WCIL Gives plans to build on “Year One momentum”

Published 3:27 pm Tuesday, May 26, 2026

MOUNT STERLING, Ill. — The Tracy Family Foundation hopes to build on a successful first year with the return of WCIL Gives.

The four-day giving event begins at 8 a.m. Monday, June 8 and continues through 11:59 p.m. Thursday, June 11. Donors can visit wcilgives.org to explore participating organizations and make secure online donations during the event to causes they care about.

“This year we are just building on that Year One momentum because we’ve proven that collective generosity works,” said Callie Niederhauser, program manager at the Tracy Family Foundation.

“This is about more than just raising money. It’s about building that capacity for organizations to continue to build those donor relationships in the future and to have sustainable operations.”

Eighty-one organizations – focused on arts and culture, education, health and social services — in Adams, Brown, Cass, Greene, Hancock, McDonough, Morgan, Pike and Schuyler counties have registered to participate in the event to raise funds and vie for prizes.

First-time participant Quincy Art Center welcomes the opportunity.

“Having WCIL Gives in June is a perfect way to give us a boost at the end of our fiscal year,” said Alta King, the center’s director of development.

Its “Make a Splash with Paint” campaign seeks donations to connect people to the power of art — and to see Mayor Linda Moore, Police Chief Adam Yates or “Volunteer Extraordinaire” Anthony Oliver splashed with paint for raising the most money.

“The Tracy Family Foundation has been very supportive in helping us with this campaign,” King said. “We’ve learned a lot that we can take into other campaigns throughout the year.”

Mandy Humphry hopes the giving event will benefit Christian Adoption Resources and Education and its support for adoptive families in a 40-mile radius of Carthage, wraparound services for foster families in Hancock County and Lee County, Iowa, and financial support for children’s homes that provide a family-style setting for children who can’t be adopted.

“We are doing more fundraising, more grant-writing, so I can dedicate my time to growing all of these programs and being available to the community,” said Humphry, the organization’s executive director.

“We’re finding out resources with the Tracy Family Foundation so we can continue to grow and be a sustainable nonprofit organization.”

WCIL Gives more than doubled its prize pool, to a total of $55,750, thanks to support from the Community Foundation Serving West Central Illinois and Northeast Missouri, the J.W. Gardner II Foundation and the Moorman Foundation.

With new prize categories, “we won’t have small organizations competing against large ones in most cases,” Niederhauser said, and for organizations that meet certain criteria, “we have quite a few more random drawings. Things like that are helping make it more equitable.”

The 2025 event raised more than $160,000 from nearly 1,500 donors during its inaugural year, and organizers hope to see those totals grow this year.

“It is a community-wide effort to uplift the organizations that do vital work across our region,” Foundation President Dan Teefey said. “By working together, we are helping these organizations continue to serve and strengthen West-Central Illinois.”

The effort also helps connect organizations across the foundation’s 10-county service area.

“That’s a large radius in terms of distance, but we can pair together some organizations that we’ve heard from that are experiencing similar things or have a similar audience or approach,” Niederhauser said. “They’re able to learn from one another.”

Training sessions offered through the foundation provide tools organizations need to build a successful campaign, including templates and best practices.

“We’re trying to give organizations in our region all of the support they need, but it does take work. Last year, some organizations signed up and their page was there and that’s where it ended. They saw the results of that with their fundraising efforts,” Niederhauser said.

“I’m really confident with this year we have increased dedication, excitement. We’re super eager to see how the community shows up.”