Imprint 2023

Dec. 13, 2023 An analysis of philanthropic giving in Jackson Hole

MENDING THE

‘MOSAIC’ Philanthropy, nonprofits plug holes in wildlife migrations, aiming to stop development.‌ See page 16.

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Regular dudes make big impact as Guys Who Give.

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ALSO INSIDE: Hockey players are ‘sweetest people’ off the ice.

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New Good Samaritan CEO hopes to help more women.

2 • IMPRINT • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, December 13, 2023

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Philanthropy starts in the heart

iding people or projects in need can be accomplished via two main methods: time and money.

Regardless of the method, every charitable act starts with the desire to give to others.

In the spring special supplement Valley Volunteers we focus on those giving their time. In Imprint we turn the lens on the currency and institutions of philanthropy.

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, wealthy donors could see the reverberations throughout our economy and opened their checkbooks, giving generously. Via Congress, the federal government followed suit. Now those funds are drying up, but the need remains great (see page 7).

But who should provide those services — government, nonprofits or both — is an ongoing point of contention in the Cowboy State (page 3). Read about the theories driving the political debates, which are sure to continue when the Legislature reconvenes in February.

Common Ground columnist Paul W. Hansen, who had a 40-year career in

the nonprofit realm, writes about good governance for the 200-plus charities in the valley and the importance of board members engaging in regular training so they can be effective and efficient (page 15).

Parents of high school athletes are not only the loudest fans, they’re the engine that keeps teams outfitted with extras (page 6).

Philanthropists come in all shapes and sizes. Moose Hockey players have some of the biggest hearts on ice (page 12) and Guys Who Give (page 5) really opened their wallets for a fellow member who was struggling.

And although Old Bill’s Fun Run had another record-breaking year with nearly $28 million in contributions, its little Idaho cousin, Tin Cup, is hitting its stride as well (page 9).

This giving season, as you peruse this broad look at philanthropy in the Tetons, we hope your heart will swell a bit with pride to be part of such a generous community.

— Rebecca Huntington and Johanna Love

Published by

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Kevin B. Olson, CEO kevin@tetonmediaworks.com

IMPRINT • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, December 13, 2023 - 3

Should Wyoming’s nonprofits fill the service gaps government leaves open?

Lawmakers weigh in preceding the 2024 budget session.

By Jasmine Hall

O

ne of the most emotionally charged issues the Legislature tackled during its last session was suicide prevention.

Lawmakers spent hours on the floors of the Wyoming House and Senate debating whether the state should place $46 million in a state trust fund and reserve account for a 988 hotline. In doing so, the state would never have to pay for the program from the general fund again. The appropriation would have guaranteed 24/7 access to a trained counselor from Wyoming for anyone facing a mental health crisis.

While Gov. Mark Gordon and mental health advocates pushed for permanently funding the hotline in the wake of Wyoming leading the nation with one of the highest suicide rates per capita, the Legislature remained divided. It didn’t matter that the state had hundreds of millions in surplus dollars to establish the trust fund.

A group of Republican lawmakers made up mostly of Freedom Caucus members pushed back, questioning whether the hotline is an example of government getting too big.

Just what is the role of government reflects a longstanding and ongoing debate in the Legislature. Critics of funding the hotline contend that nonprofits would do a better job — a sentiment expressed during testimony at the capitol. But the decision to not permanently fund the hotline raised alarms among nonprofit leaders and philanthropists who say they can’t carry the load alone.

Among those testifying against the bill, Cathy Ide, wife of Sen. Bob Ide, shared with lawmakers on the Revenue Committee how her son had died by suicide.

“I believe that it’s clearly evident that the issue of suicide is spiritual in nature,” she said, holding back tears before the committee. “If a family that loves a child more than anything — you can’t describe it — if you are not able to save your child, how can you possibly believe that a government program can? No state agency can heal a broken, wounded spirit.”

She said to look at what she sees as failed government programs.

“You can look at the war on drugs,” she added. “You can look at federal education. You can look at the Department of Family Services. It’s readily apparent that the government can’t be the solution to issues of the heart.”

Instead, she pointed to private faithbased organizations and nonprofits to lead the efforts. Ide’s testimony reflected a sentiment popular among those who oppose permanent government funding for the hotline.

“Last legislative session there was a great deal of debate on the government’s ability to properly manage a suicide prevention hotline,” Rep. Ben Hornok, R-Cheyenne, said in November. “It is my opinion that nonprofit entities could likely handle and manage something of this delicate nature far better and far more cost effectively than a bulky government-funded and government-managed solution. I would prefer to see us try this method before the government steps in and allocates millions of taxpayer dollars.”

Skeptics of a government-based approach got their way for the most part.

Money was allocated from the general fund to the Wyoming Department of Health to keep the program going until

MICHAEL S. SMITH

Debate over how to fund suicide prevention caught Wyoming nonprofits by surprise during this year’s legislative session in Cheyenne.

The dispute over whether to create a permanent government trust fund for a suicide hotline tapped into a longstanding and ongoing debate in the Legislature over what is the role of government.

Community Foundation of Jackson Hole President Laurie Andrews

2025, and the hotline was propped up with rules and an advisory board.

The trust fund was even established in state statute. However, the longterm solution mental health advocates

BRADLY J. BONER/JACKSON HOLE DAILY

yearned for, allocating $46 million to ensure a permanent source of funding for the program, didn’t happen. The fund’s current balance is zero.

“We are the worst state in the na-

tion for suicide,” Gordon said in a press conference following the session. “We have two counties in our state that have the worst records for suicide. And not to recognize that as not only an important issue, but a pro-life issue, and we need to get ahead of it, was a big disappointment to me.”

It’s been months since the heart of the bill was ripped out, but sentiments haven’t changed heading into the Legislature’s 2024 budget session.

Lawmakers have since doubled down on their belief nonprofits should fill the gaps in providing and funding social services.

“The primary role of government is to protect the rights of We The People,” Rep. Jeanette Ward, R-Casper, wrote in a statement in November. “Once the government begins to step outside the bounds created by the Constitution, it becomes dangerous.

“All other private entities, including nonprofits, exist to fulfill a plethora of roles depending upon their charter. In a free market system, nonprofits and profit-driven entities alike fill every and any gap or need, and do so much more effectively than the government can.”

She said government should be the referee, not a player in the game — the same stance she took during the 988 hotline floor discussions.

Community Foundation of Jackson Hole President Laurie Andrews said the 988 debate was the exact moment the alarms sounded.

Following lawmakers’ call for nonprofits to take on a larger role, members of Wyoming’s philanthropic community came together to debrief. Andrews said there was unanimous thinking in the room that when it comes to “behavioral health care” the government does have a direct role.

A healthy, functioning society requires three pillars — the public, private and nonprofit sectors, she said.

Providing quality and accessible behavioral health care, from substance abuse treatment to crisis counseling, will require all three.

“If everyone thinks philanthropy is going to cover this, even in Teton County, we’re going to have a real See GOVERNMENT on 4E

4 • IMPRINT • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, December 13, 2023

MICHAEL S SMITH

MICHAEL S SMITH

Representative Ben Hornok, R-Cheyenne, shakes hands with Bill Henderson, R-Cheyenne, during the morning session Jan. 13, 2023 in the House Chambers.

Representative Jeanette Ward, R-Casper, listens during discussion at the 67th Legislature in the House Chambers Jan. 12, 2023 in Cheyenne.

GOVERNMENT

He believes it comes down to addressing anything his constituents ask for.

“If it’s a service that people want, I think it fits under that umbrella of things that we need to take care of within the government,” he said, placing an emphasis on mental health services.

On the role of nonprofits, he said there could be an argument made that it fills the holes that can’t be covered by the government. Unlike government, donors can direct their funds to causes they care most about.

“It’s what the donor wants and not necessarily what a voter wants,” Yin said.

“And sometimes that can be things that pull a donor’s heartstrings more than others. ... But when it’s a more broad, general service — you’re not going to have a nonprofit that paves the streets.”

He said nonprofits already support hospitals, libraries and search and rescue in Teton County, but why shouldn’t the state adequately fund those services and institutions for all Wyoming communities?

“We have a lot of communities that still need fire service,” he said. “They still need search and rescue.

Yin They still need hospital services, but they don’t have access to donor funds that we do in our community.”

A Republican in the Senate said the answer is more complex. The roles of government and nonprofits have become deeply intertwined in the state.

Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, has been a member of the Senate since 1999, and served from 1994 to 1998 in the House. He said the role of government and how to serve constituents has evolved, although he would still prefer a service to be provided by private enterprises without government competition when possible.

