CSA COVID-19 Matching Fund Program

To respond locally to the COVID-19 pandemic, SDCF committed $250,000 to match grants given by our partner Community Savings Accounts (CSA) for immediate needs across South Dakota.

In 2020, CSAs granted more than $262,700 to address needs created by the coronavirus pandemic, including distributions to food pantries, backpack programs, senior meals, nonprofit daycares, economic development, personal protective equipment, and telehealth services, among others. SDCF granted more than $212,000 in matching funds to 48 South Dakota communities in need.

Without the dedicated volunteer CSA leaders and the generosity of our donors, the impact made in South Dakota would not have been possible. Thank you for demonstrating the necessary role of philanthropy and substantial generosity in responding to the greatest needs in our state.

To learn more about SDCF’s coronavirus response and reprioritization of grantmaking programs, please refer to page 31.

The Lead-Deadwood Community Foundation distributed a grant to the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Black Hills. The funds allowed the BGCBH to continue providing meal packages to members of the community duringthe pandemic. Funds were matched by the SDCF CSA COVID-19 Matching Fund.

Foundation Partnership Helps Aberdeen in Pandemic

Through a partnership with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Aberdeen Area Community Foundation (AACF) was able to make significant grants to address the impact of the pandemic in the Aberdeen area. In March 2020, the Knight Foundation committed $225,000 to create the Knight COVID-19 Aberdeen sub-fund in the AACF. Throughout the year, the AACF made 14 grants for nearly $143,000 to organizations in the area.

The sub-fund was meant to address immediate needs while also focusing on Knight Foundation’s priority areas in Aberdeen. The first grant was the largest, $40,000 to the United Way of Northeastern South Dakota’s COVID-19 Relief Fund, which provided quick relief to local nonprofits. The other grants ranged from $1,000 to nearly $19,000 and supported programs that provided meals and winter clothes for people in need at all ages, projects to upgrade wireless services in after-school centers to prepare for potential school closings, a training program for healthcare workers, and support for networking and education for small businesses, among other efforts. More grants will be made in 2021.

These funds were a portion of over $10 million Knight Foundation committed to its 26 Knight communities around the country, of which Aberdeen is the smallest.