Annual Appeal 2024
Dear Friend of local history,
It was 118 years ago that our Historical Society’s founders met to lay the groundwork for the organization we have today. With an ambitious goal ahead, a historical village planning committee crafted a vision more than 50 years ago that continues to grow and take shape today.
Let’s imagine together what we can all make possible in the next year:
It’s a beautiful day at our Manitowoc County Historical Society’s Museum and Pinecrest Village. The sun is shining, with a gentle breeze. There is a dance taking place in the Nennig Dance Pavilion, and a tavern full of merriment at the Meeme House. There’s an older woman showing a young girl how a loom works in our Carsten House Makerspace. A group, comprised of 3 generations, is walking through the heirloom garden and talking about great-grandpa’s love of weed-picking.
While guests are stepping into the stories of our past, a volunteer is setting up for a Create-Connect workshop, a new staff person is preparing for an educational program for that evening at the Meeme House, and another helper is scanning scrapbook images into our collections database so they can be preserved for future generations.
This is what our future can look like. You can make all of this a reality. Close your eyes and see it come to life.
It is the time of year that we write to thank you for all that we have accomplished with your past support, and to ask for your continued help. Your dollars make it possible for us to keep the promise that our founders and early volunteers made more than a century ago. You give us tools, materials and time to share skills that can only be exchanged hand-to-hand. It’s a timeless and empowering legacy.
Our Manitowoc County Historical Society’s Annual Appeal raises funds that support our mission through our daily operations, rather than a specific project. Our Annual Appeal keeps our gates open, lights on, staff energized, and cabinets filled with needed office supplies so that we can fulfill our mission. Unrestricted grants for staffing and utilities are hard to come by but are necessary for making our mission come alive. With the goal of expanding our staff and resources, our mission can only grow with your support.
With a strong vision for what our immediate future can look like, we know your year-end contribution can have a significant impact in our programming, services, and outreach. Your contribution to our Annual Appeal will have a direct impact with:
· $85 covers materials for 1 day of educational programming for 25 students
· $140 covers technical support and software for making our archives accessible online for one month
· $480 covers one month of utility costs
· $1,200 covers gas for a summer of lawn mowing
· $2,500 covers the cost of our yearly postage
· $7,000 covers the initial staffing costs of our public programs for one year
· $13,000 covers the cost of our membership, volunteer, guest services database and online ticketing for one year
In the coming year, we hope to sustain our staff and add an additional team member to once again grow our opportunities to serve our guests and the community. We know there is demand for more—more after-hours programs, more small group immersive opportunities, more living history, more online archives, more local history being shared. Our Manitowoc County Historical Society receives no federal, state, or local funding. By donating to our Annual Appeal, you allow us to continue to live and strengthen our mission.
Our 2024 Annual Appeal goal is $40,000. We know that this is ambitious but every dollar indeed adds up. Without the contributions of our Annual Appeal we would not have staff to fulfill our mission, services, programs, and collections preservation. We would not have lights or computers to help greet our guests.
Your generosity gives us the power to keep making a positive impact in the communities we serve and is an investment in our future. Our Manitowoc County Historical Society is an organization that remains a vital part of our community, continually pursuing new ways to preserve and share our heritage. You can continue to give the stories of our past a future full of possibilities. Please join me in giving generously.
Sincerely,
Amy Meyer, Executive Director