Community

Support for These Non-profits

The Vermont Folklife Center
First Giving- Folklife
The Vermont Folklife Center, founded in 1984, is dedicated to preserving and presenting the folkarts and cultural traditions of Vermont and the surrounding region. Through ongoing field research, a multimedia archive and an apprenticeship program, we document and conserve cultural heritage which could easily be lost; through exhibits, media, publication, and educational projects, we bring recognition to the skills, talents and traditions of Vermonters, past and present. The Center has made preservation of the spoken word the core of its endeavors, and the VFC archive now comprises over 3,800 taped interviews, which have been transcribed and electronically indexed.

Our Master Apprentice Program is a program for young people who want to learn a traditional craft or art form work with acknowledged masters to learn (and preserve) these skills, much like a master class by a ballet dancer or musician. The National Endowment for the Arts awarded us a challenge grant which we must match. It will allow us to grow the program and make it available to more Vermonters. Whatever you can do will be greatly appreciated. The link is below and makes it easy.

ACLU of Vermont
The American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont is an organization of Vermonters dedicated to the defense of individual rights guaranteed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, as well as the Vermont Constitution. While the rest of the U.S. Constitution authorizes the government to act, the Bill of Rights sets limits. It describes what the government may not do. Even a democratically elected government is not permitted to take away from the people their inherent rights to freedom of expression, belief and association, to procedural fairness, to equal treatment before the law, to privacy. The sole purpose of the ACLU is to protect these rights and to enforce the constitutional limits on government action. Without legal guarantees of individual liberty, even American democracy can revert to acts of tyranny, to a despotism of the majority. The ACLU exists to prevent this from happening, and to fight back when it does.

Vermont Business Roundtable
Created in 1987 as a nonprofit, public interest organization, the Vermont Business Roundtable’s membership is comprised of 100 CEOs of Vermont’s most active and committed businesses and employers. During the 20 years since its inception, the Roundtable has dedicated itself to thoughtful, deliberative, and well-documented analyses of significant public policy issues affecting all Vermonters, ranging from education, economic health, environmental quality, health care policy, and technology.

Vermont College of Fine Arts
Vermont College of Fine Arts is a national center for education in the arts, fostering the excellence of emerging and established artists and advancing the arts to create a more humane world, a place where the creative expression of individuals is nurtured and a sense of community flourishes. For seventy years Vermont College® has been a site for progressive education. Anchored firmly on this historic campus in Montpelier, VCFA seeks to shape the global future of the arts with an emphasis on excellence that allows its members to reach for the highest artistic standards as individuals while recognizing that the arts are one of the foundations of a healthy and creative society. This is a place where national and international leaders in the arts gather, teach, and show and perform their work. The college prides itself on its openness and on creating an environment that is safe, welcoming, and built on mutual respect.

Vermont Journalism Trust
“I am persuaded, the great mass of our Citizens require only to understand matters rightly, to form the right decision.” George Washington

Journalistic freedom and ethics are basic requirements for high-functioning democracies at the federal, state and community levels. As new technologies eclipse older ones, society must find ways to ensure that these principles find their way into the new online delivery systems and are sustained in traditional news outlets in ways that inform and educate the public and enhance civic dialogue and decision-making with hard social and economic data, investigative journalism, and informed analysis.

Vermont Public Radio
Vermont Public Radio is an independent non-commercial station that depends on thousands of individuals and businesses for support. Only 10% of VPR’s funding comes from the government. As a charitable non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization, contributions to VPR are fully tax deductible according to US law.

Vermont Community Foundation
The Vermont Community Foundation helps Vermont-focused philanthropists, organizations, and businesses cultivate their love of giving to the community. We do this by helping them learn, lead, and grow through their philanthropy. The Foundation is a Middlebury-based statewide public charity with more than 570 individual funds, each of which contributes to building healthy and vital Vermont communities. We also offer planned giving, nonprofit endowment management, and other services that help charitable partners achieve their missions.

Vtdigger.org
Vtdigger.org is a nonprofit, statewide news Web site dedicated to coverage of government, business and community life issues. Our mission is to enhance democracy through in-depth, interactive journalism. Our objective is to mine the gaps in Vermont news coverage. We seek to support existing media outlets. At Vtdigger.org, we are creating a virtual, public newsroom that embraces the energy of citizen journalism while abiding by the standards of traditional journalism. We believe readers want to have a say in what’s covered and how it’s reported. Readers also need reliable information. That’s where the journalists come in. We will vet and verify all information from readers to create comprehensive, accurate reports. A group of concerned citizens and journalists created Vtddiger.org as a platform for consistent delivery of fact-driven reports on matters of public interest and as a catalyst for more open debates on key issues that impact Vermonters’ daily lives.