“Wyoming is a unique place, with lots of miles and geographic areas to provide services, and a very small citizen base to do that,” he said.

He said the number of state employees has continued to decline over the past decade, leading to more services being provided by the nonprofit sector — largely in health and human services.

“Very strict people would say that the government should be infrastructure and education, and really, that’s about it,” he said. “But that’s expanded over time. And part of that expansion has come out of partnerships from government and private enterprise and nonprofits alike.”

For example, the state used to have a state-owned facility for residents with developmental disabilities to receive all their services. Now, the nonprofits are the main resource with support from the government.

In a “blended system,” Case warned about the possible consequences of cutting off that partnership, and placing all the responsibility on nonprofits.

“You have nonprofits providing es-

Continued from 3E

problem,” Andrews said.

Freshman House lawmakers on the other side of the argument believe it’s possible.

“As citizens of the state of Wyoming, I think we all recognize that there are choices we make based on the size of the community in which we choose to live,” said Rep. Ben Hornok, a Cheyenne Republican. “Large communities offer a lot more access to civic, social and health services, while smaller communities do not have these services readily available. It is not possible for the government to solve this disparity.

“However, nonprofits or volunteers can and have bridged many gaps throughout Wyoming in every community.”

He said when the government steps in, financial support and volunteers step out, and “we substitute the reliance on ourselves or our neighbors to wait on the government to save us.”

Rep. Bill Allemand, a Republican from Midwest, a town of about 400 next to Casper, was afraid of taking one-time help too far.

“Is it my job to take care of everybody?” he said. “It is not.”

“I’m just going to say people need to buck up, saddle up and be a part of Wyoming, and not look for handouts.

I am all for giving the hand up to get somebody out of the situation that they’re in at this point. But I do not want to make it a thing where it’s their kids, their grandkids, their great grandkids are all on the government dole because that’s the way they grew up.”

In his hometown, he said 75% of residents are on government subsidies like unemployment or food stamps. He said it isn’t a secret, and the statistics are put out by the federal government and state.

“And then, I know most of these people by name,” he said. “And I know who works, who doesn’t work, who could work, who chooses not to work.”

Rep. Hornok said this kind of dependence leads to the government taxing citizens and businesses, instead of residents taking the opportunity to support the nonprofits they care about, or causes they believe in with time and money.

Additionally, he said then the government picks and chooses which nonprofits get support, creating winners and losers. This is through appropriating funds to nonprofits to provide services to communities.

“It would be better for the government to take a more hands-off approach, and I believe that the great people in Wyoming would have more buy-in and would step up to help,” Hornok said.

He believed so deeply in this notion that he donated his first legislative paycheck to a nonprofit seeking state funding during the last session.

“I put my money where my mouth was when I heard what they were doing,” he said. “I believed the work of this nonprofit and it was worthy of my

support. What if the government took less from us so that we could each give more?”

Rep. Ken Pendergraft, another freshman Republican from Sheridan, had nearly the exact same answer as Hornok.

He said when the time comes to cast almost any vote, a legislator should ask themselves: “What is the proper role of government?”

Most often, he said he is not asked to vote on issues that are within those parameters.

“Because the knee-jerk reaction to every social ill is ‘The government should do something about this,’ we find ourselves dependent upon an inefficient, Godless bureaucracy that throws money at a problem, but has no real incentive to resolve it,” he said.

“Simultaneously, nonprofits (or forprofit businesses, for that matter) are never formed. Private businesses often outperform government agencies, but it is very difficult to compete with the same.”

When asked if financial partnerships between government and nonprofits should be ended, Ward added that the government should only pay for what it is constitutionally empowered to fund.

“I believe that nonprofits can fill the gaps left by a right-sized government, but if they don’t, it’s never an excuse to grow government in violation of the oath I took to uphold the Wyoming and U.S. constitutions,” she said.

Ward went a step further in calling government part of the problem.

“The government cannot address the mental health issues in our culture,” Ward said. “In most circumstances, the government is the cause of many mental health crises we are witnessing today.

“Government institutions have been telling our children from a vulnerable age that they are responsible for the socalled climate crisis, that they may or may not be in the wrong body, that their ancestors are evil and that they came from nothing. If the government is telling our children these things, thus making young people struggle with mental health issues, I do not believe that the same government can fix these issues.”

Rep. Mike Yin, a Teton County Democrat, disagreed, saying that government should be involved and the state shouldn’t be trying to “shirk its responsibility.”

“In a lot of ways in our community, we do have nonprofits fill a lot of things that in my opinion, the government should be covering,” he said.

He sees the state and federal Constitution as allowing for both broad and narrow interpretations.

“In one aspect, for example, our state Constitution is very clear in that it’s the role of the state government to provide access to K-12 education, as well as providing a university system that is as free as possible,” he said.

The federal constitution meanwhile states the government should provide for general welfare, which could cover health care or “just making sure that we don’t let people die on the streets.”

sential Medicaid services under contract from our Department of Health, and we’re talking about counseling services, health care services, addiction services. It’s not all Medicaid, but other services, like the integration of people returning to the community from being incarcerated.

“You want to pull that money away?

Fine. That would save the government a lot of money, but the services wouldn’t get provided.”

He said nonprofits are feeling pressure already, on top of new expectations expressed by some in the Legislature.

“I go to fundraisers all year long where they talk about the challenges,” Case said. “Usually, it’s things like, ‘The state is changing its criteria for reimbursement. They’re moving to a case management system to control costs.

Our donors are down. Our rents are up.

Our utilities are up.’

“They agonize in this space, to get money to provide these services. They see so much need, and there’s never enough money.”

He said theoretically these vital services could be done by the private sector, but no one is going to make money serving the community in ways like providing transportation for seniors.

Community Foundation of Jackson Hole President Andrews confirmed the pressure the philanthropic community is feeling.

And she is having to ask herself and her board what the role of the organization is, and how they will draw the line in the sand come February.

She said the government is supposed to take care of services at their most basic level, spanning education, behavioral health, law enforcement and more.

“Those are areas that are affecting our whole community, that do feel as if there is a role for the government to make certain there is a really strong framework for those,” she said. “Where philanthropy comes in, is how can we enhance those services? How can we make certain that all people are covered in a more equal way?”

She said finding the balance is the key to working together in a healthy way.

But she said the state isn’t addressing the mental health issue for the state, one she argues is the biggest, no matter what county or how rural of an area residents live in.

Other states have found solutions, recommendations have been provided, there was money in the coffers, “and yet, they said no.”

“This has to be on people’s radar screen,” she said. “It is something we need to proactively address. We not only didn’t proactively address it — we kicked it down the road, and we said ‘Let’s see if philanthropy will cover this so we don’t have to.

“It’s actually just sad to me. It’s sad that we don’t care about our neighbors enough to say this matters that much.”

Contact Jasmine Hall at 307-732-7063 or state@jhnewsandguide.com.

IMPRINT • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, December 13, 2023 - 5

Regular dudes make big impact together Guys Who Give chapter funds a variety of causes.

By Jeannette Boner

I

nside Elks Lodge No. 1713 are small tables holding cold bottles of Coors and Budweiser. Dudes seated at the tables are wearing ball caps or Stormy Kromers, jeans or Carhartts. Some men lean against the wood panel-lined walls, above them a neon sign with the Wyoming bucking bronco emblem blazes away in this unassuming Western scene in a tucked-away corner of one of the ritziest tourist towns in the West.

Josh Frappart is opening the quarterly meeting of Guys Who Give, one of 21 national nonprofit chapters. It’s the fourth anniversary of the nonprofit that Frappart founded just before the pandemic.

“I was born and raised here,” Frappart said of his heritage that includes supporting the community. He was first introduced to the Guys Who Give program through a friend in Colorado. Frappart said he loved the founding premise.

Frappart said the nonprofit is for men who want to give back to the community but don’t have a lot of time to invest in volunteer hours. The nonprofit also casts a wider net into the community, allowing the organization to give to a variety of initiatives and programs.

Nationally, the organiza-

MORGAN TIMMS / NEWS&GUIDE

Josh Frappart, center, chats with fellow members of Jackson’s chapter of Guys Who Give on Oct. 8 during the local nonprofit’s quarterly meeting at Elks Lodge No. 1713 in downtown Jackson.

tion has raised over $1.7 million. In Teton County, Guys Who Give has raised more than $250,000, with almost $37,000 raised this year alone.

There are also other opportunities for men in the organization. At the November meeting, Jake Dose addressed the group about an opportunity at Climb Wyoming. The group has given to the nonprofit in the past. It’s an organization that supports women in Teton County and across the state.

