Great Fish challenge enters fourth week of giving

The Great Fish Community Challenge, a charitable giving campaign benefiting 56 local nonprofits, is now in the fourth week of the seven-week campaign.

The campaign has set a new record for gifts collected in the first three weeks of the challenge with over $700,000 to date. The Community Foundation is working to increase the number of donors giving through the Great Fish Community Challenge this year and so far, it appears to be working.

“We are seeing gifts from all over the Flathead, across the state, and a lot from out of state addresses,” said foundation President Linda Engh-Grady. “We are very excited to see that it is not just Whitefish supporting this campaign. Nonprofits in the challenge serve the entire Flathead Valley and donors are recognizing this.”

Each week, the Foundation has been hosting Pop-Up Donation Stations around the Flathead. Donors who drop off a donation at the Donation Station are entered into a drawing for a chance to win $500 for the charity of their choice. Another $500 weekly incentive grant is awarded each week to the charity that has the most donors that week.

Over $32,000 will be awarded through incentive grants and special awards in the campaign. The challenge, now in its sixth year, has raised more than $9 million over the past five years for more than 63 charities. Donors can give to as many nonprofits as they choose with just one check made out to the Whitefish Community Foundation.

Donations made by check go 100% to the charity they designate. If a donor gives by credit card online, there is a processing fee charged by the credit card company. Donors can choose to add an additional 3% to their gift to help cover this fee.

Nonprofits participating in the challenge are able to login to the foundation’s online portal to see who has donated to their charity, unless the donor elects to be anonymous. Transparency is one of the foundation’s top priorities in the challenge.

Whitefish Community Foundation organizes the campaign free for participating charities. The foundation covers all the advertising, marketing, gift processing, and receipt mailings. In the end, the foundation will add a percentage match to the first $20,000 raised by each nonprofit.

In 2019, the percentage match was 49% which came out to be an additional $9,800 for each charity that raised at least $20,000 through the Challenge. Total match awarded was just over $485,000.

The final 2020 match amount will be announced at the Sept. 26 awards event. To donate to any of the 56 charities in the challenge visit whitefishcommunityfoundation.org. Donors can give to all 56 charities with one gift to the Match Fund, or designate gifts directly to the individual charities of choice. People can give online or download the official donation form, designate the charities on the form, and mail it with a check. Donations can be mailed to Whitefish Community Foundation P.O. Box 1060, Whitefish, MT 59937 or dropped off at 214 Second Street West, Whitefish. For questions call 406-863-1781. The challenge runs through Sept. 18 ending at 5 p.m.

For more information on the Great Fish Community Challenge or the Whitefish Community Foundation visit whitefishcommunityfoundation.org.