At its annual reception on May 22, The Valley Community Foundation (VCF) announced its 2017 accomplishments in a room filled with donors, grantees, public officials and community-minded citizens.
VCF President and CEO Sharon Closius shared 2017 year-end results, which showed that the endowment grew to $25 million in assets and more than 180 funds. VCF received $2 million in gifts and awarded $1.7 million in grants to nonprofits serving the five towns serves. Also, VCF achieved an 18.3 percent return on investment.
Alan Tyma, VCF board chair, thanked board members Diane Stroman, Bill Nimons and William Ginsberg for their seven-year terms of service on the board.
In an otherwise festive atmosphere, Closius spoke of the unreliability of state and federal funding and ever-growing need for services in the valley as a motivating factor to help nonprofits build other revenue sources. “That is why VCF made the largest multiyear commitment in its history by awarding $856,000 in general operating support to Valley organizations during 2017, she said.
A major focus of the evening was the newly signed affiliation agreement between the Valley Community Foundation and The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. The signing on May 18 marked the fourth such formal agreement between the two permanent community endowments.