That evening Dose was putting out the call for volunteers

to help Climb Wyoming train clients to interview for jobs.

Climb Wyoming “puts these ladies through classes and then they graduate,” Dose explained to the group. “And then they go out and look for jobs. And they had me do some mock interviews with them last time, and it was amazing.

So it was like 10 ladies, and I helped prepare them for their interviews.

“So if anybody’s interested, it is about an hour or two of your day. And it’s awesome.

You help these ladies get prepared for their job interviews

— and they all 10 got jobs last time. They all wrote me handwritten notes. It was just incredible.”

The Guys Who Give group meets four times a year and asks that its 120 or so members give $100 at each quarterly meeting. During the meetings, members literally throw names in a hat as to who or what they would like to support heading into the next quarterly meeting. Frappart picks a handful of choices out of the hat, and the group votes together as to what or who they are going to support next.

There has been only one exception, and that was this summer when the group of guys came together to raise money for the Felton family, which is navigating cancer treatment for their youngest daughter.

The vote was unanimous.

At the November meeting, Corey Felton, who is also a member of Guys Who Give, testified that the donation, the largest in the Teton County chapter’s history at more than $16,000, buoyed his family at a critical time.

“It’s, it’s unbelievable,” Felton said to the group.

“It kind of hit us like a ton of bricks,” he said of the cancer diagnosis. “The amount of support from you guys, from this community, it’s kind of mind boggling.”

Frappart shook Felton’s hand and turned to the guys in the group, who clapped and smiled. In the last handful of years, the organization has supported mental health initiatives, public health, Climb Wyoming, youth hockey, the arts and more.

Frappart shifts members of the group to think about who they will support at the next meeting, reminding them to refresh their drinks and be generous with their tips and, of course, their donations.

The next meeting is 6 p.m.

Feb. 7 at the Elks Lodge. There is no judgment if you order a PBR, Frappart said.

Contact Jeannette Boner at 307-732-5901 or schools@ jhnewsandguide.com.

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6 • IMPRINT • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, December 13, 2023

KATHRYN ZIESIG / NEWS&GUIDE FILE

The Bronc girls’ basketball team files into the Star Valley High School gymnasium after arriving in Afton for a game last season. Funds raised by the Bronc Backers often serve to supplement Jackson Hole High School sports teams’ travel expenses.

Bronc Backers enhance high school sports Money raised by parents and alumni helps pay for apparel, food, travel and extras.

By Kyle Leverone

T

he little things always add up.

Behind the scenes, running around at every Jackson Hole High School extracurricular event, any number of the six members of the Bronc Backers nonprofit can be found.

It’s a small crew, one that is always looking for additional members, but the Bronc Backers’ support for the school’s activities department is strong.

As a member of the Wyoming High School Activities Association, Jackson Hole High School is no stranger to road trips. Whether it’s a weekend tennis trip to Sheridan and Gillette or a Friday night football game in Douglas, a lot of time and money goes into Jackson’s high school sports. Outside of travel, teams need apparel, food, equipment.

All the little things.

In order to pay for everything related to its sport, each team receives money from a couple of different sources. But behind the scenes, helping teams with any additional costs that might be necessary, are the Bronc Backers.

“A lifeline for coaches,” as golf team head coach Ryan Allen put it, the nonprofit run by parents of athletes and several alumni is what its name suggests: the backbone for the Broncs.

President of the board Julie Berezay is in her fifth year as a member of the Bronc Backers and second as their leader. An alumna of Jackson Hole High School, Berezay has two sons who have graduated from the district and another son and daughter still involved in Broncs athletics. Other board members Emily Flanagan, Amy Flores Renova,

COURTESY PHOTO

As a nonprofit, the Bronc Backers gain significant funding from the annual Old Bill’s Fun Run. The money they raise is able to go to any team that requests it.

Rick McMullen, Tracy Castagno and Rebecca Wilcox are either alumni of the school or have kids involved in activities.

“This is a way we can give support to teams and activities in our school to help build school spirit and help these teams monetarily,” Berezay said. “We just love this program and what it does for the teams. We get to know the kids and coaches. It’s really great.”

Started in 2009, the Bronc Backers are set up as a nonprofit, and any money they raise is able to go to any team that requests it. According to Berezay, each Jackson Hole High School activities team has a “subaccount” with Bronc Backers that contains money raised through Old Bill’s Fun Run. Vice President Flanagan said donors are able to specify a team to which they would like their donation to go, but any funds that are not specified are put into

the board’s general fund.

Today, as winter sports begin for Jackson Hole High School, there are 18 teams under the Activities Department that director Mike Hansen oversees.

Eighteen teams and hundreds of students, all of which need financial backing to operate.

When teams need money out of their accounts, be it for travel expenses, team meals on the road or uniform items that are outside the normal budget, coaches fill out a request form that goes to Hansen, and then, at the board meeting on the second Tuesday of every month during the school year, the board approves the request.

For example, Allen’s golf team, which has been extremely successful for a number of years now, including two state championships in the past three seasons, needed money to go to the National High School Invitational

at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina. Without the support of the Bronc Backers and the money put toward the team’s travel expenses, the Broncs golf team wouldn’t have been able to get that experience — an experience that only furthered the team’s success.

“The golf community has been very supportive of our team,” Allen said, “especially in the last five years with what we’ve done. Some of the success we’ve had has been a direct result of some things we’ve been able to provide for our kids and things we do for our kids.”

So as Allen said, the nonprofit serves as sort of a lifeline in order to create even more opportunities for these many different activities teams.

“Bronc Backers is a vital piece of what we try to do with athletics at Jackson Hole High School,” Allen said.

“They’re able to help every team and every coach with any kind of needbased assistance that they may have or any special circumstances.”

On top of Old Bill’s and the annual Bronc Backers Golf Tournament, concession sales at events and apparel sales are the ways the nonprofit brings in money to disburse. According to Flanagan, the Teton County chapter of Guys Who Give (see page 5) also gave the Bronc Backers a generous donation that allowed for the purchase of new flags for the gym and the turf fields.

It’s hard to just get by in the Wyoming high school landscape. Travel is long, and expenses pile up.

“I think the Bronc Backers is integral to the success of our athletic programs,” Hansen said. “The assistance they give is outstanding.

“Without their help, we would not be able to offer the same level of experience for our kids.”

Contact Kyle Leverone at 307-732-7065 or sports@jhnewsandguide.com.

IMPRINT • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, December 13, 2023 - 7

As donations ease up, needs remain high Nonprofits struggle to stabilize amid post pandemic pinch.

By Rebecca Huntington and Johanna Love

N

onprofits involved in the humanitarian responses to the global pandemic saw a wave of generosity from volunteering and donations that lasted through 2021.

But then when the health crisis, triggered by a novel virus, appeared to many to be subsiding, nonprofits saw, along with a sigh of relief, a drop in donations.

“At One22 we saw a drastic reduction in philanthropic support,” said Sharel Lund, executive director of the resource center.

Thumb through the nonprofit’s annual report and the bar charts are stark. After COVID-19 hit in 2020, revenue to the organization from both government sources and philanthropy soared above $6 million. Last year that revenue plummeted well below $3 million. The trouble is the needs of low- to moderate-income workers and their families have not dropped to pre-pandemic levels.

“At least in our community, the needs rose up,” Lund said. “They subsided a little bit, but they remained much, much higher than 2019.”

Those needs include help with food, rent and child care, the costs of which have been driven up by inflation.

One22 Resource Center also helps individuals connect to other aid and learn how manage their finances to use the money they have wisely. When a household is facing a crisis, One22 helps buy a family or individual time to sort out challenges with rent, medical bills or other costs.

“Nobody wants to turn to One22 for ongoing support,” Lund said. “Our goal … is to help hold things together.”

The nonprofit’s board created designated funds for the food access program and financial assistance from surplus revenue in 2020 and 2021 from the outpouring of support. At the end of 2021 the balance was about $1.6 million. But the combination of declining revenue and high need prompted the organization to tap into those funds, leaving a balance of $614,000 at the end of 2022.

Lund sees that donors still care about the human needs in the community, but there’s a gap in understanding how pronounced those needs are.

“We didn’t experience any change in how much peo-

ONE22

One22 Resource Center’s revenue has plunged from a pandemic high, but the need for food and financial assistance is going strong. In these graphs, 2023 revenue is projected based on a strong year-end response to the nonprofit’s appeal.

ple cared, it just was a sigh of relief maybe that was a little premature, because the economic crisis left in the wake of the health crisis has obviously been pretty profound,” she said.

