NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — As a highlight of Hutchinson Community Foundation’s 35th year of serving Reno County, Match Day, the popular day of community generosity, returns May 1. The purpose of Match Day is to strengthen the endowments of local organizations.
"An endowment is a critical piece to having a sustainable, effective, nonprofit organization," said Aubrey Abbott Patterson with the Foundation. "They'll have a checking account they use for everyday expenses. We hope they have a reserve account with six to nine months worth of operating capital. Then, an endowment really sets organizations apart to say, we are planning for the long term. We are investing in ourselves and our savings account, so that over time, we know that we can become stronger and invest in ourselves at exactly the right time."
Members of the public are invited to demonstrate their love for the community by coming to the Wiley Building, 100 N. Main St., Hutchinson, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 1 to give to their choice of 38 Reno County nonprofit organizations.
"Inflation really knocks us down a bit," Patterson said. "An endowment builds that kind of hedge in. Over time, if the markets earn eight to ten percent, as we've shown that they have, we can still pay out every year, five percent of an endowment to the nonprofits. That money, they can come to depend on, while still putting three percent back into the fund. Two percent back into the fund for growth and one percent that pays the foundation's fees and keeps us going."
Those gifts will be met proportionately from the community foundation’s $100,000 matching pool.
"The way we will figure how much an organization gets is by the percent of the total that they raise," Patterson said. "If your favorite organization brings in 10% of the total gifts, our match will be 10% of our $100,000 matching pool."
If you are unable to come to the Wiley Building, you can still give tomorrow all day long through a link at https://www.ihearthutch.org/.
You can find the list of participating organizations there, as well.
Hutchinson Community Foundation's Wendy Skellenger contributed to this story.
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