South Brown County Community Foundation Requests Matching Sponsors
The newly established South Brown County Community Foundation is holding its first annual Match Days for its fund holders during the Brown County Fair on July 12-15. As a result, many organizations are establishing funds to benefit from the upcoming match days.
As part of its mission to increase charitable donations for non-profits and special projects that benefit the communities of south Brown County, the foundation urges philanthropic individuals, families, and businesses to reach out to board members to learn about becoming a matching sponsor. Matching dollar commitments thus far have been in the range of $1,000 to as high as $10,000. While it is not unusual for a first community match day to bring in $25,000 in matching funds, the foundation would love to see more. The success of the first annual match days will be primarily based on such sponsorship. Interested parties can contact foundation board members: James Lednicky, Jackie Petersen, Sarah Gerving, Michele Crouse, Aldie Esminger, Doug Norman, Jason Cline, and Maxine Rice.
During the match days event of July 12-15, the South Brown County Community Foundation will match donations made to participating funds. For instance, the foundation will provide a 50% match for contributions to a designated maximum dollar per organization. This way, all funds will grow. However, matching sponsors can determine to match to a specific fund, as in this year’s instance of HIDC for the Horton Ball Field project.
During the match days event, donors can donate online at www.GrowSouthBrown.com anytime from Tuesday, July 12, until midnight on Friday, July 15. If you are more comfortable donating in person, the foundation will be set up in the Horton Blue Building foyer after the parade on Tuesday through Thursday during the fair hours. Donors will select which organization fund(s) to support. 100% of your donation will go to the organization’s fund. Although gifts of any amount are welcome and encouraged, contributions of a minimum of $25 will receive a local match of 50 cents on the dollar, withstanding the designated match day ceiling.
As of this writing, the foundation expects at least twenty different funds to be on the board in time for match days. Since the foundation represents all of South Brown County, the board members are striving to get at least one fund on the board representing the communities of Everest, Horton, Kickapoo Reservation, Powhattan, and Willis. To see the fund participants for match days, visit the website www.GrowSouthBrown.com. The site will continue to be updated as new funds and matching sponsors join the foundation.