JACKSON HOLE, WYO – Without Co-Challengers, Old Bill’s wouldn’t have legs. Twenty-two years ago, Mr. and Mrs. Old Bill initially planned to go it alone—prepared to fund the match pool all by themselves. Naively, they believed they could challenge our community with half a million dollars in order to raise another half million to benefit local nonprofits.
The community exceeded all expectations and raised $1.8 million that first year, leaving the Community Foundation happily scrambling to find additional matching funds. If Old Bill’s were to survive, the couple knew they needed help, and they quickly reached out to others to join them as Co-Challengers.
This year, Mr. and Mrs. Old Bill are joined by 69 Co-Challengers collectively giving $3,480,000 to the match pool. This is an all-time record for Co-Challenger giving. Community Foundation President Katharine Conover regularly visits other communities to discuss duplicating Old Bill’s.
“There are currently more than fifteen ‘Baby Bill’s’ around the country,” Conover said. “When people ask about how to bring this event to their community, I always emphasize that it only works because of Mr. and Mrs. Old Bill and the Co-Challengers. Without their selfless generosity, there would be no incentive for nonprofits to collaborate nor for donors to give through this elegant fundraiser.”
Mr. and Mrs. Old Bill and the Co-Challengers’ contributions not only provide the partial matching grants nonprofits receive through Old Bill’s and help fund the Foundation’s Competitive Grants program, they also cover the event’s administrative costs so participation is completely free for organizations.
Over the past 22 years, Mr. and Mrs. Old Bill have donated $11 million. To date, Co-Challengers have contributed more than $34 million to inspire others in Jackson Hole to donate in excess of $150 million to causes they care about. These astounding numbers reflect our community’s dedication to nonprofits and to one another.
Old Bill’s Fun Run for Charity event is tomorrow, Saturday, September 8 on Town Square. This year, registration to run and walk is entirely online. Registration is free before 5pm today; there is no timed registration tomorrow and untimed registration is $20.
