Foundation gives $1.5 million to nonprofits

Whitefish was generous again this year, donating almost $1.5 million to the Whitefish Community Foundation’s annual Great Fish Community Challenge.

The two-month campaign began in July and raised a total of $1,486,526. The community foundation distributed the money last week to 40 participating nonprofits.

The challenge receive 2,420 contributions totaling $1.15 million. The foundation match amounted to 55 percent on the first $15,000 raised by each nonprofit, for a total match of just over $322,523.

The Great Fish Match Fund started with a challenge of $200,000 that came from the foundation’s Circle of Giving. The foundation board increased this amount by another $72,000 and an additional $50,000 came from the individuals who donated directly to the match fund.

Nearly all the participating nonprofits exceeded $15,000 or more and received the maximum matching grant of $8,250. Grants were presented to the nonprofits on Oct. 10 at Casey’s in downtown.

Four special awards were also presented at the event.

Recognizing their outstanding participation in the challenge, the Great Fish Award went to Project Whitefish Kids, a group that works to provide a youth sports park for families by maintaining the Smith Fields sports complex.

The Doris Schumm Community Spirit Award went to Whitefish Education Foundation, whose mission is to enhance the quality and scope of educational opportunities for students in the Whitefish School District.

The Whitefish Firefighters Association received the Russ and Mary Jane Street Community Service Award. The firefighters association supports the Whitefish Fire Department from purchasing life-saving equipment for ambulances to protective clothing for firefighters.

A new award was established this year in memory of Jean Howard and was given to Tamarack Grief Resource Center, which works to provide grief support and education through a variety of avenues.

Each of the special awards was accompanied by an additional $2,500 grant.

Throughout the challenge, the community foundation offered incentive grants and instant grants to participating nonprofits totaling $13,500. The bonus grants helped to increase the urgency of donors to give to participating nonprofits to help them earn even more money.

The total amount raised by the nonprofits surpasses the 2015 total of $915,000.

“The 2016 number is very impressive,” said Linda Engh-Grady, president of the Whitefish Community Foundation.

The 2015 campaign included a single gift of $200,000 to one organization where donations in the 2016 campaign were more evenly distributed. Excluding the $200,000 gift from the 2015 totals brings the 2016 campaign results to a 38 percent increase. Several organizations raised over $60,000 through the 2016 challenge.

“It is more than just raising money; it is about raising mission awareness,” Engh-Grady said.

Donations were flooding into the foundation office both online and in the mail during the final two weeks of the campaign. Foundation Vice President of Finance and Operations Daria Perez said that over $500,000 was processed in the final two weeks of the campaign.

“It was exciting to see many new donors give through the challenge this year,” Engh-Grady said. “It means the concept is catching on.”

The community foundation processed all the gifts for the campaign. All the costs of the campaign and the signature color run were covered by the Whitefish Community Foundation with the help of local sponsors so that 100 percent of all donations went to the designated charities.

For more information about the Whitefish Community Foundation visit the website at www.whitefishcommunityfoundation.org.