grassroots Network to request a one-year membership through this program: grassroots@orionsociety.org or 413/ 528-4422 x32. More information on the Orion Grassroots Network can be found at www.oriongrassroots.org.
Since its inception, the Berkshire Bank Foundation has awarded nearly $12 million in grants to nonprofit organizations and will award more than $1 million annually in each of the coming years. In addition to grant awards, the Bank’s Employee Volunteer Program allows the Bank’s 650 employees to carry out community service projects that benefit nonprofit organizations and communities the Bank does business in.
The Orion Grassroots Network provides services and support to organizations that serve people and planet and is a program of Great Barrington-based nonprofit The Orion Society. The Society also publishes Orion magazine, an award-winning 27-year-old journal of nature, culture, and place, and hosts gatherings of leading thinkers, authors, and activists in the Berkshires and throughout North America. |
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