ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, October 27, 1994                   TAG: 9410270073
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: KENNETH SINGLETARY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

EDUCATION NEXT GOAL OF CHARITY GROUP

Now that they've introduced their group to the New River Valley, members of the local Community Foundation know what their next step is: educating the area's financial planners, the group's most important conduit to potential donors, about the foundation's methods and goals.

The valley's foundation is a local incarnation of a growing system of charitable giving. There are 400 similar chapters nationwide. The goal is to collect area donations and channel them back into community projects. The foundation will not compete with other charities for donations, members stress, because it will target different sources for donations and spend that money in different ways.

Much of the foundation's contributions will come from bequests, which can be earmarked for specific projects. The money will be spent on arts and culture, education, senior and social services, and health projects.

After a year of setting the groundwork, local organizers held an introductory breakfast last week and named a board of directors. Now they will schedule seminars and distribute brochures to educate financial planners, who will "hopefully educate their clients," said Jim Shotts, an organizer.

The foundation already has received deferred pledges that total between $250,000 and $500,000, said Joel Williams, a local financial planner and member of the foundation's board of directors.

But Williams said the group is not trying to sprint out of the gate.

"The overall approach is sort of slow growth. ... If we build this program, they'll come."

The valley's foundation is the state's eighth, with others in Roanoke, Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Richmond, Northern Virginia and two in the Tidewater area. 


 by CNB