Foundation launches new fundraising challenge

Whitefish Community Foundation’s flock of rubber ducks has helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for local nonprofits over the past six years. But those cute quackers will soon be looking for a new home as the foundation retires its annual Duck Derby in favor of a new fundraising challenge.

This June the foundation will kick off the Great Fish Community Challenge with the hopes of bringing in even more contributions to local nonprofits.

“The Duck Derby hit its ceiling,” foundation executive director Linda Engh-Grady told the Pilot. “The only way to grow was for us to buy more ducks. The derby could only go so far.”

The challenge is set up as an annual charitable giving campaign designed to maximize a donor’s gift. It offers far more earning potential for nonprofits, and more opportunity for donors to contribute, Engh-Grady added.

The concept is based off a similar event in Jackson, Wyo.

While Whitefish’s Duck Derby raised $68,000 last year, Jackson’s challenge raised a hefty $9 million.

Engh-Grady says that Whitefish won’t come close to Jackson’s total anytime soon, but the long-term potential far outweighs that of the derby.

“We needed the Duck Derby for grassroots and to help us grow,” she said. “Now, we need something bigger and better.”

As part of the Great Fish Community Challenge, the foundation will put a minimum of $150,000 into a matching fund known as the Great Fish Fund. This funding comes from the Foundation’s Circle of Giving donors.

Local nonprofits apply to participate in the challenge, and once selected, encourage donors to make contributions on their behalf. About 30-40 nonprofits will be selected for the first year.

The challenge will kick off on June 9. Donors use a collective brochure to select which nonprofits to give to through a single payment. Donations also can be made through an online system.

All donations will be processed through the foundation. There is no cost to the nonprofit to participate.

The challenge wraps up Sept. 18, at which time the foundation will tally all contributions and calculate a match percentage that is stretched across the total pool of donations raised collectively. The ratio of matching funds to donor contributions provides the match percentage.

The match is then added to all the funds raised by each nonprofit. The match is capped at $15,000 for each nonprofit, but groups are encouraged to raise as much as possible.

Engh-Grady explains that the benefit of the new challenge is twofold.

“It will help small nonprofits raise awareness and additional funding by cross pollinating the nonprofits with the larger nonprofits,” she said. “It should also cut down on the number of fundraisers taking place in the community and reduce the fundraising overhead of the participating nonprofits.”

The foundation is planning a community fair and 5k fun run on Sept. 12 at Depot Park to bring a final burst of awareness to the challenge.

“It’s an event to culminate the challenge and a last push for donations,” Engh-Grady said.

The event will take place during the Whitefish Summer Games weekend.

Deadline for nonprofits to apply for the Community Challenge is Feb. 25.

For more information visit the Foundation website at www.whitefishcommunityfoundation.org or call 406-863-1781.