Mequon-Thiensville Community Foundation Inc

For 21 years the Mequon Community Foundation has existed in order to enhance the quality of life in Mequon. We provide a funding vehicle to supplement programs and facilities that are not provided through the city budget and tax base. We also provide a way for Mequon's philanthropically concerned citizens to direct their involvement to their own city. Ultimately we want to create a more cohesive sense of community among our widely dispersed neighborhoods. We seek to distribute our grants across diverse interest areas, including athletic, historic and civic. Examples include score boards for multiple locations, play ground equipment at multiple parks, bike racks for the Interurban Trail, improvements at Highland Woods and Katherine Kearney Carpenter Park, River Barn Park Sommers Pavilion, the Jonathan Clark House, the Mequon Thiensville Historic Society, several K9 units over the years for the Mequon Police Department, equipment for the Mequon Fire Department, Mequon Nature Preserve signage and funding for their dog, funding for library offerings, partnerships with Rotary on their Riverwalk, Memorial Garden and Pukaite Woods.

Government officials and private citizens approach us with requests for support. In the past a previous mayor asked for help with building a new bath house for the community swimming pool and a pavilion at Lemke Park. Another mayor asked us to give the Jonathan Clark House a start. Community individuals have asked for an entirely new swimming pool, revamping of Rennicke Field and a completely newly redesigned Community Park between City Hall and the Library. The Mequon Commmunity Foundation board evaluates the feasibility of involvement based on funds available for grants and based on time constraints. Typically we have 2 grant cycles with application deadlines March 1 and October 1. For larger projects on-going discussion is usually required.

Fund raising is accomplished primarily through our annual appeal in November. Individual events are proposed and evaluated for their efficacy. Two such examples are dining at a local pizza restaurant organized by a non-Mequon resident as thanks for life saving intervention by a Mequon EMT; and a Road Rally open to residents and non residents as a family friendly introduction to the Foundation's projects.

Friend raising and awareness are accomplished at our annual Pillars of the Community celebration in June and by our newsletter in September. Also through articles and ads in the News Graphic and Beacon, through our website and through our social media presence. MCF board members are active in partner organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce.

The MCF board and committees are comprised 100% of volunteer professionals with wide ranging fields of expertise in accounting, finance, marketing, law, non-profit governance and strategic planning. For over 21 years our board has refined and perfected our annual cadence. We have nurtured strong colliegial relationships with donors, city officials and grant recipients. As our visibility grows, so does our effectiveness. We have established strong financial relationships with the Greater Milwaukee Foundation and with Richmond Financial Services to expand our reach. We use professional software such as DonorSnap for managing our finances and Vertz Marketing for our website, marketing and PR. Concord Development supports our meeting space.

So far MCF has granted over $1 million exclusively to projects and initiatives within Mequon. What's next is growing our board in order to take on more ambitious activities and growing our corpus to an even more robust stature.