MidwayUSA Foundation— the only 501(c)(3) public charity dedicated to helping communities and organizations raise funds to support their high school and college shooting teams—has added new programs to help young marksmen and women. The expanded support was announced by the organization this week in support National Shooting Sports Month, which takes place annually in August.
The organization’s matching and product grants are its longest-running programs, but teams can now create custom uniforms with Battle Gear or order SSP Eyewear for discounted prices and each purchase benefits their team endowment. Other industry partners, like SKB Shotguns and Everest, also have promotions to benefit the MidwayUSA Foundation’s mission. Full details are found on the MidwayUSA Foundation website.
A fun and mobile-friendly option that allows teams to compete and fundraise at the same time is Peer-to-Peer fundraising. With it the Foundation can set up an online fundraiser for teams and team members can create their own individual campaigns. Peer-to-Peer then allows users to generate donations through their network of family and friends by texting, e-mailing, or sharing on social media.
Every team participating in the MidwayUSA Foundation Team Endowment program—the backbone of the philanthropic effort—has a webpage that can receive on-line donations with 100 percent of the funds available to underwrite expenses associated with their shooting sports activities. The contributions are also matched through the Foundation’s 2020 Matching Program, which is funded by Larry and Brenda Potterfield, owners of MidwayUSA.
MidwayUSA Foundation offers participating teams and organizations top-quality products, including firearms, at no cost to conduct a community fundraiser any way they choose. Proceeds contributed to their endowment are matched. Additional funds raised with these product grants can be kept for immediate team expenses. All free fundraising products available are listed on the foundation website.
“We understand that youth shooting teams are not all the same,” said MidwayUSA Foundation Executive Director G. Scott Reynolds. “There are large and small teams, high school teams, college teams, and teams of all shooting disciplines. In addition, the communities in which these teams belong are also unique. For these reasons, we work to create a variety of programs that appeal to all.”