Funding Us

How to fund us and a listing of Grant Awards

A message from Friends of the Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired (Friends):

First, when we are awarded a grant for one of our projects, those dollars are used exclusively for that project.

Secondly, if a donor wishes to assist us with our work expenses, note that we have very few overhead costs. In part that is due to:  our board of directors are all volunteers and we meet via Zoom; members conduct all research, drafting query letters, grant applications, and web content.

Our only overhead costs are:

  1. Our biannual payment of the Nebraska non-profit corporation fee of $60.00.
  2. The ongoing yearly maintenance costs of our website, friendsofncbvi.org; estimated average of $2,000.00.

How to Donate:

For your convenience, Friends has a PayPal button found below, and on our Home Page. This option can be used by anyone who wishes to fund our mission. Keep in mind that PayPal will take a small percentage of the amount you give. Yes, we are registered with PayPal as a non-profit which reduces the amount of the fee. Though Friends will not get the full amount of your donation, know that we appreciate any amount.  By request we will provide you with a statement you can use for tax purposes.

Friends will accept a check and give you an address where to send it. This would be the better method for transferring funds from a foundation, or anyone who is not willing to have a processing fee applied to their gift. Below is the contact information to reach us for further information about gifting:

Friends of NCBVI President, Robert Leslie Newman
Phone (402) 937-8070
Email: Robert.newman@friendsofncbvi.org

Donors:

Year 2021
Mammel Foundation
Truhlsen grant
Valmont Industries, Inc.

Year 2023
Abbott Charitable Foundation
Valmont Industries, Inc

Note: During the mid portion of 2023, the Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired, of whom we exist to support, found it necessary to ask us to slow down our funding efforts for 2023. The Commission had found that due to a new set of federal guidelines relating to how tax dollars could be spent, they needed to work through a reassessment of their program expenditures. Now that 2024 has arrived, we are back on the hunt to find additional funding to cover NCBVI’s shortfall in the allotment of funding from the federal and state government. Visit our About Us page to view our present funding targets.