Since 2015, the annual Great Fish Community Challenge has brought Flathead Valley together in a multi-week fundraising campaign benefiting local nonprofits. A decade of the challenge has raised over $28 million for more than 90 nonprofit organizations.  

The first year of the challenge raised $1.1 million for 32 nonprofits. This year, 80 nonprofits are participating, including first-time participants Bigfork ACES, Bigfork Food Bank, Flathead Valley United, My Glacier Village and Writing Coaches of Montana. 

“We are excited to be part of such a well-thought-out and organized approach to fundraise that makes it easier for small groups such as us to be active in a county-wide fundraiser,” said Executive Director of Writing Coaches of Montana Jay Shaver.  

“We served 1,780 students last year in schools throughout Flathead Valley. Raised funds will allow us to recruit and train more coaches; and more effectively coordinate our programming among coaches, teachers and Flathead school administrations. Our goal is to coach students in every school in Flathead Valley,” Shaver said.  

In 2024, the tenth edition of the event is going to greater heights by increasing the cap on the matching award on the first $25,000 raised by each nonprofit. 

That means that for every dollar raised by a nonprofit up to $25,000, Whitefish Community Foundation, founders and organizers of the event, will provide an additional matching grant. The match has historically been about 60% of the cap depending on funds available.  

In 2015, the cap was $15,000 and the foundation was able to give a 53% match for a maximum of up to $7,982 to each nonprofit.  

Since 2017, the cap has been set at 20,000, with the highest match percentage coming in at 62% in 2023, meaning each nonprofit received a 62% match of what they raised for a maximum of an additional $12,400 grant. 

“On top of the match grants, we’re also honoring the anniversary this year by giving out $125,000 in incentives,” said Whitefish Community Foundation President and CEO Alan Davis.

The biggest catch of the new incentives will be a weekly $10,000 award to a nonprofit with the highest number of unduplicated donors who gave $25 or more that week.  

Other incentives include drawings and awards handed out at the launch party, the fun run and community celebration, and the closing awards ceremony.  

Davis said the incentives help increase the impact of small gifts. 

“That $25 gift could be the difference between an extra $10,000 award,” he said. 

PART OF what makes the challenge special is how it caters to small communities.  

In 2015, former Executive Director Linda Engh-Grady brought the idea to the board.

“It’s modeled off a similar campaign called Old Bill Fun Run based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming,” Davis explained.

But the challenge arose with figuring out how to fund the match campaign, Davis said. 

That’s where the Circle of Giving comes in. 

“It’s not just the 10-year anniversary of the challenge. It’s the 10-year anniversary of the Circle of Giving, too,” Davis said.  

The Circle of Giving is the foundation’s core group of donors that give $5,000 or more annually. The Circle of Giving funds not only the Great Fish match, but also the foundation’s mission and operations, and the community, emergency and project grant funds awarded throughout the year.   

While the Circle of Giving is key for the Great Fish match, Davis said the Challenge has seen the greatest strides through “a huge base of community support.”

The number of donors has grown from 864 in 2015 to 3,111 in 2023. The total dollars raised has increased from $1,126,860 to $6,286,729.  

“Most of our donations are well under $250,” Davis said. “The best way to help us grow the base of the support is to make a gift to nonprofits in the challenge at whatever level is meaningful for you.” 

The median-sized gift from each donor was $200 in 2023. That number, taken into consideration of whether donors chose to give to one or multiple groups, made the median sized gift to each nonprofit $100. 

The total number of gifts has gone from 1,273 to 11,914.  

The average number of gifts per donation has risen from 1.58 to 3.83, meaning that instead of just donating to one or two nonprofits in 2015, the average donor in 2023 was able to spread their gifts to three or four.  

This is because the challenge serves as a platform to “shop” for nonprofits. 

“From the donor perspective, it’s awesome that they can support multiple charities with one gift and one tax-receipt,” Davis said.  

The efficient platform of the challenge is great for nonprofits, too, because it gives “a natural way to grow through people learning about the challenge first, and then they can learn about the nonprofit and what they’re going to do with donations,” Davis said.  

Davis said another benefit of the challenge is the flexibility allowed with the funds raised. 

“One of the awesome parts about the challenge is that these organizations can raise unrestricted money for general operations, which they can apply to whatever is most important. As a grant writer before this job, I can't tell you how unique that is. Many grants are restricted to a certain project, leaving shortfalls in paying for staff, for example,” Davis said.  

While general operating funds from Great Fish are huge for many nonprofits, some have specific projects on tap for this year’s fundraising.  

Project Whitefish Kids is a nonprofit that maintains the entire 55-acre, 18-field Smith Fields Sports Complex, supporting 13 different soccer, baseball, softball and lacrosse clubs. 

“This year we’re fundraising for a mother board for the water pump. It’s the computer that runs our irrigation system for the fields. Our current one is over 20 years old and failing, and a new one will cost $60,000. So, our goal for Great Fish is $100,000 so we have some funds left over for operating,” said Gloria Nelson, executive director of Project Whitefish Kids. 

“Great Fish is huge for us. Last year, it raised about half of our $160,000 operating budget just for maintenance. We cover the rest with player fees. We’re entirely volunteer based and don’t receive any other funds,” Nelson said. 

A 10-year participant, Nelson said Project Whitefish Kids raised $10,033 in the Great Fish Challenge in 2015, and $79,186 including the match in 2023. 

“The increase is in large due to the community outreach and education that the Great Fish Community Challenge provides. It is a huge illustration of how the Whitefish Community Foundation has helped local nonprofits grow and become more well known in the community. We could not do what we do without their support,” Nelson said.  

The 2024 Challenge officially kicks off Thursday, Aug. 8 with the Great Fish Launch Party at Three Rivers Bank in Whitefish.

This free community event will include appetizers, beverages and the opportunity to learn about the 80 nonprofits participating in the Challenge. Donors who give $100 or more to a single nonprofit at the Launch Party will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win one of 11 $1,000 grants for that organization.