The cost of housing in Teton County, in particular, is driving a lot of households to seek help to hold their living situation together. Market rate rent, for example, rose 60% between 2020 and 2022 based on data from Teton County’s five largest apartment buildings, the nonprofit’s annual report notes.

One22 is working this year to educate donors about the ongoing need.

“People move here, oftentimes because it’s a taxfriendly state, and that means that there isn’t state funding for many of the human services that are funded by tax dollars in other states,” Lund said.

Community Foundation of Jackson Hole President Laurie Andrews is seeing One22’s experience repeat across the health and human service nonprofits. While giving is coming down, the need is not.

“Somewhere there’s a belief that everyone else is doing just fine now,” Andrews said. “I can only speak to Teton County, but we are not back to normal.”

Not only have rents not come down, but food is more expensive due to inflation and there’s continuing demand for mental health services.

“I would say the increase in need and the settling of the funding has caused a real strain on our nonprofit sys-

tem,”’ Andrews said. “I’m seeing that. I continue to hear from executive directors that they just are working harder and faster.”

But those nonprofit workers don’t feel like they can catch up, said Andrews, who worries about burnout.

“Everyone has a breaking point,” Andrews said. “Everyone has a point when they just can’t keep going.”

Like the clients they’re serving, nonprofit employees themselves are also facing high cost housing, said Katharine Conover-Keller, who served as president of the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole for more than 14 years before retiring in February 2020.

Nonprofits across Teton County have become increasingly sophisticated and effective at communicating what impact they’re having, Conover-Keller said. But those organizations have a tough assignment, tackling deep-rooted, complex social problems.

“If they were easily solved, they would have been solved,” Conover-Keller said. “They’re not easy, and there’s no money to be made by solving them.”

That means the community, and donors, might have to double down on their investment.

“We shouldn’t be judging nonprofits by how little they spend,” Conover-Keller said, “but by how much they accomplish.”

Contact Managing Editor Rebecca Huntington at 307-732-7078 or rebecca@jhnewsandguide.com.

The Holidays Can Be Hard…

Teton Youth & Family Services is here to help.

Whether you’re navigating heightened stress around the holidays, approaching the first holiday season after a loss or challenging life change, or something else…

We’re here 24 hours a day, every day.

Any time of day or night, your family isn’t alone.

If you’d like to spread some holiday cheer and make a gift to TYFS, give online at tyfs.org or purchase from our various wish lists.

Scan the QR code to learn more about TYFS.

423093

P.O. Box 2631 Jackson, WY 83001 TYFS.ORG | 307.733.6440

8 • IMPRINT • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, December 13, 2023

A family of six. Lost income due to an unexpected illness.

Resources are tight.

Have you seen the cost of groceries lately?

There has been a 15.1% increase in the cost of food in Wyoming from 2021 to 2022.*

That’s what we’re here for.

With the help of our volunteers, more than 365,000 pounds (nearly 305,000 meals) have been distributed to 900 households through the Jackson Cupboard and its satellite locations so far in 2023.

Thank you to the incredible crew of 120 volunteers who make our food access program possible.

We couldn’t do it without you!

DONATE. VOLUNTEER. CONNECT. one22jh.org Newspaper ads for this awareness campaign are funded by individual members of One22’s board of directors *Wyoming Cost of Living Index 423150

IMPRINT • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, December 13, 2023 - 9

Annual Tin Cup Challenge plays vital role on west side of the Tetons Teton Valley, Idaho, event has raised more than $23.6M for nonprofits since 2008.

By Tibby Plasse

I

Tin Cup Challenge vs. Old Bill’s Fun Run A comparison of funds generated by nonprofits in Jackson Hole and Teton Valley Tin Cup Challenge (Teton Valley)

Cumulative Total Raised since 2008

Old Bill’s Fun Run (Jackson Hole)

Number of participating nonprofits in 2023

f you’re a resident of Teton Valley, Idaho, you 250 $250M know we’re halfway through the summer when the Tin Cup Challenge banners go up by the full moon shed next to Highway 33, in front of Valley Lumber & 200 $200M Rental and Broulim’s. As the adage goes, Tin Cup is always the third Saturday in July — and has been for 16 years.

Before that, Teton Valley nonprofits were benefi150 $150M ciaries of the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole.

But as Teton Valley saw its first boom in development 60 $23.6M $203.1M 224 in the mid-2000s, it became clear that the west side 100 $100M could support its own giving campaign. The Jackson Hole foundation helped create the Community Foundation of Teton Valley annex in 2007, and in 2008 “Tinny” was introduced to Idaho.

50 $50M Tinny is the mascot that embodies the gift that keeps on giving. Cumulatively speaking, the silver tin cup with blue eyes has collected $23,607,841 since the initiative began. Now 60 nonprofits participate in 0 $0 the summer fundraising challenge, drawing 1,412 indiTIN CUP OLD BILL’S TIN CUP OLD BILL’S vidual donors with a median gift of $300.

“That equates to about 1 out of every 4 homes in Number of donors in 2023 Median Gift in 2023 the valley giving to Tin Cup,” said Claire Vitucci, the marketing and communications officer for the Com$500 5,000 munity Foundation of Teton Valley.

Teton County, Idaho, has a population of just over 12,000 according to Census.gov, which also $400 identified that between April 2020 and July 2022 the 4,000 population of Teton County, Idaho, grew by 7.8%.

“The ongoing growth of the Community Foundation of Teton Valley and Tin Cup Challenge is a di$300 3,000 rect reflection of their work to cultivate the spirit of philanthropy in Teton Valley, which builds a thriving 1,412 4,091 $300 $486 community,” said Laurie Andrews, president of the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole. $200 2,000 There are two ways of giving at Tin Cup: donate to individual nonprofits or contribute $1,000 or more to the Challenger Fund. Both methods of giv$100 ing are key to the event’s success. On the Wyoming 1,000 side of the state line, co-challengers enter the match at $25,000.

And though the gross numbers seem on opposite $0 0 sides of the spectrum, overall participation is neck TIN CUP OLD BILL’S TIN CUP OLD BILL’S and neck. Jackson Hole reports that 1 in 3 houses donates to Old Bill’s, and Teton Valley reports that 1 in 4 houses donate.

ANDY EDWARDS / NEWS&GUIDE Source: COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONS OF JACKSON HOLE AND TETON VALLEY “We estimated 1,000 people in the park between volunteers, racers and nonprofits,” Vitucci said of inChallenger dollars also cover costs associated for executive directors and board members. person attendance at the 2023 Tin Cup event and race.

“A lot of people get involved in nonprofits beGrowth hasn’t been fast, but it continues at a with the eight-week giving period and event day, steady pace. provide funds for the Community Foundation of cause of their passion for the mission on the pro“I would love the number of donors to match the Teton Valley’s Competitive Grant Program, Youth gram side,” Self said. “I think it’s often really helpyear that we’re at — 1,600 donors for the 16th year Philanthropy grant program and nonprofit work- ful for nonprofit professionals to have a resource to — but we’re working up to it,” Vitucci said. “We had shops and resources throughout the year. Twenty- hone in new skills that are more on the administra248 challengers last year, and this year we had 279.” two of the 60 nonprofits met the cap for this year’s tive-fundraising-financial side as well.

Challengers are a good barometer for under- grant match.

“It’s our priority to help them to be as efficient standing the Idaho side of the Tetons’ growth. There As the challengers are valley professionals, and and effective as possible through workshops, are more businesses than ever serving just Teton many are serving on local boards or as volunteers, they through consultations, through grants and through County, Idaho, whereas in years before the pan- also get to see the year-round support the Community connection to donors.” demic, Teton Valley residents struggled to find pro- Foundation of Teton Valley provides to the local nonBoth Vitucci and Self said the Tin Cup campaign fessionals and storefronts that profit community. alleviates a lot of pressure on nonprofits to meet didn’t require a commute. That “It’s something like 150 reser- fundraising goals, simplifying for some how many first year, 2008, there were only vations and over 1,000 people, campaigns they run in a calendar year, or perhaps “ This one giant 33 challengers. board, staff, volunteers that use meeting the financial needs for an entirely volunteer Vitucci said: one professionour nonprofit conference space,” organization or a new nonprofit that does not have campaign al sector has helped make great Self said and then added anec- staff let alone a development director to run an anstrides for local philanthropy: dotally that the conference room nual campaign. For larger organizations, Tin Cup raises the tide Realtors. benefit alone saves nonprofits provides the matching bonus needed to expand staff “They are really at the foreover $50,000 in rental fees for a and programming, since the funds are unrestricted. for all ships.” front of the new residents movmeeting space.

