The Community Foundation of Southeast Kansas (CFSEK) is hosting Match Week from Monday, November 9 through Friday, November 13, 2026! Match Week is an exciting fundraising campaign to help local nonprofit organizations increase their endowed funds and build sustainability. It's a continuation and expansion of Match Day, which we've hosted each fall since 2016. All community donations to participating funds during Match Week will be placed in participating nonprofits' CFSEK endowment. The Community Foundation will provide a prorated match to each nonprofit, which may choose to place the match in its endowment or request the match as a distribution for immediate use.
Each participating organization will receive a prorated match out of CFSEK's match pool based on total community donations received, up to 20% of the total pool.
The history of Match Week
On November 29, 2016, CFSEK hosted its first-ever Match Day. The Foundation offered $20,000 of its own unrestricted funds to match community contributions to the endowments of 20 local nonprofit organizations. The community’s response was overwhelming: In just 24 hours, more than 150 donors gave nearly $72,000 in support of the campaign.
Since then, the generosity has just kept growing as CFSEK continued to host Match Day each National Giving Tuesday, the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Last year, thanks in large part to generous grants from the Patterson Family Foundation and the Nancy Parker Miller Memorial Fund, CFSEK offered $100,000 in matching funds. During our first Match Week event in 2025, 1112 gifts were given to 48 funds totaling $437,227.18 back into our community!
We're expecting Match Week 2026 to be just as successful! And like last year, each of our affiliates will host its own separate Match Week fundraiser November 9 - 13! Visit the Columbus Area Community Foundation, Fort Scott Area Community Foundation, and Girard Area Community Foundation for more information about their 2026 Match Week fundraisers.
How we calculate match amounts
Each participating organization's endowed fund will receive 100% of the community contributions designated for it (less processing fees charged by Stripe, our online-payments processor). In addition, each organization will have access to a prorated match out of the match pool. The match pool will consist of $100,000 from CFSEK plus any amounts from match sponsorships. The prorated match for an organization will be proportionate to the share of all community contributions designated for the organization's fund during Match Week, subject to a 20% limit.
For instance, if a nonprofit's fund received 10% of total community donations during Match Week, then it would also receive 10% of the match pool. If it received 25% of community Match Week donations, it would be limited to 20% of the total match pool.
In addition, each fund will be eligible for additional amounts based on our challenge sponsorships. Stay tuned for more information about these!
How you can give this Match Week
You can give during Match Week in any of the following ways:
- Online. At 12:00 a.m. on November 9, this website (SEKGives.org) will start accepting donations. Simply select one or more participating funds you'd like to donate to, enter the amount you'd like to give to each, and complete your donation through Stripe's website. And don't worry! You can donate using Stripe whether or not you have a Stripe account! Online donations must be made by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, November 13.
- In person. Between November 9 and 13, you can bring your donation by cash or check to our office in the basement of the Commerce Bank building in Pittsburg, 100 S. Broadway St., Suite 100. Our office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Make sure you complete a printable Match Week donation form (coming soon!) and bring it with you!
- By mail. Can't make it to the office during Match Week? That's okay--you can mail your check to us at P.O. Box 1448, Pittsburg, KS 66762. Be sure to include a printable Match Week donation form (coming soon) so we know which funds you'd like your donation to benefit. Donations sent by mail must be postmarked by Friday, November 13, 2026.
Please make checks payable to Community Foundation of Southeast Kansas. If you aren't using a donation form with your check, please write the fund name(s) on the memo line.
Looking for another way to give? We're flexible! Check out our Ways to Give page for even more giving ideas!
Learn more
- Find out what organizations are participating in Match Week
- Find links to our affiliates' Match Week websites at SEKMatchWeek.org
