Record Setting Match Madness Event

Generous donors turned out to support Greater Salina Community Foundation’s Match Madness 2016 in an impactful way. The event set record numbers for participating charities: 67, donors: 623, and contributions: $202,313. A total of 1,204 gifts were made in support of the 67 charities.

From 7a.m. to 7p.m. on March 8, GSCF hosted nonprofit representatives and donors at the on-site event at Blue Skye Brewery and Eats in downtown Salina. Out-of-town donors were able to contribute online through the GSCF website from 12:01a.m. through midnight. Gifts came in from across the United States. One gift came through from New Zealand.

Eligible donations received a 30% match from a $57,600 match pool. Bonus grants were awarded on the hour throughout the day at Blue Skye. At the end of every hour, a donation sheet was drawn and an extra $100 was added to that donor’s contribution.

In addition, Bethany Homes received a $500 bonus grant for having the most donors. Second place in the donor count went to Women Helping Women, which received a $200 bonus grant, and third place went to Childcare Aware of Kansas, which received a $100 bonus grant.

Match Madness makes giving to endowments easy. Contributions were matched up to $2,000 per donor per charity. Some donors took the opportunity to contribute more than the eligible matching amount to their favorite charity, and others elected to contribute to funds that were not part of the event. Non-matched donations totaled $11,298.

With all donations, the matching grants, and the hourly bonus grants awarded, the total charitable benefit from the event was $261,913.

GSCF attributed the event’s success to the great work of the participating charities in promoting the opportunity to their donors, and to a very generous and supportive community. GSCF would also like to thank Blue Skye Brewery and Eats for donating a fun and friendly environment to hold Match Madness.

Match Madness was designed to give local nonprofits an easy way to share the value of endowed giving with their donors. Match Madness generates new gifts to charities’ endowed funds for long term support and also provides matching grants to help meet immediate needs.