ARTS, HOUSING, SUBSTANCE USE TREATMENT, AND MORE. Those topics and others are the focus of five nonprofit organizations which recently received unrestricted grant monies from dozens of donors whom attended Philanthropy Unplugged. (Photos via Facebook)

Earlier this summer, five Chippewa Valley nonprofits received a total $65,000 in grant awards thanks to the collective fundraising of roughly 100 locals and donors part of the inaugural Philanthropy Unplugged event.

The July 30 event – which initially planned to award $50,000 before an anonymous donor brought the total up to $65,000 – ultimately resulted in a more rare type of financial support for nonprofits: unrestricted grant monies.

Philanthropy Unplugged, unique for a variety of reasons, spotlighted five local nonprofits (selected in advance through a competitive application process) by giving each time to “pitch” projects or initiatives to the audience in hopes of gaining attendees’ votes – which determined how the raised funds would be distributed.

The five awardees – Stepping Stones of Dunn County ($30,000), Arbor Place, Inc. ($10,000), Menomonie Theater Guild ($10,000), The Community Tables ($5,000), and the Shirley Doane Senior Center ($5,000) – are largely able to utilize the monies on their own terms, at their own pace.

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the unanticipated grant award is "literally program-saving."

CORRISA VILLENEUVE

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, STEPPING STONES OF DUNN COUNTY

Arbor Place, Inc., an organization which offers substance use treatment in Menomonie, has already put its award into action. Later this month, on Sept. 24, the nonprofit will host an open house at its new two-level women and children’s treatment center.

“Establishing a women and children’s substance use disorder residential treatment unit in western Wisconsin is not merely an option but a necessity,” Executive Director Jill Gamez said.

Arbor Place, Inc., put its $5,000 grant award toward its soon-to-open women and children's treatment center.

“Receiving both general and financial support from the community is vital, as many funding sources restrict dollars to new programs or initiatives. In reality, general operating support is often our greatest need,” Gamez continued.

Corrisa Villeneuve, executive director of Stepping Stones of Dunn County, echoed Gamez’ sentiment. “Typically, grants are restricted to being used for specific items, whereas this – an unrestricted grant – gives us an opportunity to pay for things that a grant typically doesn’t cover, which almost always tends to be staffing.”

Stepping Stones, which received the largest grant award at Philanthropy Unplugged, operates a community food pantry and multiple shelters for unhoused folks in Menomonie. In 2023, the organization celebrated a decades-long dream when it opened a 24/7 shelter adjacent to its food pantry.

While the need for shelters continues in the Chippewa Valley – exemplified by Stepping Stones’s shelter waiting list, which is often around 60 households at any given time, Villeneuve said – the new shelter also significantly added to Stepping Stones’s annual budget.

"(Philanthropy) can be fun, fast, and incredibly meaningful."

GEORGINE TEGART

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF DUNN COUNTY

“It’s been a really hard year this year – and last year – for Stepping Stones. We have a deficit in our budget, meaning we have more expenses than income,” Villeneuve said. “(When Stepping Stones) opened up the new shelter, that stretched our budget. So, despite incredible community support, it (hasn’t been) quite enough.

While Stepping Stones has not yet dispersed the entire award – it is being strategically utilized across the organization and its various needs – the unanticipated $30,000 award is “literally program-saving,” Villeneuve said.

“To put (the monies’ impact) into perspective, that $30,000 can pay for 12 guests to go through our shelter program. That’s 12 lives that you could change forever,” Villeneuve said.

The Menomonie Theater Guild lost a federal grant this spring. Its $5,000 award from Philanthropy Unplugged will help further its mission.

For the Menomonie Theater Guild — which will be putting its award toward the support and expansion of its popular children’s theater education programming — the funds help fill the gap left by the abrupt cancellation of a federal NEA grant earlier this year due to “a change in priorities by the current presidential administration,” LeAnne Talberg, the organization’s executive director, said.

“Demand for children’s programming has been increasing each year, and these funds will allow us to serve more families in the future and help area youth grow in confidence, leadership, and resilience through theater,” Talberg said.

Looking ahead, the Community Foundation of Dunn County has not decided the frequency in which Philanthropy Unplugged will occur – but the event is likely to return.

“We are not sure if it will be annual, or every other year/every few years, or every five years for anniversary milestone years,” Communications Specialist Laura Giammattei said.

Yet the inaugural event proved at least one thing: Philanthropy does not need to be complicated. “It can be fun, fast, and incredibly meaningful,” Georgina Tegart, executive director of the Foundation, said.

Learn more about The Community Foundation of Dunn County online at cfdunncounty.org. Philanthropy Unplugged benefited five local nonprofits: Stepping Stones of Dunn County, Arbor Place, Inc., Menomonie Theater Guild, The Community Tables, and the Shirley Doane Senior Center.