DaVita becomes new matching partner
DaVita will become the new matching partner for the Denver Post Season to Share as the holiday fundraising campaign reaches its 25th year.
The kidney-care company agreed to match 50 percent of donations up to $750,000 raised by Denver Post readers, the general public and corporate donations. The 2017-18 campaign will give grants to more than 45 local agencies serving in the areas of children and youth, health and wellness, homelessness and hunger.
“This is an important addition to the program,” said Mac Tully, publisher and CEO of the Denver Post and chairman of the Denver Post Community Foundation. “They’re headquartered in Denver but are global. They have the muscle strength to really make this a community event.”
DaVita replaces Season to Share’s former matching partner, the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, which decided to focus its financial giving on its home city of Chicago.
“In every way — board service, volunteer hours, money — we’re deepening our commitment to civic engagement,” DaVita chairman and CEO Kent Thiry said. “Season to Share is deeply consistent with everything we’ve been doing.”
Thiry said there were two main reasons the company wanted to join the fundraising campaign. First, the donations will help spur more people to give. Second, Season to Share gives grants to a variety of charities, helping the company diversify its investment and creating the largest impact.
“We’re excited to have a local donor because they will see the impact from the grantees first hand just by being such a big part of the local community,” said Stacy Schafer, grants manager with the Denver Post Community Foundation.
Since 1992, the Season to Share with the McCormick Foundation has distributed more than $69 million to charities across the metro area. Last year, Season to Share distributed $2.3 million to more than 50 agencies.
The Denver Post Season To Share campaign will begin soliciting donations on Nov. 1, continuing through Dec. 31. The funds will be distributed in March.