GV Foundation severs ties with state group

The Greater Green Valley Community Foundation is a free-standing organization after severing ties with the Arizona Community Foundation in Phoenix, a partnership they shared since 1998.

The GGVCF’s board of directors voted unanimously last week to dissolve its affiliate relationship with ACF.

“We used to put our money with the Arizona Community Foundation to be invested, giving them full authority,” said Michelle Phillips, executive director. “We felt we were losing control and believed that the Arizona Community Foundation’s investment policy was too aggressive. Our philosophies started to clash.”

Phillips said she and GGVCF’s investment committee have been studying the market and have come up with their own investment policy.

“We’ve started small, roughly $500,000, and have invested this money as an endowment fund,” Phillips said. “We had to prove it to ourselves that we could do it without ACF and now we are on our way. We want our own nest egg for the long run. What works in Phoenix may not necessarily always work in Green Valley.”

Phillips said the GGVCF, which turns 40 years old this year, has to now provide “full-blown community services without the help of ACF.”

To do that, Phillips said the non-profit GGVCF has joined the Council on Foundations, which produces the national standards for community foundations to meet.

There are more than 700 community foundations in the United States, Phillips said.

“I’ve developed a network with other community foundation affiliates across the country who have broken away from larger agencies to stand alone, so I have the dialog going as a learning tool,” she added.

Phillips said one of the goals of the GGVCF is to keep donations in Green Valley and the surrounding communities.

“It’s an exciting jump after 40 years,” she said. “We have a very strong board and we know we can do it.”

The Greater Green Valley Community Foundation, 270 W. Continental Road in the M & I Bank building, is a 501(c)3.

Donations received by GGVCF are used to:

Create a unified community by meeting the charitable needs of the Green Valley area through grants, technical assistance and other services to nonprofit organizations.

Manage in perpetuity capital gifts (living and testamentary) from individuals, families, corporations, agencies and private foundations;

Exercise leadership on community issues and advance the cause of organized philanthropy throughout the area.

The GGVCF recently distributed checks totaling $100,000 to 21 organizations, including Casa de Esperanza, Green Valley Assistance Services Inc., the Greater Green Valley Arts Council and the Amado Community Food Bank.

Go to www.ggvcf.org for more information or call 520-625-4556.

rford@gvnews.com