The Virden Area Foundation (VAF) recently got what you might call a $100 wake-up call – one that spurred them into action.
It resulted from last year’s 24-hour Giving Challenge, a one-day blitz when Manitobans are asked to give to their local area foundation.
Forty-eight foundations from communities around the province participated in the campaign.
Virden came in dead last with just one donation of $100, according to figures from Endow Manitoba.
By comparison, the Pinawa Community Foundation took in more than $105,000. Beautiful Plains Community Foundation, encompassing Neepawa, pulled in more $18,000.
A matter of awareness
Seeing Virden at the bottom of that list of overachievers lit a fire under the foundation’s board of directors.
VAF board member Alex Renard said, “As a board, we feel there isn’t enough awareness of the foundation, which hurts our fundraising efforts.”
“Even when I was asked to sit on the board, I knew it existed but I didn’t know what it did.”
What the foundation does
The Virden Area Foundation distributes grants every year to deserving charities to support community-enhancing projects.
The money comes from the interest earned on the foundation’s capital (nearly $2 million) which is invested and never touched. The board wants to see the capital grow and generate even more interest.
So they reached out to a few of the successful foundations at the top of the Endow Manitoba list to find out how they did it.
Beautiful Plains Community Foundation held a Jail ‘n Bail event where people were asked to donate to the foundation in order to bail out community members from a mock jail cell.
Other groups have raffled off wine collections, held galas and BBQs.
Renard said there isn’t enough time leading up to this year’s 24-Hour Giving Challenge to mount any major events, however they do plan to advertise more than in past years.
Don’t wait to donate
If donors do their giving during the day-long challenge in November instead of waiting until year-end the foundation gets a 40% bonus.
“On November 18, there’s extra money available to us in ‘stretch’ dollars,” said Renard. “That means 20% of each donation we get will be matched by the Winnipeg Foundation and another 20% will be matched by the Province.”
So, for example, if someone donates $1,000 to the VAF, it will actually receive $1,400.
Renard threw out a challenge to Virden residents: “Lac du Bonnet is smaller than Virden and they raised $15,000 last year. There’s no reason why we can’t do that.”
The 24-Hour Challenge is on Saturday, Nov. 18.
Donors can give in several ways: by credit card online at endowmanitoba.ca; by phone 1-877-974-3631 from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm; or by cheque delivered to Teresa Makarchuk in Virden.
History of the Virden Area Foundation:
Murray and Jean Thomas came to Virden in the early 1950s. They bought the Pontiac Buick dealership and made a few other successful real estate investments.
With no children, they left their money to the Town of Virden with instructions to use it for “a suitable community project… of a long or lasting nature.”
As a result, the Thomas Fund was created and made grants to 56 local projects before becoming the Virden Area Foundation in 1992.
Since then, hundreds of grants have been issued. The larger ones include $40,000 for a new slide at Virden’s pool, $150,000 for the arena, and $50,000 designated for Virden’s future daycare. Many smaller projects have also been helped (see photos).
The VAF also grants scholarships to two graduating students of Virden Collegiate every year.
By the end of 2016, the foundation had grown the initial sum of $600,000 bequeathed by the Thomases to just over $1,949,000 in assets, which will keep generating funds for the community’s needs in perpetuity.
