President's Message - Annual Lunch

From the Community Foundation Annual Lunch on
June 24, 2009 –
by Chris McGuigan, President/CEO

In the midst of the financial crisis that just won’t leave, Muskegon’s Match Day has put us all in a good mood! Match Day truly was Muskegon rising to the occasion, as it has done so many times – this time in our outpouring of generosity and support of the nonprofits in our community. Held in the lobby of the Frauenthal Theater – that special place that was saved and restored by the caring of the best in our community – Match Day was the supercharged demonstration of our annual report theme – Give. [Thanks] 

On Match Day, giving and gratefulness linked in a circle. Surrounded by this circle, the best in all of us called out and the best in us is delivered. We are grateful to the Community Foundations in Columbus and Findlay Ohio for the idea of Match Day. We believe we are the first Community Foundation in Michigan to hold a Match Day, and we say very humbly that, by several measures, Muskegon’s Match Day is by far the most successful we have heard about.

The first requirement of Mach Day, of course, was to gather a match pool! The same circumstances that made it a great idea to hold a Match Day made it a challenge to get a match pool. It is like the old joke – how do you retire as a millionaire? First, you get a million dollars…How do you have a Match Day? Well, first you get a match. That is, in  this economy, where the Foundation’s funds are down like everyone’s, we had to do what we would be asking the rest of the community to do – we had to see the abundance not the scarcity – look at what we still have, not look back at what we had lost. Ok, sometimes I do read our 2007 numbers just for fun. So to start the match pool our board looked at our rainy day fund which exists for extraordinary times like this. $25,000 of the match pool came from this fund. But the rest of the $75,000 match was built with the enthusiastic donations from individual donor advised funds or other partners within our Foundation.

Those donors included: Fund of the Foundation, Unrestricted Fund, Raymond C. and Evelyn P. Alstrom Memorial Fund, Edith & Jack Lipman Fund, Clita R. Anderson Child Care Center Fund, Paul C. Johnson Foundation, Greater Women and Children’s Fund, Anton Family Fund, White Lake Community Fund, Drs. Osbie J. and Anita M. Herald Fund, Environmental Committee Fund, Thomas and Geraldine Seyferth Fund, Carol A Peden Performing Arts Memorial Fund, ESCO Fund, Peggy Jensen and Gerald Nehra Fund, Bryan and Sandy Betten Fund, Muskegon Community Foundation Employee Fund, Fisher Family Fund, Virginia E. & F. Remington Sprague Fund, Joseph "Joe" Nowak Fund, Joan Majeski Fund, Shoreline Sport & Spine Fund. and Tom & Elizabeth Tuttle.

It is a feature of this Community Foundation of which we can be so very proud – that so many living donors “do” philanthropy through their funds at the Foundation. They truly form a platform of philanthropy that lifts this community up.

As soon as we could see that we indeed had a match to offer, we contacted the qualifying agencies about it and they took off with it using e-mail, Facebook, paper and ink, and in some cases from the pulpit on Sunday morning - they spread the word. We gained new appreciation for the quality of the boards and management of Muskegon’s nonprofit network. First, it is a tribute to our community that almost 100 nonprofits had the foresight and good stewardship to establish endowments at the Foundation. When we limited who could participate in Match Day to those who had an endowment at the Foundation, we knew that we could reach the vast majority of the area’s nonprofit community. Second, Match Day allowed us to get to know these agencies better – the passion and ability of their executives, staffs and boards was overwhelming. And, the final numbers reflect their efforts –
o 78 of the 94 qualifying organizations received donations
o 58 received some match dollars.

They also made the day fun. From their tables stationed along the Frauenthal lobby, they treated us to cookies, donuts, Big Brothers/Big Sisters brought popcorn and root beer donated by their neighbor’s Cinema Carousel. White Lake Arts Council brought in wonderful musicians. The whole day felt like a neighborhood block party – their directors and staff helped all of us work the crowd so there was always a buzz, smiling faces and more than anything a feeling of great pride in a giving community.

It was all these factors together that made the day blossom into an event that delightfully met and surpassed our expectations. We wondered “What If” scenarios. What if there is a line of donors even before we open the doors?” Well that happened – Dave Wikman, was the first in line at 5am. And, that line, never stopped – we gratefully received donations right up to 5:35pm when the last donor rushed in after having said goodbye to houseguests at 5pm, checking their Chronicle for the Match Day schedule, and driving over from North Muskegon!

We wondered “could we attract enough gifts to exhaust the 50 cents on the dollar match?” That happened too – in a big way. Over 900 donors with nearly 1500 separate gifts came across the Frauenthal’s marble concession counter that day – individual gifts ranging from $1 to $20,000. All told, $449,594 – making the total amount that we are distributing back to our nonprofit partners just under $525,000!

Of course, the early people were motivated by the opportunity to match their donation. But even as that opportunity waned later in the day, people still wanted to give. They told us “whether our gift is matched or not, we know that our heart is in the right place.” Match Day contained demonstrations that your hearts are in the right place. One woman made a donation to Every Woman’s Place as a wedding gift in honor of a special couple. Another person carefully presented a $10 bill to make a $7 donation to divide amongst his 3 favorite charities. 21 donors gave more than the $2,000 match limit. The treasurer of Forest Park Covenant Church, a qualifying nonprofit agency itself – stood in line not to donate to Forest Park, but to make generous donations to two programs that serve the poorest in our community.

Sometimes the “heart in the right place” showed itself in other ways – one retired woman came through the line once for herself, then took her daughter’s place in line so she could get to work and then came through 2 more times helping out others who couldn’t stand in line any longer. Five of the donors who contributed to the match pool in the first place also gave gifts on Match Day! That is the kindness and generosity that filled the lobby of the Frauenthal that day.

Special agency recognitions go to:
o Child Abuse Council who had the highest total donations - $33,036, which included the largest single gift of the day - $20,000.
o Community EnCompass who had the second highest amount of match dollars and resourcefully spent no money promoting Match Day – all through e-mail.
o First Congregational Church had the first donor in line and was the only agency to successfully max out their match - $7,429.50
o LOVE, INC had the greatest number of gifts (92) and wins our $1,000 prize

To all the donors and the nonprofits who brought us this great day for Muskegon –Thank You. The generous people of this community, through the decades, and today, inspire and lead us. They tell us there is a goodness to pay forward, a greatness to express clearly, and now, a challenge for the generations to meet strongly, in gratitude and generosity.

Give. [Thanks].