January 11, 2006

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Publication Date: Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Challenge grants aim to spur giving to Boys & Girls Club @ text: With donations down almost 20 percent this year, the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula is pinning its hopes that several challenge grants will help the organization retain past donors as well as attract new ones.

"We believe that the decline is in part due to recent focuses on relief efforts nationally and abroad" says Peter Fortenbaugh, the club's executive director. "And while we understand and applaud the people in our community for their response and generosity, we need to remember that the poverty and challenges we witnessed following the hurricanes exist right here in our own community each and every day of the year."

Challenge grants are an effective way to leverage one person's or group's support to attract others, said Mr. Fortenbaugh. There is, however, a risk, he said. "If we don't meet the challenge, we could potentially lose it all. In essence, it's double or nothing."

The nonprofit youth development organization now has three challenge grants totaling over $200,000 that, if met, would translate to about $500,000 for the Boys & Girls Clubs programs, said Mr. Fortenbaugh.

Each grant has specific requirements. The Sobrato Family Foundation challenge grant specifies that the foundation will give the organization $2 for every $1 donated to the agency by new donors or by those who increase their giving by 10 percent or more over last year's donation.

The Grove Foundation will match $1 for $1 all gifts of $25 to $500 made by new donors by the end of January.

The Morgan Family Foundation has set the bar substantially higher. Its challenge specifies that only donations of $5,000 or more made by new donors will be matched.

For more information, contact Mr. Fortenbaugh or Chris Carter, development director, at the Boys & Girls Club office, 322-8065.

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