2024 Annual Report
Board Of Directors
Cover photo: Barbara McMahill
Cori Slingerland Vice Chair
Mark Calhoun Mark Cole
Michelle Escudero
RIta Neill Secretary
Deborah Reguera Treasurer
Amanda Sempert
Rick Fagnant CPA Board Member Emeritus
Linda Lindsey Chair
David Goldman
Marilyn Fisher
John Larsen
Photo: Dick Lefevre
Message From The Executive Director
THANK YOU, Lander Community Foundation friends—near and far!
Mary Greene Executive Director Lander Community Foundation
Your devotion, engagement, financial support, volunteerism, and community-minded spirit made 2024 an incredible year. Whether you helped racers cross the finish line safely on the 4th of July, joined other Challenge for Charities (C4C) Challengers by contributing to the Matching Fund, or provided LCF with unrestricted support to keep our mission moving forward—thank you.
We’ve been working hard to meet the needs of Lander’s nonprofits while helping them grow, elevate their professionalism, and sustain the programs our community relies on.
Through vital services and resources, we’ve helped to strengthen nonprofit capacity, increase attendance at community events, and ensure that essential programs continue to thrive. While capturing every positive impact made this year is impossible, here are some of the accomplishments we’re incredibly proud of.
Photo: Stacy Stebner
MAKING MAGIC FOR 14 YEARS THROUGH LANDER’S LARGEST ANNUAL FUNDRAISER
Challenge For Charities
LCF reached new goals this year. Thanks to your support, we created more free resources for nonprofits, fostered local partnerships, and offered guidance to fiscally sponsored entities.
We have broken records for three consecutive years through Challenge for Charities, engaged in our community, and strengthened ties across sectors.
Each year, more nonprofits raise more money through C4C. They recognize this event as a powerful tool for leveraging donations and
are becoming increasingly skilled at fundraising. This fundraiser works, and because of C4C and the generosity of donors, our greater community continues to thrive.
In 2024, there were over 3,500 individual donations to nonprofits— an astounding 2,517 more than in 2023. To help maximize this impact, LCF continues to provide free consultation and marketing coaching, ensuring organizations can effectively promote their programs and services during the giving period.
Photo: Stacy Stebner
ANOTHER RECORD-BREAKING YEAR
14 th Annual Challenge For Charities
In another record-breaking year, Challengers and donors contributed an astounding $842,602 to the 14th annual Challenge for Charities (C4C) community-wide fundraiser. Lander nonprofits raised a whopping $641,753.
Here’s a look at what we accomplished together:
+ Coordinated 4,500+ volunteer hours to support local organizations through Lander Connected, the free centralized volunteer hub.
+ Managed substantial grant funding for our 14 fiscally sponsored nonprofits and for 27 LOR Foundation grants.
+ Implemented advanced systems that enhance donor fund management and strengthen our professional capabilities, which will benefit Lander nonprofits in perpetuity.
+ Led the record-breaking 14th annual Challenge for Charities, raising $641,753 with 3,522 donations!
+ 117 Challengers surpassed our goal and contributed $200,849 to the C4C Challenger Matching Fund, the largest one for the third year.
Without the generosity of the C4C Challengers that contribute to the Matching Fund, C4C would not be as successful as it is. These generous contributions spurred our community's philanthropic action, leading to 117 Matching Fund contributions from individuals, businesses, foundations, and four Lander nonprofits.
Challenger donations are vital to encourage philanthropic giving, and they allow us to successfully support nonprofits with an added percentage of the Matching Fund.
The philanthropic leadership from these local businesses and individuals allowed us to give a 35% match to the funds raised by the participating nonprofits. These funds are poured back into Lander and used for local programs and projects. We had 23 organizations that met or surpassed the $10,000 match cap. That is three more than in 2023.
2024 Participating Organizations
Academy of the Winds
Almost Home Wyoming
Anam Cara Caregiving
Apple Valley School
Art link Wyoming
Bookmarked Literary Arts Festival
Central Wyoming Climbers’ Alliance
Central Wyoming College Alpine Science Institute
Child Development Services of Fremont County
Community Entry Services, Inc.
First Stop Help Center
Fremont County Pioneer Association
Fremont Symphony Orchestra
Good Samaritan Community Meal
Help for Health Hospice
Lander Art Center
Lander Boxing Club
Lander Care and Share Food Bank
Lander Christmas Baskets
Lander Climate Action Network
Lander Community Foundation
Lander Creative Arts Club
Lander Cycling Club
Lander Free Medical Clinic
Lander Inclusion Movement - NEW
Lander Library Friends Association
Lander Masters Special Olympics
Lander Old Timers Rodeo Association (LOTRA)
Lander Performing Arts
Lander Pet Connection
Lander Presents
Lander Search and Rescue
Lander Senior Center - NEW
Lander Spay & Neuter
Lander Swim Club
Lander Valley Farmer’s Market
Lander Womentum
PFLAG - NEW
Pushroot Community Garden
Sinks Canyon Conservancy
Sinks Canyon Wild
Slow Food Wind River - NEW
The Bossert Collective
The Nature Conservancy in Wyoming
The Soldier’s House
Water for Wildlife Foundation
Wind River Cultural Centers Foundation
Wind River Dojo - NEW
Wyoming Outdoor Council
Wyoming Pathways
Wyoming Shakespeare Festival Company
Wyoming Wildlife Federation
Lander Nordic Ski Association
Photo: Brad Christensen
A UNIFIED VISION
Strengthening The Arts In Lander
Collaboration is key to ensuring that arts organizations thrive in a vibrant community like Lander. Since late 2023, Lander Art Center, Lander Performing Arts, and Art Link Wyoming have been working alongside community stakeholders and donors to streamline efforts, strengthen programs, and maximize impact.
