Logo for the Community Foundation of North Central Wisconsin's COVID-19 Impact Catalog initiative. (Photo courtesy of the Community Foundation of North Central Wisconsin)
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — A local nonprofit has put together a new online tool to help other nonprofits.
The Community Foundation of North Central Wisconsin is putting together it’s first “Month of Giving” initiative by launching the COVID-19 Impact Catalog. The catalog will work as an online crowdsourcing platform to raise money for 19 charitable causes in Central Wisconsin.
Community Foundation Program Director Sue Nelson says the causes represent ones helping to fulfill people’s basic needs. “The areas of basic needs which would be food and shelter, childcare services, access to medical and legal services and safety in the home, education and youth enrichment, and access to information.”
The idea to create a catalog to help other nonprofits rose out of conversations the Community Foundation was having with nonprofits. Many nonprofits were saying how their services are being stretched with more services being needed during the COVID-19 pandemic and budgets are being cut with lack of donations and fundraising events.
Nelson says the Community Foundation knew they would be able to help nonprofits by bringing together their need for donations and a giving community like Central Wisconsin. She also says the Impact Catalog will be easy to use for community members who want to help their local nonprofits. “It’s going to be just like shopping on Amazon. You’re going to read a description about what the need is and you’ll be able to choose how much you would like to give to that organization.”
Nelson explains the 19 organizations in the Impact Catalog were hand-selected by the Community Foundation through a vetting and application process. The catalog will work as a reverse grant process as the group knows how much money needs to be raised for each organization to receive their requested grant. Nelson says the requests from the organizations range anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000.
The COVID-19 Impact Catalog goes live on October 1st and will remain open until October 31st for the Month of Giving. You can look at the organizations included in the Impact Catalog here.
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