Summer 2025

Alissa Oeltjenbruns

Vice President of Philanthropy and Community Vitality

alissao@smifoundation.org | 507.214.7023



Join us for SMIF’s Fall Community Foundations training event!

Connect, learn and leave inspired! This half-day gathering will bring together Community Foundation leaders from across southern Minnesota to strengthen our collective impact. Enjoy lunch and networking, meet SMIF’s new President Benya Kraus as she shares her experience and advice on building grassroots community movements, and hear from David Olson of Morgan Stanley on SMIF's strategies for growing and stewarding your endowment.

Get an exclusive preview of SMIF’s new training video series, explore fresh marketing tools with our communications team and dive into an interactive storytelling workshop with Kristi Ackley of Growth By Design to help you make a compelling case for support.

Whether you’re looking to sharpen your fundraising message, deepen donor trust or connect with fellow leaders, this event is designed to equip and inspire you to make an even greater difference in your community.

One representative from each Community Foundation is required to attend. Mileage reimbursement is available and door prizes included.

October 2, 2025 | 12:00 – 4:00 PM | Paradise Art Center, Faribault

To register, email Forest at forestw@smifoundation.org.



We are ready to fully switch your grant and bill processing for amounts under $2,500 to GoFund.

Here you will find step by step instructions to walk you through the process.

Please reach out to Forest (forestw@smifoundation.org) when you are ready to process for the first time. He will give you access and be there to answer any questions for you. Also, don’t worry if you forget this change in process. We will remind you! 

It’s important to keep your website current. For those of you who host your website through SMIF, please use this form to review and provide any updates needed. This is the best way to share information about your Foundation.

Don’t have a website through SMIF? Let’s connect! We are happy to provide this service free of charge to our Community Foundations. Please reach me at alissao@smifoundation.org.  

Give to the Max Day will be here before we know it! This is a big day, and week, in fundraising for your Community Foundation. It's not too early to start thinking about your strategy: be creative, have fun and try to plan your campaign in advance. Fundraising success requires a team, knowing your “why" and having a plan to achieve results.

Consider maximizing generosity by offering a matching gift during your campaign. There are many ways to go about offering a match. Perhaps a local company is willing to provide funds for you to leverage. Maybe your board of directors can put together a challenge fund or your community can work on a specific project for your Foundation to use grant dollars to support.

Remember to take advantage of the SMIF incentive:

• For every gift made to your Community Foundation from November 15-20, 2025, SMIF will enter your Foundation into a drawing for one or more of twenty $100 endowment gifts from SMIF. Your Foundation can win multiple times!

For example, if your Community Foundation receives 20 gifts from unique donors by check or credit card, we'll put 20 tickets with your Community Foundation's name into a drawing for a chance to win. The more people that give a gift to your Foundation, the more chances for you to win.

The fine print:

• Gifts must be received between November 15-20, 2025.
• Please direct contributions by credit card through your SMIF hosted donation page.
• To enter the drawing, the number of unique donations and the total raised must be reported to Forest at forestw@smifoundation.org by noon, Friday November 21, 2025.  
• Donors will only be counted once, even if they make multiple donations.
• We will announce the winners Friday November 21, 2025 at 2:00 PM on SMIF's Facebook page and Instagram account.

If your Community Foundation would like us to update your donation page with your matching gift information, please let Forest know no later than November 6, 2025. Please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions!

We also will be working on updating your GiveMN donation page, of which each Community Foundation has. Please feel free to review and let us know of any changes.

Another tip is to work smarter, not harder, by meeting your audience where they're at. Make sure you're advertising your campaign on social media, sending out emails and having face-to-face conversations with community leaders leading up to Give to the Max Day. Incorporate gratitude into your campaign by thanking your donors. Share the impact their gifts will have on your mission, what will happen next and how they can stay involved.

Need graphics? They will be here soon!

It’s up to you to make the most out of Give to the Max Day for your Community Foundation, and SMIF is eager to be by your side providing support. 

"The Preston Area Community Foundation (PACF) utilizes Give to the Max Day to make it one of its two main fundraisers for the year. We promote the day through social media, fliers around town, our website and a Preston Public Utilities mailer to remind people Give to the Max Day is a great day to give to the Foundation, as well as other charities in Minnesota.

"We are grateful that Dan Christianson at F&M Community Bank and the First State Bank of Fountain make matching donations on Give to the Max Day, and we advertise this in our event promotions. F&M Community Bank in downtown Preston allows the Foundation to use its lobby for donors to come in, make a donation and have a cookie and coffee.

"Our board members volunteer to bring cookies and take shifts in the lobby to greet and talk with donors. We put a sandwich board outside the bank to remind people to come in that day and donate. Donors appreciate being able to give online, so we utilize SMIF's online giving to collect donations electronically as well as in-person.

"The success of the event is all because PACF has established it as an annual event and uses the wonderful resources from SMIF, F&M Community Bank, First State Bank of Fountain, Give to the Max Day and the PACF board."

 – Alison Leathers, PACF Board Member

Hello everyone,

I'm Ren, SMIF's communications specialist. When Alissa asked me to put together a Community Foundation marketing plan, I could hardly wait to start! I want to help people see all of the great work you do and help you make more connections in your community.

As the daughter of a small business owner, I know the importance of a presence in a small town. It's not the amount of posts you put out, it's the connections you create with the ones you do.

My goal is to create step-by-step processes to help you make the most of your posts, press releases and more. I'll add them to a resource page and share them with you at the fall training. I look forward to seeing you then!

Best wishes,

Ren

With your support we will raise an additional $1 million to invest in our region’s small towns through SMIF’s new fund for community vitality.

In honor of Tim’s lifetime work in southern Minnesota and his longtime passion and deep roots in small towns, we invite you to help us start the Tim Penny Small Towns Fund to honor him. Thanks to investment earnings, your gift will continue to grow and have an even greater impact on the region in years to come. 

Photo: SMIF President and CEO, Benya Kraus, with her cousin, Jason Kraus, at his farm in Waseca County.

What is Acres for Good?

Our Acres for Good farmland succession program is focused on keeping farmland farming while using the extra income to impact causes the landowner cares about for future generations.