The grant is a challenge grant, which must be matched dollar for dollar by other contributions. All cash gifts and firm pledges must be received by Dec. 31, 2006 in order to qualify for the full Knight grant.
“Once matched, the grant will enable VCOG to step up its efforts to defend and promote citizen access to the state’s public records and government meetings,” Executive Director Frosty Landon said.
With a stronger financial base, Landon said, the Coalition will be able to hire a full-time executive director when Landon retires in 18 months.
Already, VCOG has received a matching gift of $20,000 from the Richardson Memorial Fund, earmarked for the Coalition’s Laurence and Catharine Richardson Legal Fellowship program.
(Larry Richardson, a VCOG founder, was a Charlottesville broadcaster, and long-time First Amendment and Freedom of Information supporter.)
Firm pledges totaling another $40,000 also have been received.
The Coalition’s endowment campaign will be capped by a 10th anniversary fund-raising reception and dinner Nov. 16, 2006, at the Library of Virginia. The Library is a Coalition member. (Please save the date!)
Open-government supporters wishing to make a matching gift should contact Landon (flandon@opengovva.org or 540-353-8264). All gifts of cash or appreciated stock are fully tax-deductible.
In recent years, Knight Foundation has been a major supporter of the National Freedom of Information Coalition and its member organizations. Two years ago it provided a similar $200,000 endowment challenge to Florida’s First Amendment Foundation on the occasion of its 20th anniversary.
John S. and James L. Knight, newspaper publishers with a strong commitment to preserving and expanding First Amendment liberties, established the private Knight Foundation in 1950 to protect and expand press freedom. The foundation promotes journalism excellence worldwide and invests in the vitality of 26 U.S. communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers.
The Virginia Coalition is a broad-based nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to ease access to government information. Activities include legislative oversight, a Web site (https://opengovva.org), newsletters, an annual FOI conference and an e-mail and telephone hot line to aid citizens who encounter access problems.
Members include the Virginia Press Association, the Virginia Association of Broadcasters, media outlets, various business groups, the Virginia Library Association, genealogists and more than 75 individual citizens.