So next summer, on the third Saturday of July, ing here,” she said. “You’ve got But there’s a lot more than a head to Driggs City Park and get a full immersion — Bonnie Self Trails and Pathways, you’ve got conference table in the Com- into life in Teton Valley.

COMMUNITY FOUNDATION our cool Makerspace, Teton Get dressed up like a potato and run the 5- or OF TETON VALLEY munity Foundation’s toolbox as Rock Gym downtown. Where it helps steward a healthy com- 10-kilometer race around downtown and then check do these things come from? munity. out the nonprofit booths, which resonate more like a How did they come to be here?

The national average for non- fair with all kinds of hands-on activities, like hot air Why did you move here? These are all conversa- profit executive director turnover, according to Mission balloon demonstrations, soap hockey and many arts tions that the Realtors have driving clients around.” Possible Strategies, is 18% to 22% annually, and on av- and crafts. Attendees can engage in everything from Challenger gifts are used to provide partial match- erage it takes seven to 10 months to recruit an executive sandhill cranes to cutthroat trout to mental health, ing grants to the participating nonprofits. The Chal- director and a year to completely onboard a new hire. spirituality, education and youth sports. lenger donations substantially increase the amount of “A part of the Community Foundation is being The family-focused community playdate emumoney that each participating organization raises. able to be a resource for nonprofit leaders so that lates Teton Valley to a T: lots of kids, everyone “This one giant campaign raises the tide for all there is less turnover,” Self said. knows each other and there’s no shortage of fun. the ships,” said Bonnie Self, executive director of How does that work? With workshops, networkthe Community Foundation of Teton Valley. “Every- ing events and providing a forum for community Contact Tibby Plasse via 307-732-7071 or jlove@ one benefits from participating.” catalysts to convene as well as regular roundtables jhnewsandguide.com.

10 • IMPRINT • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, December 13, 2023

David Craig and Bill Hayes, seen here at a warehouse on the Poland-Ukraine border, are providing humanitarian aid in Ukraine.

COURTESY PHOTO

Jackson aid in Ukraine

HOLDS STRONG

As federal aid slows, philanthropists charge ahead with an eye to postwar relief.

By Sophia Boyd-Fliegel

J

ackson residents Bill Hayes and David Craig spent the last year and a half in Ukraine.

During brief respites at home this fall, both spoke of a need to return.

“I never really intended to get into philanthropy at all,” Hayes said, “but having met people and seen what the slightest measure of kindness means ... You can’t stop.”

About a month after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Hayes started running donations funneled through St. John’s Episcopal Church.

Craig started the American Ukrainian Foundation in 2022 and says he’s lucky to still be in the game. Most small organizations are gone.

“The main reason is they can’t get money for fuel,” he said, “donations have dried up.”

As global news outlets report that philanthropy has dried up and divisions deepen in Congress about whether to continue federal aid to Ukraine, Hayes and Craig report they’ve kept a steady flow.

Despite both living primarily in Jackson, Craig and Hayes didn’t know each other before Ukraine.

As opposed to tax dollars, the money Craig and Hayes touch is humanitarian.

PBS reported that the Biden administration and the U.S. Congress had sent $75 billion in assistance to Ukraine. The bulk of that — $46.6 billion — is military aid for everything from weapons and training to grants. Only 5% of federal aid has been humanitarian, like emergency food care or health needs.

Congressional aid has now stalled, and the Biden administration said funds are running low.

In a statement last week, Secretary of State AnSee UKRAINE on 11E

An ambulance delivers food and medicines near Kramatorsk, about 25 miles from Bakhmut, Ukraine.

COURTESY PHOTO

IMPRINT • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, December 13, 2023 - 11

KATHRYN ZIESIG / NEWS&GUIDE

David Craig sits among his packed belongings, wearing a traditional Ukrainian dress shirt and a Support for Ukraine Spartan race medal Nov. 20. The shirt was gifted to him by a resident of Ukraine and he earned the medal after participating in the Spartan race. Craig first traveled to Ukraine in March 2022 to help with the war efforts and has now made a more permanent move to the country.

UKRAINE

Continued from 10E

thony Blinken said that unless Congress approves the supplemental funding, a $175 million Pentagon and State Department security assistance package “will be one of the last security assistance packages we can provide to Ukraine.”

Philanthropy to Ukraine has been

filling the hole of dwindling aid.

Some of it at first has come from large companies, like Microsoft.

Microsoft Corp. has donated at least $430 million in services and cash in 2022, not including cybersecurity services, the AP reported. Other nonprofits have been toying with how to support the wartime efforts. Ethical questions are introduced with donations like bulletproof vests, drones

and tourniquets.

Under U.S. laws, nonprofits are not allowed to donate to people in combat, but the AP reported the IRS is unlikely to audit donations due to capacity and U.S. support for Ukraine.

Both Craig and Hayes say they steer clear of aiding combat.

“We’re not doing military at all,” Hayes said. However, when Hayes heard soldiers wanted socks, he

Craig looks through old papers, certificates and photos while packing up his home in the Old West Cabins.

bought 2,000 pairs.

There is no one thing effective aid looks like. So far, Hayes said, it’s been a blur of pallets. Food, clothes and medical supplies packed into trucks.

Hayes has seen people displaced by war brought to tears over the donation of a backpack: finally somewhere to keep their things.

The two men met while trying to navSee UKRAINE on 18E

KATHRYN ZIESIG / NEWS&GUIDE

12 • IMPRINT • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, December 13, 2023

MORGAN TIMMS / NEWS&GUIDE

Jackson Hole Moose Hockey’s Mitch Slattery, Cody Rusinek, Joe Zelenka, Brian Upesleja and George Steiner celebrate a goal during a 6-3 victory against the Boston Bison on Nov. 17 at Snow King Sports and Event Center. Though Moose players are tough on the ice they are big softies when it comes to helping people in the community.

‘The sweetest people’ (off the ice) pitch in Moose Hockey players aid community with money, labor and spirit.

By Kyle Leverone

E

very sport has its own sense of community. However, hockey players will be the first to tell you that their sport is different.

“We’re definitely a different breed,” Moose Hockey head coach Sean Hannafin said.

When it comes to family and community, no one tops the sport of hockey. If that’s surprising, that’s understandable.

The nature of the sport itself just isn’t as friendly.

“You get us in an environment where we’re the sweetest people you’ve ever met in your life,” Hannafin said, “and then you come watch us play hockey.”

Physicality aside, the sentiment is fair — at least it is here in Jackson Hole with its senior Moose team. The players you see dropping the gloves and rocking opponents into the boards are the same people who are giving back to their own community in any way they deem necessary.

When it comes to the Moose, there are a lot of extremes. Any, every, greatest, sweetest, nobody, all. Whatever the team seems to do, it does it full tilt, and while that vigor is clearly displayed regularly on weekends during the winter, what isn’t as obvious has been its philanthropic and charitable efforts on behalf of Jackson Hole throughout the years.

The team’s first two series of the 2023 season included a fundraiser, the first of which was the Fireman’s Brawl. With the Moose playing against the Fire Department of New York, revenue from tickets and merchandise for the series all went straight to the Jackson Hole Fire/EMS Foundation. Moose owner and general manager Bob “Howie” Carruth estimates the organization raised about $60,000

MORGAN TIMMS / NEWS&GUIDE

Parker Felton plays with fake snow during a chemotherapy session with her mother, Nicole, on Oct. 5 at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City. A portion of ticket sales for the Moose Hockey team’s first games in November went to the Felton family to assist with medical expenses from Parker’s cancer treatment.

for the local department. Frank Lane, who has been involved in previous fire department fundraisers, specifically the Fireman’s Ball, said that “it was the bestever fundraiser for the Jackson Firefighters Association.”

Mike Sullivan, a Moose Hockey Hall of Famer and volunteer firefighter with Jackson Hole Fire/EMS for 22 years, said the fundraiser was a success for everyone involved, including the other team, which wants to return next year for another series. As someone who has a foot in both hockey and firefighting camps, Sullivan said he was a bit conflicted while watching the games, but in the end he was still rooting for the Moose.

Several weeks later, when the Vail Yeti came to town on the first Friday of November, the Moose hosted a benefit night for Parker Felton, a 3-year old Jackson native with advanced kidney cancer.

Gold T-shirts were passed out, and a portion of ticket sales went directly to the Felton family. Carruth said he thinks the Friday night event pooled about $5,000 for the family. Hannafin, a family man with a daughter of his own, said the Felton fundraiser was his favorite.

While there aren’t any philanthropic efforts planned in coming weeks, most of those events are put together spontaneously. The Moose are ready to help at the drop of a hat.

