State Farm® Invites Community Residents to Submit Causes to Assist their Neighborhood

Forty causes will each receive a $25,000 grant to help complete their project.

Do you have an idea that would make your community a better place to live, and would $25,000 be a game-changer? State Farm is here with the assist. From March 3 through March 23, people from the United States and Canada can submit a cause for a chance to win one of 40 $25,000 State Farm Neighborhood Assist® grants. Applying is almost as easy as updating your Facebook status.

Now in its third year, Neighborhood Assist is a youth-led philanthropic program that empowers people to identify the issues they feel are the most important in their communities. The program then connects them with a local nonprofit that can help solve the problem and provides an opportunity to receive one of 40 $25,000 grants.

“Forget the traditional grant-writing process. What’s radical about Neighborhood Assist is that causes can be submitted very quickly online, anyone on Facebook can vote for them, so projects compete openly and don’t depend on someone’s personal taste, and projects have a chance of pretty much 1 in 100 to be selected,” said Jordi Ortega, spokesperson for State Farm®.

Here’s how it works. Beginning on March 3rd, people are invited to submit causes via the free State Farm Neighborhood Assist Facebook app. When a maximum of 4,000 cause submissions are received (deadline of March 23), the State Farm Youth Advisory Board will review all submissions and identify the top 200 based on a scoring rubric. The top 200 causes will then be announced on April 28 and anyone who has the free Facebook app can vote for their favorite causes with up to 10 votes per day until May 16. The top 40 vote-receiving causes will then each receive a $25,000 grant to help address the submitted cause. The top 40 vote-receiving causes will be announced via the Facebook app on May 27.

In 2013, over 3.4 million votes were cast as part of the grant selection process. Those winning grants reached 40 different communities in 27 different US states/Canadian provinces. The 2013 causes were as diverse as developing workforce training and leadership opportunities for motivated, under-resourced teens to restoring a vacant theatre for use as a film and performing arts center. Past Southern California causes that received funding include a program to provide foster kids with suitcases instead of the trash bags that they are often given to keep their belongings.

For more information on State Farm Neighborhood Assist or to submit a cause, get the free Facebook app at http://statefarm.com/neighborhoodassist.

About State Farm®

State Farm and its affiliates are the largest provider of car insurance in the U.S. and is a leading insurer in Canada. In addition to providing auto insurance quotes, their 18,000 agents and more than 65,000 employees serve 81 million policies and accounts – more than 79 million auto, home, life and health policies in the United States and Canada, and nearly 2 million bank accounts. Commercial auto insurance, along with coverage for renters, business owners, boats and motorcycles, is also available. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 44 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit http://statefarm.com or in Canada http://statefarm.ca.

About the Youth Advisory Board

The Youth Advisory Board is comprised of 30 students, ages 17-20, from across the United States and Canada who serve a two-year term. Their directive is to implement a $5 million-a-year signature service-learning initiative to address issues important to youth and communities. The Board is completely autonomous and youth-driven, and funds projects focused on issues selected by the board that impact youth. It consists of a diverse group of full-time students at high schools and universities. Each member commits about 15 hours a month to the Board and participates in three face-to-face meetings per calendar year. The Board will fund the 40 grants awarded through the State Farm Neighborhood Assist program with a portion of its $5 million funding in 2014. For more information on the Youth Advisory Board, visit http://statefarmyab.com.