Nonprofit that fosters civic engagement chooses Foundation to help achieve growth and sustainability goals
The Greater Milwaukee Foundation and the League of Women Voters of Milwaukee County share several tenets and goals. They are both nonpartisan and politically neutral, yet they both recognize and foster the value of civic engagement.
Thus, it is fitting that the local LWVMC leadership has also moved to ensure its future by setting up an agency endowment with the Foundation. A former board president and active Foundation donor referred the organization to the Foundation.
“Previously, we were very much a hand-to-mouth endeavor, existing on membership dues and donations,” said David Schrader, the nonprofit’s treasurer and a board member. “After receiving a bequest from a member, and wanting to be good shepherds of that bequest, we met with the Foundation about an endowment.
“Your organization impressed us,” he said, “and gave us a roadmap for moving forward.”
The LWVMC hopes to grow the initial endowment five-fold, with an eye toward eventual disbursements to sustain operating costs.
Since its inception nationally and locally in 1920, the league has been a grassroots organization that encourages citizens to advocate for better government and public policies that serve the common good. Its primary mission is to encourage informed and active citizen participation in government.
“We are passionate about democracy,” said Peggy Creer, director of communications.
In partnership with the Foundation and nine other Milwaukee organizations, the league helped organize a community celebration on Aug. 6 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. This landmark 1965 legislation was designed to eliminate discriminatory practices that historically denied African Americans and other marginalized groups their right to vote.
The other organizations in the coalition represented a broad spectrum: Black Leaders Organizing for Community, the Ho Chunk Nation, Interfaith Conference, Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition, League of United Latin American Citizens, NAACP Milwaukee Branch 3254, Souls to the Polls, Voces de la Frontera, and Hmong American Women’s Association.
In 2024, through 300-plus in-person events, the LWVMC helped register over 3,000 people and provided over 13,000 with voter information. The league’s online presence and its partnership with many community organizations expand its outreach and impact.
“All of this work you’re hearing about is done by volunteers,” said LWVMC President Peg Schrader. The LWVMC has one part-time staff person at its West Allis office to provide administrative support to its more than 400 member volunteers.
Nonpartisan, however, does not mean non-activist. Nationally, statewide, and locally, the league recently launched a new initiative, Unite and Rise 8.5, which aims to mobilize 8.5 million citizens between now and November 2026 to protect and preserve the nation’s civil society.