“It all has to do with our locker room,” Carruth said. “We have some really, really good guys in there, and it just stems from that. They have really good ideas as well because they’re out working their jobs in the community.”

Several years ago, after a heavy snowfall, Moose captain Brian Upesleja and a number of his teammates went out to the main post office and shoveled off

the damaged roof.

From shoveling snow, reading to kindergartners, putting together an educational fund for the late Spencer Morton’s children, raising money for the Joe Casey Memorial Fund for youth hockey players, coaching youth hockey or working with Teton Adaptive Sports to host sled hockey for people with physical disabilities — the Moose are willing and wanting to help.

A lot of the times it is the players out there donating their time to the town, but really it all comes down to Carruth, according to Sullivan.

“Bob Carruth is one of my best friends,” Sullivan said. “We’ve been friends from the time I got here. None of this happens without him. He’s truly the driving force behind all of this. ... A lot of these [charitable efforts] are going away in small towns, and the fact that Howie keeps these things alive in Jackson Hole is just great, and I’m eternally grateful to be a small part of all of that.”

On par with the extreme language, Sullivan said there is “nobody” that Carruth wouldn’t help, no matter how small or large the matter.

The Moose Hockey program is one of the most unusual in the country, if not the world. There are few places that provide former professional or collegiate hockey players a place to play competitively in front of 1,200 people.

The players do not make any money from the games. They play because they love playing and because they collectively realize how special this opportunity is.

“I think the Moose organization is kind of a family in itself,” Upesleja said.

“You spend a lot of time with these guys and girls. We see each other three or four times a week. And then it almost feels like the community is one big family.”

As tight as the brotherhood is that the players have created with each other, the team’s connection with the town might be stronger.

See MOOSE on 13E

IMPRINT • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, December 13, 2023 - 13

AMBER BAESLER / NEWS&GUIDE FILE

Li Dunbar, 12, looks for a shot during the Teton Adaptive Sports sled hockey game in 2018 at Snow King Sports and Events Center. “Li can rip,” said Jackson Hole Moose Hockey coach Bob Carruth. Moose players volunteer as ice chaperones to the sled hockey games and frequently find themselves in the games.

MOOSE

Continued from 12E

“We play for the community,” Hannafin said. “We play for the town. Without the support we get around here, we wouldn’t have what we have. If we don’t have this fan base or community support, we wouldn’t be able to put this show on.”

The Moose are technically a 501(c)(3) organization, and Carruth describes his team as a nonprofit that gives to other nonprofits, and the help it offers is all pretty easy in his eyes. The Moose have the space, the time and the attention to raise funds and awareness for whatever or whoever needs it. Businesses can set up a booth at their games, the Moose can organize a $5 chuck-a-puck contest or raffle, or they can even just pass around a cash bucket for a singular cause.

The players, coaches and certainly the general manager don’t do it for the

attention. In fact, a lot of these endeavors might go unnoticed by the Jackson community. A handshake or a “thank you” will suffice for recognition. They don’t brag about it because they feel that it is their responsibility to the community that gives them the opportunity to continue playing hockey. As Hannafin said, it might not seem like it when they put their helmets on, but they might be the sweetest people you’ve ever met.

Or they just might be regular hockey players who will go to the extremes to show their appreciation for the community that makes this organization as special as it is “Without our fans, we don’t exist,” Hannafin said, “so anything and everything we can do for this community, we’re going to do it.”

Contact Kyle Leverone at 307-732-7065 or sports@jhnewsandguide.com.

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14 • IMPRINT • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, December 13, 2023

New CEO tapped to expand Good Samaritan Rules on alcohol and jobs will remain; shelter hopes to aid more women.

By Kate Ready

W

ith a new CEO on board at Good Samaritan Mission, the organization is looking to expand its services.

Wayne Richardson, 63, took the helm of the nonprofit on Nov. 1. The space offers free meals and emergency shelter in communal bunk areas.

Richardson said that after his predecessor, Chuck Fidroeff, retired, the board was looking for someone who was going to broaden Good Samaritan’s offerings.

“That’s what I do is help nonprofits expand,” Richardson said. “I came recently from a secular nonprofit that actually raises and trains specialized service dogs for veterans with PTSD and kids with autism.

So that role was helping them learn how to fundraise to go on a national level.”

Prior to his work at Retrieving Freedom, Richardson worked for several faithbased organizations — as vice president of development at South Florida Bible College and before that as CEO of the Gospel Center Rescue Mission.

A California transplant, Richardson said Jackson has a “unique” homelessness challenge.

“It’s housing the workers that come here with amazing job opportunities,” Richardson said.

Of the 3,826,407 acres in Teton County, 97% are federally owned or state managed, leaving workers to contend with a tight housing supply and exorbitant rents. While Richardson was trying to find housing for himself, he quickly passed over advertisements for a $3,000 one-bedroom apartment.

“So some of the things that the Good Samaritan is looking to do is to help that population that’s coming in,” Richardson said.

Good Samaritan Mission is the only shelter in Jackson Hole, and it’s open only to single men and women, not families.

The Mission hopes to be a resource for more women, Richardson said.

In the past it had only five beds available for single women and 22 to 23 beds for men. Last August it had to turn away a historic number of women seeking shelter: 15.

“We are expanding from 30 to 40 ‘flex’ beds,” Richardson said. “This means we can have anywhere up to 30 beds for women using a mix of our largest dorm and several rooms. Also, women are a priority in terms of bed allocation under the new administration, but there will at least be 10 beds for men.”

The average guest stay is six months, which often corresponds to the peak summer and winter tourist seasons.

Asked whether the Mission will be easing rules that some have seen as rigid — rules including an evening curfew and requirements that guests gain approval for their absences, obtain employment within two days and remain sober — Richardson said by and large those rules remain.

A guest has 72 hours to become employed, he said, “but there are always exceptions.”

“Note that this has not been a problem in Jackson unless there are unique circumstances,” Richardson said. “As we have guests who are working their sobriety daily, there is no tolerance for alcohol or drugs on campus or being under the influence of these. There is a 10 p.m. curfew unless a guest has work hours beyond this or has cleared coming in after curfew.”

The Mission, like the Salvation Army or Habitat for Humanity, is faith-based; all of its board members sign a Christian state-

MORGAN TIMMS / NEWS&GUIDE

Good Samaritan Mission’s new CEO, Wayne Richardson, started Nov. 1.

ment of faith. Richardson said Christian services are optional for guests.

“When the clients come in, there’s a faith-based option in the curriculum and a secular option,” Richardson said. “So if somebody, for example, is Mormon, or they’re Islamic, or they’re Hindu, they can go to a place of worship of their choice.”

Richardson is implementing a new sliding scale payment structure. Staying at the Mission previously cost $12 a night, or $84 a week.

Now it’ll start free, to a maximum nightly rate of $50. Those staying for six months and longer term still change beds “every month,” Richardson said, to remind guests that it is a shelter, not transitional housing. The first two weeks are free for most people.

Free breakfast and dinner are offered, and the Mission operates a food pantry.

On top of sheltering, the Mission will

begin offering case management to tailor plans to individuals’ needs and connect them with other resources. To effectively do that, Richardson is focusing on building relationships with other organizations in the community and beyond.

For those who need addiction support free of cost, for example, Richardson said he’ll be establishing relationships with the Wyoming Rescue Mission in Casper.

He also offers free training to any other nonprofit.

“If somebody is hiring a cook and they are a food service manager, they can shadow our food service manager,” Richardson said. “If somebody wants to shadow me as a CEO or somebody wants to shadow a case manager or our office manager, they can do that.”

While Teton County voters have declined to fund a new building for Good Samaritan in the past, Richardson said interior and exterior renovations are underway in the current facility on Pearl Avenue so the Mission isn’t an “eyesore.”

The organization raised “about a quarter million dollars” this year at Old Bill’s.

In five to 10 years the vision is to purchase a hotel or build a new facility on the current site, he said.

Richardson is also eyeing new avenues for funding, such as the Federal Home Loan Banks and new market tax credits.

As a faith-based organization the Mission doesn’t qualify for two-thirds of funding opportunities, he said.

Richardson said that due to staffing shuffles, the Mission feels like a fresh nonprofit.

“As of Nov. 1, we have just about 100% new staff in either new positions or brand new like myself,” Richardson said. “So a new vision and the theme is a goal to expand our capacity and case management to rehouse people here in Jackson.”

