2024 Match Day Application Available!
Last year the greater Emporia Area Match Day paid out $667,733.74 to 35 local non-profits along with the ECF Fund for the Future. Applications and details are now available at https://www.emporiacf.org/foundation-news.cfm?id=1201 or by contacting the ECF office at (620) 342-9304. The application deadline is 5PM on Friday, March 29th and participating groups will be announced in May.
Emporia Area Match Day 10 Year Record - $667,733.74!
Ten years ago, the Emporia Community Foundation (ECF) united area donors to support 15 nonprofit organizations with the first Emporia Area Match Day. Then the event raised $61,432.98 through the generosity of over 450 donations. Today, the ECF gave $667,733.74 to 35 area nonprofits, plus the ECF Fund for the Future, in the 10th annual Emporia Area Match Day. The Emporia Area Match Day has increased every year since it’s beginning, and today’s checks bring the total to $3,048,059.71 given to 58 nonprofits over the years.
Participating organizations applied earlier in the year to the Emporia Community Foundation (ECF) and had to meet requirements of being in Lyon County or one of the surrounding counties; have an operating budget of $175,000 or under; and have a fund with the ECF. Once selected by the Match Day Committee, the ECF staff worked with participating groups on social media, videos, media interviews and other fundraising efforts until the big day on November 13th. Becky Nurnberg, ECF Executive Director, said, “The ECF is audited annually and nationally accredited, so donors feel confident when sending money to the foundation. Also, the ECF can accept gifts other than cash for charities. This year Match Day donations ranged from RMDs to soybeans!”
The 2023 Match Day matching pool of $175,000 was the largest to date. Nurnberg said, “We had a number of donors contact the ECF saying they wanted to be a matching donor this year so they could donate to all of the participating organizations.” The ECF thanks the following matching donors: the Antes Charitable Family Fund; the Clint Bowyer 79 Fund; the ECF Fund for the Future; the Emporia Masonic Lodge No. 12, A.F. & A.M.; Joyce French; the Gilpin Family Fund; the WS & EC Jones Testamentary Trust, Bank of America, N.A. Trustee; the Laurent Charitable Family Fund; the Fred and Paula Neuer Fund; the Preston Family Trust; Merry and Charles Rayl; the Jane and Bernard Reeble Endowed Fund; and the Trusler Foundation. In addition, thanks to a partnership with the Kansas Association of Community Foundations, the Patterson Family Foundation announced a match program for community foundations in the communities they serve for up to $70,000 per award. The Emporia Community Foundation was one of the first to receive confirmation of $70,000 for matching funds for this year’s event.
The 2023 Match Day totals, including match money and additional prizes, are as follows:
- Arvonia Historic Preservation Society - $ 24,354.72
- Camp Alexander - $ 25,230.81
- C4 Food Pantry (Chase County Care & Compassion, Inc.) - $ 34,457.73
- Chase County Historical Society and Museum – $ 22,767.80
- Emporia Area Habitat for Humanity – $ 26,991.43
- Emporia Children’s Choir - $ 3,525.92
- Emporia Eastside Community Group - $ 7,203.97
- Emporia First Friday Art Walk - $ 9,366.81
- Emporia Municipal Band - $4,109.08
- FEAS dba Flint Hills Animal Advocates - $ 15,055.84
- Food for Students – $ 23,454.08
- Friends of the Emporia Public Library - $ 9,838.46
- FUMC School Supply Project - $ 20,315.70
- Greenwood Preservation Society - $ 40,895.65
- Hispanics of Today and Tomorrow - $6,432.97
- House of Morrow - $ 3,234.47
- Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters serving Lyon County - $ 9,372.15
- Latimer Lutheran Church Preservation Society - $ 11,477.98
- Lyon County Crime Stoppers – $ 7,201.13
- Lyon County History Center - $ 30,859.66
- Main Street Mommas - $ 21,824.91
- Mount Mitchell Prairie Guards, Inc. - $ 25,095.01
- Newman Regional Health Volunteers - $ 12,028.03
- NLC Youth Association – $ 27,798.99
- No Coast Film Fest - $ 1,233.96
- Olpe Downhome - $ 2,182.38
- Pink Gravel - $ 9,586.06
- Pioneer Bluffs – $ 54,954.76
- Project Playscape - $ 5,274.91
- Red Rocks - William Allen White Community Partnership - $ 6,895.46
- Strong City Preservation Alliance - $ 32,784.74
- Team Schnak Strong – $ 94,892.60
- The Baby Closet of Emporia, Kansas - $ 13,533.02
- Vernon H. Buck VFW Post 7957 - $ 13,367.23
- Wade Barrett Memorial Fund - $ 6,625.32
Donations to the ECF Fund for the Future - $ 3,510.00 were matched by a separate donation but included in the Match Day Total.
“Match Day continues to be one of the best tools for area donors and local nonprofits to achieve their dreams and meet the needs of the community,” said Nurnberg. The ECF Board of Directors has also made their commitment to at least three more years of the Emporia Area Match Day event. The ECF does not keep any of the donations as this is their gift to the community, rather has help with expenses from area sponsors.
