Nonprofits selected for Great Fish Challenge
The Whitefish Community Foundation has finalized its selection of nonprofits participating in the Great Fish Community Challenge.
Beginning June 9, 33 organizations will have the opportunity to earn a matching grant in this annual charitable giving campaign.
The Foundation will put a minimum of $150,000 into the matching grant, known as the Great Fish Fund. Participating nonprofits can raise as much money as they wish, of which, the first $15,000 from each nonprofit will be considered in the match. The amount in the Foundation’s match fund is then stretched across the pool of donations eligible for the match raised by the nonprofits. The community’s donations plus the matching funds will be awarded at the end of the Challenge.
The Great Fish Community Challenge goals are to help nonprofits raise mission awareness while maximizing donations with a matching grant and to encourage community-wide participation.
An added benefit is there is no fee to nonprofits to participate in the Challenge.
“The Community Foundation will cover all credit card and processing fees so donors can have confidence that 100 percent of their donation, plus the matching grant, will go directly to their favorite nonprofits,” said Linda Engh-Grady, executive director of the Whitefish Community Foundation.
The marketing and administrative costs are covered by the Whitefish Community Foundation, First Interstate Bank, Parkside Credit Union, National Parks Realty, Glacier Bank, The Iron Horse Foundation, JCCS, CPA’s, Big Sky IV and Compounding Pharmacy and Don K Subaru.
The campaign will launch June 9 and culminate Sept. 12 with a Community Fair and the Fish 5k Color Run at Depot Park. The challenge will end on Sept. 18 at midnight when the last donations will be accepted.
Official donor forms will be available throughout the summer at the Whitefish Community Foundation website and office, all local downtown businesses, the Chamber of Commerce and offices of participating nonprofits. Online donations will also be accepted at www.whitefishcommunityfoundation.org.
For more information about the Whitefish Community Foundation and the Great Fish Community Challenge visit the Foundation website at www.whitefishcommunityfoundation.org or call 863-1781.
The following local nonprofits have been chosen for the 2015 Great Fish Community Challenge:
Alpine Theatre Project
Backpack Assistance Program
CASA for Kids
Community Action Partnership of NW MT
Dream Adaptive Recreation
Farm Hands
Flathead Cancer Aid Services
Flathead Nordic Backcountry Patrol
Flathead Shelter Friends
Flathead Youth Homes
Friends of the Flathead Avalanche Center
The Glacier Institute
Glacier Nordic Club
Glacier Symphony & Chorale
Glacier Twins American Legion Baseball
Habitat for Humanity
Hockaday Museum of Art Humane Society of NW Montana
NC Foundation
North Valley Food Bank
North Valley Hospital Foundation
North Valley Music School
Project Whitefish Kids
Shepherd’s Hand Free Clinic
Stumptown Art Studio
Tamarack Grief Resource Center
The Wave
Whitefish Firefighters Association
Whitefish Lake Institute
Whitefish Legacy Partners
Whitefish Library Association
Whitefish Review
Whitefish Theatre Company