25 Feb GIVE 365 – a daily challenge
I have a favorite saying, “the McPherson County Community Foundation is just that. By the community and for the community.” Our purpose is to provide giving tools for your contributions. Regardless of the size of gift, method for gifting, or timing, we can help you reach your charitable goals.
If want to give, but are unsure how to do so, we also work to build programs that help in the gifting process and give you a better idea of what’s needed in the community. One example is Match Day. On March 6, we will host our sixth annual Match Day event. This year, we are offering $60,000 in matching funds to benefit 32 participating organizations or groups. The purpose of the day is to help organizations build endowments that provide a permanent resource and leverage immediate funds.
An endowment is a way of investing that ensures a permanent source of funds for granting or designated for a specific organization. The principal of the endowment fund is never spent, and it can grow over time to generate an increasing stream of funding devoted to fulfilling the mission of the organization. Your gift, and all future income from your gift, is a permanent source of community funding that makes good works possible, forever.
On March 1, the McPherson County Community Foundation is kicking off another way for you to give and also be involved in determining the recipient organizations based on their grant applications.
The challenge is called GIVE 365. The mission of this challenge is to unite and inform philanthropists to make a collective impact on our local communities. The idea is simple – you give a dollar a day to make the community better. Your daily dollars are pooled with others. Then, once a year, you decide together which organizations you want to receive the money.
HOW ARE YOUR DOLLARS SPENT?
Half of your GIVE 365 donation goes towards grants in the upcoming year and the other goes towards an endowment. As with the Match Day, an endowment ensures a permanent source of funds for GIVE 365 securing funding for future granting.
Gifts to GIVE 365 are treated as follows:
- Annual membership gifts, matches, and general donations from $365 to $3,649 may be paid as one time gifts or installments. These are allocated 50/50 between the GIVE 365 annual grant fund and the GIVE 365 endowment fund.
- Lifetime Membership gifts of $3,650 or more are allocated at 5% to the GIVE 365 annual grant fund in the year received, and 95% to the GIVE 365 endowment fund.
What you can expect from a GIVE 365 membership?
- COLLECTIVE IMPACT
You are pooling your dollars with others to give more to nonprofits than many people can do alone. GIVE 365 grants allow those nonprofits to execute meaningful programs and projects in the McPherson County area. - EDUCATION
You will learn about community issues and the nonprofits in McPherson County working to address them—whether through online communications and voting or in person at events. You will have the opportunity to learn how to be a strategic philanthropist and to see work of local nonprofits first-hand. - ENGAGEMENT
You will receive a regular GIVE 365 eNews with information about upcoming events, the grant cycle, stories of grantee successes, and member spotlights. You will also receive mailed invitations to special GIVE 365 and Foundation events. - FLEXIBILITY
You can be active as you would like in the grantmaking process. Some members let their voting do the talking. Others attend events or join a grant review team. GIVE 365 membership is inclusive and flexible—so you can engage in a way that fits your schedule and interests. - FELLOWSHIP
You will be joining a diverse group of members, in their 20s to their 80s. Membership is a fun social way to meet and interact with like-minded people who want their community to thrive.
Remember, the Community Foundation is designed for you, by you. Giving on Match Day, becoming a GIVE 365 member or gifting using another method, you help the community thrive. Contact us today to learn more about options. Call 620.245.9070 or visit www.mcphersonfoundation.org.