Contact Kate Ready at 307-732-7076 or kready@jhnewsandguide.com.

cfjacksonhole.org

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Connecting generosity to the community since 1989

IMPRINT • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, December 13, 2023 - 15

Effective charity requires board training T his year the Community Foun- do not need professional training. They dation of Jackson Hole Old Bill’s are usually wrong. campaign brought in just under The nonprofit sector is different. Peo$28 million — another new record. In ple who work for nonprofits are mission 2022, the foundation reported over $56 driven. They are usually paid much less million in gifts. They manage another than business jobs. Command and control $120 million in assets including grants, does not work with them. Much more time fellowships and scholarship funds. needs to go into building consensus. Their No one seems to know the total given revenue is not earned; it is donated. to local nonprofit groups each year, but it Understanding roles and responsimust be in the neighborhood bilities is especially imporof $200 million. By any meatant for smaller nonprofits sure, Jackson Hole has a rewhere board members — markable tradition of philanwho provide oversight, help thropy. There are few places fundraise and set policy diwith as robust an indepenrection — also may serve as dent sector as Jackson Hole. volunteers helping to impleWith this much revenue ment the mission. being donated, we need to As implementers, their assure that this vast amount roles switch from being a of money is used as well as board member who overpossible by every nonprofit. sees the executive director All nonprofits have reportto a volunteer staff member ing requirements on their who reports to the executive IRS 990 forms. GuideStar director. It is imperative that and Charity Navigator rate they know how to graciously switch hats. many groups. I rarely doPaul Hansen While there is no one fornate without checking the mula for nonprofit organizational sucgroup’s rating.

There are examples of some non- cess, there are fundamental principles profits not operating according to stan- that effective organizations have in dard best practices. Several of our lead- common.

Boards that micromanage staff or ing nonprofits have had significant staff turnover among their top leadership. staff that does not faithfully implement Beyond the direct costs of searching for board directives both lead to dysfuncnew staff, the efficiency of these groups tional and inefficient organizations that at mission delivery has to be compro- struggle to execute their charitable purposes. mised during these transitions.

Fisher Howe, in the wonderful book One easy way to improve nonprofit effectiveness is training on the lat- “The Nonprofit Leadership Team,” est thinking in nonprofit governance lists some maxims about board memand management. Training should be bers.

1. Board members don’t read. Don’t required for the board members and executives of our 200 nonprofit orga- count on them doing their homework.

2. Board members have no memory. nizations as a condition of our support.

Some board members think their cor- Don’t expect them to remember actions porate experience is enough and they taken at the last meeting.

Common Ground

3. Board members have limited capacity to deal with quantities of information. Feed them sparingly.

4. Having a budget on the table can cause otherwise large-minded board members to become trivial.

5. Board members have an unholy resistance to change.

6. Board members make decisions collegially; they participate individually.

7. Board members and CEOs have to be diplomats. As a good diplomat, you let someone else have your way.

Nothing can take the place of spending some time studying nonprofit organizational effectiveness and sustainability.

If you sit on a nonprofit board in Jackson Hole, look into the information on board excellence and best practices.

The national group BoardSource has a broad range of effective tools. The Community Foundation of Jackson Hole offers some courses.

Having a clear, compelling mission, engaged board members, proactive financial management, shared fundraising responsibilities, effective communications and a strategic approach gives organizations the internal alignment needed to be high functioning and successful.

Plus, being part of a “can-do” functional group pulling together toward a shared goal really feels great.

News&Guide columnist Paul W. Hansen had a 40-year career in the nonprofit sector. He has worked for five boards and served on 14. He trained at the Drucker Institute and the National Center for Nonprofit Boards (now BoardSource). He also earned a certificate of director education from the National Association of Corporate Directors and courses offered by the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole. Columns are solely the opinion of their authors. Contact him via columnists@ jhnewsandguide.com.

TRAINING TOOLS

To succeed, organizations must have effective leadership.

The national nonprofit group BoardSource provides the widest range of materials and online courses to help nonprofit boards and staff succeed.

To cultivate a healthy partnership between a board and staff, BoardSource emphasizes training on implementing key practices, including open and consistent communication channels between the executive and the board; a commitment to “no surprises” for both the executive and the board; and an annual evaluation of the executive’s performance and equally important — board assessment of its own performance.

The Community Foundation of Jackson Hole also offers training, as does the Wyoming Nonprofit Network.

Here is the Community Foundation’s schedule for the first quarter of 2024.

January 2024: Storytelling Workshop for Marketing and Communications, date TBD. Executive Director Roundtable, an exchange for Jackson Hole nonprofit directors, date TBD. Grant Writing Support for Community Foundation Competitive Grants, late-January dates TBD. February 2024: Roundtable Discussion for Program Nonprofit Professionals, date TBD. March 2024: Executive Director Roundtable, an exchange for Jackson Hole nonprofit directors, date TBD. Fundraising Intensive for Nonprofit Professionals, March 13-14.

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16 • IMPRINT • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Mending the Greater Y’stone’s ‘mosaic’ Philanthropy, nonprofits plug holes in wildlife migrations, aiming to stop development.‌

By Billy Arnold

I

The 'Mosaic'

Elk are just one species that travel across a range of different land as they make fall and spring migrations. Keeping private land from subdivision helps protect those corridors, which often requires philanthropy.

n 2016, Leslie Mattson was given a year. One year to come up with millions of dollars to help purchase a square mile of land surrounded by Grand Teton National Park and preserve it.

Mattson, and the organization she heads, the Grand Teton National Park Foundation, pulled it off.

Partnering with the National Park Foundation, the Grand Teton foundation raised $23 million, and the National Park Service closed the $46 million deal with the state of Wyoming, bringing the 640-acre Antelope Flats parcel into public ownership. In return the state got a chunk of cash that could raise over $1 million a year for schools via investments.

For Mattson it was a win, accomplished quickly.

Typically the park’s philanthropic partner will spend four years fundraising for a given project. Less than a year was less than a quarter of that time.

“It was a breakneck pace,” Mattson said.

At some point in the future, the Park Foundation could be faced with a similar task: raising money to help Grand Teton buy the 640-acre Kelly parcel, which is just southwest of Antelope Flats.

State officials have set the base price of the property at $80 million and threatened to put it up for public auction. On Thursday, they postponed their decision about the auction to give lawmakers a chance to sell or trade the property.

The Kelly parcel marks the tail end of an incredibly important migration route: the Path of the Pronghorn, which is federally protected within the Bridger-Teton National Forest to the east, as well as a latticework of private and public lands farther south. Some are protected from development, some are not.

The parcel is also the culmination of a 100-plus mile trek that a few hundred pronghorn typically make each year from winter ranges near Pinedale to Grand Teton’s lush summer sagebrush flats.

The Path of the Pronghorn, which is also a candidate for state protection, is just one of many migration

Source: WILD MIGRATIONS: ATLAS OF WYOMING’S UNGULATES, OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY See MOSAIC on 17E PRESS © 2018 UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING AND UNIVERSITY OF OREGON

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IMPRINT • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, December 13, 2023 - 17

Continued from 16E

routes that snake in and out of the heart of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

Having the Grand Teton National Park Foundation step in and help to purchase state land for the American public would be the latest of many ways that people have donated time, land or money to protect migration routes in the Greater Yellowstone. Much of that work is less public, like when volunteers band together to remove barbed wire fences to help animals migrate, or when a rancher decides to drop a fence during migration season.

Private landowners and nonprofits have spent years trying to protect the full Path of the Pronghorn corridor, which traverses what Max Ludington, president of the Jackson Hole Land Trust, calls the “mosaic” of private, public and state land ownership in western Wyoming.

“This animal has to be able to make this entire movement through this variety of land ownership models,” Ludington said. “And private lands are a really critical part of that.”

Pronghorn aren’t the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem’s only migrants.

Deer and elk migrate from winter ranges, where they can eat enough and stay warm enough to survive, to summer ranges where there’s ample food to pack on fat ahead of another migration and winter.

Typically, winter ranges are on Bureau of Land Management land in flatter country, and summer ranges are on U.S. Forest Service or Park Service land at the heart of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, said Matt Kauffman, head of the Wyoming Migration Initiative.

In between, there’s private land.

That’s true for long-distance migrants like pronghorn herds, as well as the mule deer that trot some 150 miles each year from the Red Desert near Rock Springs to the Hoback Basin, the

BRADLY J. BONER / NEWS&GUIDE FILE

Elk move through fields in November in South Park. Elk and other ungulates cross a “mosaic” of land ownership — private, public, state — as they traverse the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Migrations across developable land have typically leaned on a variety of different types of philanthropy and nonprofits for protection.

longest documented mule deer migration in Wyoming and the world.

Protected private land also helps animals that move through the heart of the ecosystem, like the 11,000-animal Jackson Elk Herd, which migrates from winter range surrounding the National Elk Refuge to summer range in Yellowstone.

