Today is the day, Milwaukee. Happy Match Day.
From the Center for Veterans Issues to Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin to the Hunger Task Force to the Walker's Point Youth and Family Center, 19 nonprofits are participating in Match Day, an online giving event and the first of its kind in Wisconsin designed to raise awareness for basic needs in the greater Milwaukee area.
The Greater Milwaukee Foundation is coordinating the event, which showcases mainly organizations in the greater Milwaukee area meeting the food and shelter needs of individuals and families who are struggling. Match Day is modeled after similar online giving events sponsored by community foundations in cities like Columbus and Pittsburgh.
"It’s been three years since the economy took a tumble and things are still very tough for many individuals and families in our community," said Ellen M. Gilligan, the Foundation’s president and CEO.
"We know from the organizations that we support that too many people are continuing to struggle to meet the most basic needs that many of us take for granted. With Match Day, we want to leverage support from the community and increase the capacity of those nonprofits to meet the demand for their services."
The process began Feb. 17 with information being posted on matchdaymke.org.
Each gift made today will be proportionately matched. The Greater Milwaukee Foundation and several individual donors and area funders, including the Brewers Community Foundation, The Ceres Foundation, Faye McBeath Foundation, and United Way of Greater Milwaukee have already pledged $675,000 toward the match pool for that day.
The Brewers Community Foundation, Time Warner Cable, Clear Channel Outdoor, The Business Journal Serving Greater Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel have contributed in kind support and donor prizes.
To create Match Day, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation partnered with Razoo, an online platform that simplifies giving. Razoo also offers training to help nonprofits build robust online fundraising abilities to help strengthen their donor base for years to come.
Before undertaking Match Day, Razoo helped create two similar days in Minnesota, netting $24 million in donations for 4,000 nonprofits.
So, give today, Milwaukee and your efforts will be matched.
Participating Nonprofits
- Center for Veterans Issues
- Community Advocates
- Daystar
- Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin
- Food Pantry of Waukesha County
- Friends of Abused Families
- Guest House of Milwaukee
- Hebron House of Hospitality
- Hope Center
- Hope House of Milwaukee
- Hunger Task Force
- Milwaukee Rescue Mission
- Pathfinders Milwaukee
- Repairers of the Breach
- Salvation Army of Greater Milwaukee
- Sojourner Family Peace Center
- The Cathedral Center
- Walker’s Point Youth and Family Center
- Women’s Center – Waukesha
- Greater Milwaukee Foundation: Basic Needs Fund
A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.
He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.
Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.
He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.
He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.