While much of the Jackson Elk Herd’s migration route is protected, the herd does pass through private land near Jackson, like the Mead Ranch in Spring Gulch, as well as private ranches further north near Moran.

Protecting private lands for migration looks different depending on who owns them. Some people choose to subdivide, which, for wildlife, is the worst outcome.

Subdivision irrevocably carves up land in animals’ paths, putting houses where food sources used to grow and elimi-

nating some of the green wave of vegetation that draws pronghorn and other critters to the heart of the ecosystem in the spring.

Some landowners protect their property from future development by donating or selling it to public land managers, like the Forest Service or Park Service.

Former U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, a Wisconsin Democrat, opted to donate his land to the American public. Kohl donated his 990-acre Upper Gros Ventre River Ranch to the Trust for Public Land, which held onto it for four years. In that time the group worked with Trout Unlimited and the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation to restore tributaries’ connections to the Gros Ventre River on the property and to remove old fencing.

In 2018 the Trust donated the property to the Bridger-Teton National

Forest. The Path of the Pronghorn crosses Kohl’s former Gros Ventre ranch, which is now protected from most development.

Others have put conservation easements on their properties. A conservation easement generally prevents subdivision and most development but allows ranching to continue. Researchers see value in preserving private lands that will stay in private hands.

“The longest migrations that extend way out of the Greater Yellowstone are really sustained by these working ranch lands,” Kauffman said. “That’s a key benefit that Wyoming has — that those ranchlands haven’t turned into subdivisions yet.”

Both donations of land and the use of conservation easements typically come with substantial tax write-offs for landowners while also keeping corridors open for the benefit of migrating wildlife.

In August, the P/T Livestock Johnson Ranch in Sublette County put an 853-acre easement on its property, protecting land in the Wyoming Range mule deer herd migration corridor, which the deer use to move from winter ranges near La Barge to summer range in the herd’s namesake mountains. While the Land Trust and a group of other partners paid the Johnson family for the easement, a handful of family foundations, and local and national nonprofits contributed to the purchase.

Protecting private land is not a perfect solution — fences and livestock still get in wild animals’ way — and there are still fights about conservation easements. But they provide at least some space for pronghorn to prance.

“The easements on those ranches are literally stitching together the public lands that contain the winter ranges with the public lands that contain the summer ranges,” Kauffman said.

Contact Billy Arnold at 732-7063 or barnold@jhnewsandguide.com.

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UKRAINE

Continued from 11E

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igate the Polish-Ukrainian border. Hayes has directed money for two fire trucks for Craig, an ambulance and smaller delivery truck. Their approach can generally be described as lean and mean.

A meal of chickpeas and chicken ready to eat hot or cold, which feeds two people for $2, is made in a hotel by another volunteer and his family.

Hayes sent 2,000 last year.

That strategy has come about through trial and error. At first, when Hayes decided to go to Ukraine, he wanted to join an established aid organization. He was turned away, he said.

When plan A didn’t work, Hayes just bought plane tickets for himself and his son, ready to jump in where needed.

“Thank God I’m retired,” he said.

Craig has found it easy to say no to overhead. As a world-class Spartan obstacle course athlete (for his age category, he is quick to say), Craig does a lot of the running, lifting, driving and delivering himself.

“We actually give it to the people who need it,” Craig said. “Not a middleman, not a warehouse.”

Being a novice had downsides, Hayes said. At first, traveling with his son and a friend, they weren’t sure where to go.

But he found a simple way through.

“It was mainly just go in, ask, find immediate aid,” Hayes said. “The only thing we charged to the account was the rental car, the gasoline and the petroleum.”

Another downside of the small crews: Donors have to take them at their word.

Hayes has considered hiring staff, but it’s money he doesn’t want to spend.

To give donors updates, Craig posts videos directly to Facebook.

Hayes sends out monthly blog posts.

Both have become comfortable running on trust.

As the war drags on, Hayes and Craig are headed in similar direction with future aid.

Bill Hayes

KATHRYN ZIESIG / NEWS&GUIDE

The next steps are moving from ad hoc aid “apples and oranges,” Hayes said, to long-term impact addressing the wake of war: injuries and education.

Craig and Hayes coordinated with Baylor College and Texas Children’s Hospital to set up a prosthetics and orthotics center in Uzhgorod for the nearly 50,000 who have lost limbs in the war.

They’re investing in 3D printers to scan legs or arms for the perfect prosthetic.

Craig’s vision is a rehabilitation center in a village, named after Jackson Hole. He wants to spend the rest of his life making it happen.

“I don’t plan on coming back,” he said.

Contact Sophia Boyd-Fliegel at 307-732-7063 or county@ jhnewsandguide.com.

IMPRINT • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, December 13, 2023 - 19

Art that gives back

COURTESY PHOTO

Carrie Boynton, executive director of the Animal Adoption Center, visits with Diehl Gallery artist Matt Devine in 2022. The gallery supports nonprofits, including the Adoption Center, by asking art purchasers to give 5% of the acquisition cost to a charity.

Diehl Gallery sales support nonprofits.

By Tibby Plasse

Diehl Gallery began partnering with nonprofits when native New Yorker Mariam Diehl purchased the Jackson branch of the Park City-based Meyer Gallery in 2005, putting her own name on the business after having been the director at Meyer for three years.

Diehl, who has both a Bachelor and Master of Arts in politics from New York University, left her professional track in development for the gallery world when she moved to the Tetons.

“I was a fundraiser for nonprofit organizations in New York City before relocating to Jackson in 2002,” she said.

“Supporting nonprofits is in my blood and close to my heart.”

So it’s not surprising to learn that Diehl Gallery celebrates a philanthropic thread with every exhibit.

“Being able to bring that love into my gallery world was critical for me,” Diehl said. “I found that making art acquisitions about more than dollar figures — essentially forcing my clients’ hands at philanthropy — was a perfect scenario.”

Since opening its doors, Diehl Gallery has married a philanthropic and artistic mindset by supporting local, national and international nonprofit missions, including American Forests and the American Prairie Reserve, Animal Adoption Center in Jackson Hole, Elephant Crisis Fund, Grand Teton National Park Foundation, Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, Jackson Hole Land Trust, Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation, Jenny Lake Rangers, Teton County Search and Rescue Foundation and Teton Raptor Center.

Over the years, Diehl said, the gallery has supported more than 25 nonprofits and raised over $100,000 for a wide variety of causes.

“We’re very proud of that,” she said.

The gallery directs 5% of the acquisition cost of artwork toward the selected nonprofit, and Diehl said the model works well.

“Essentially, the 5% the client writes to the nonprofit comes out of the artist’s pocket and the gallery’s pocket, so we want them to feel positive about the partnership.”

As the gallery matches nonprofits with artists, it always runs the nonprofit by the artists for their approval first.

But often, Diehl said, the connection continues outside the exhibition.

“Many times, the relationship goes even farther,” she said. “For example, the Grand Teton Music Festival hosts concerts in the gallery, and they are open to the public.

“This is a lovely expansion upon our donations to the organization and their way of thanking us in a way that benefits locals and visitors, who enjoy a free, world-class concert in a beautiful, art-filled venue.”

At the end of each exhibition the gallery hands the nonprofit partner a stack of checks instead of sending one donation check — and for good reason.

“Rather than the gallery writing a check at the end of an exhibition, we have collectors write the check to the nonprofit and give it to us,” Diehl said.

“They send acknowledgment letters to each collector, thus expanding their donor base.”

And, she added, it’s not uncommon for donors to add in some extra cash.

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! LOOKING FORWARD TO A BRIGHT & ARTFUL YEAR AHEAD WILDLIFEART.ORG

Contact Tibby Plasse via 307-732-7071 or jlove@jhnewsandguide.com.

WHERE TEENS CAN FIND

LASTING FRIENDSHIP BECAUSE ALL TEENS DESERVE TO KNOW THEY ARE LOVED. MORE INFO & GET INVOLVED HTTP://JACKSONHOLE.YOUNGLIFE.ORG

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FUN, ADVENTURE & A SENSE OF SIGNIFICANCE WITH A CARING ADULT

Carl Rungius, First Snow—detail, c. 1940.

JKM Collection®, National Museum of Wildlife Art. © Estate of Carl Rungius.

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20 • IMPRINT • JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, December 13, 2023

2 02 3 oldbills.org

TOTAL DESIGNATED: $22,538,972

TOTAL MATCH: $5.4 million

TOTAL # OF DONORS

4,091

TOTAL RAISED IN 2023:

$27.9 Million

GRAND TOTAL RAISED IN 27 YEARS:

$256 Million

A program of the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole

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