With support from LCF, these three organizations have explored how combining resources, human skills, and board leadership can create a more sustainable arts ecosystem.
Through thoughtful discussions facilitated by LCF, the groups have worked to minimize confusion among donors and program attendees while identifying the best path forward. Ultimately, this collaboration led to the dissolution of Art Link Wyoming in early 2025, allowing its mission and programs to continue seamlessly under the leadership of Lander Art Center and Lander Performing Arts.
Lander Art Center board member and patron Shane Parrott comments, “Working towards larger goals requires effort and intentionality, seeing how combining forces strengthen each organization and better serve the community has made it all worthwhile.
LCF’s guidance has been instrumental in helping shape these discussions, ensuring that goals remain focused and that the transition makes sense for donors, stakeholders, and patrons alike. This collaboration is a huge step toward sustainability, and while there’s still room to grow, we’re proud of how far we’ve come.”
This effort reflects Lander’s strong tradition of partnership and community-driven solutions. By aligning resources, we ensure that the arts remain a vital and accessible part of our town’s cultural landscape.
LOOKING AHEAD
To Our Future
In 2023, we committed to integrating a more efficient accounting and nonprofit portal system—and we delivered. These two databases now provide secure, long-term storage for nonprofit documents, applications, and key statistics, preserving valuable organizational history. They also enhance LCF’s ability to manage donor-advised funds, scholarships, grants, and fiscally sponsored entities’ funds, ensuring sustainable growth and impact.
Building on this progress, we dedicated part of 2024 to expanding our digital assets and increasing our photo and video library. As part of our commitment to supporting local nonprofits, we provided free photography and videography services for events held in Lander. This allowed us to capture the energy of nonprofit events, volunteers in action, and some of our most dedicated LCF supporters working to advance our mission.
As a reminder, our staff and board created vital goals in our strategic plan. These include:
+ Continuing support for nonprofits
+ Building organizational capacity to meet the needs of our philanthropic community
+ Pursuing financial growth and stability
+ Increasing visibility and exposure to broaden our audience
As we progress on our strategic plan, several key objectives lie ahead. While fundraising has remained steady, we’ve implemented new tools, expanded resources, and grown our staff to better serve Lander’s nonprofits and elevate LCF’s professionalism. These efforts cost money to initially integrate and sustain the program. We need your support to continue our momentum.
We invite you to get involved meaningfully—whether through financial contributions, volunteerism, or advocacy. Together, we can strengthen Lander’s nonprofit community and ensure its lasting impact.
Photo: Brad Christensen
HOW YOU CAN HELP US
Drive Our Mission Forward
You can count on LCF to think strategically for Lander's betterment. We have ambitious goals, and we need your support to achieve them.
You can help turn these goals into reality in many ways—through your time, expertise, financial contributions, or simply by championing the work we do together.
+ Give to the LCF General Operating Fund. Your unrestricted donation allows us to evolve and grow to meet the community’s needs. It also allows us to provide consistent education and opportunities for our local nonprofits and fiscally sponsored organizations.
+ Become a Challenge for Charities Challenger. The money donated by our Challengers is pooled into the Matching Fund. This fund incentivizes community members to donate to their favorite nonprofits, knowing there will be a matching donation through the Challenger Matching fund.
+ Make an in-kind donation - If you have a service that you would like to donate to the Lander Community Foundation, please let us know! We can discuss the best way to recognize your generosity, and are always open to ideas. To maximize our program dollars and staff time, we are appreciative of any donated work you can offer to us at a reduced rate.
+ Join the Lander Legacy Society. The Lander Legacy Society is designed for donors who intend to make planned or deferred gifts to the Lander Community Foundation. A planned gift honors your commitment to Lander and secures your legacy within the community. Ways you can join the Lander Legacy Society:
+ Charitable Bequest
+ Unrestricted Bequest
+ Restricted Bequest
+ Individual Retirement Account
+ Qualified Charitable Distribution
+ Whole Life Insurance
+ Life Income Gift
+ Endowment Donation
+ Contribute to our endowment. Our endowment allows LCF to operate in perpetuity. We are grateful to the Rotary Club of Lander for installing the corpus when LCF was under the club's financial purview. The Board of Directors can use the dollars, if needed, leaving the corpus intact.
To learn more about including LCF in your estate plans, contact us at info@landercommunityfoundation.org or (307) 438-9247.
Photo: Brad Christensen
COMMUNITY CHALLENGER LIST
Challenge For Charities Matching Fund
PLATINUM LEVEL | $20,000+
Lonnie Bull, Edward Jones
The Mortenson Family
GOLD LEVEL | $15,000-$19,999
Jerry and Cassy Venters
TITANIUM LEVEL | $10,000-$14,999
Rick and Janie Muir
Susan Pearson
SILVER LEVEL | $5,000-$9,999
Anonymous (2)
The Blackbird Foundation
Carol and Bruce Campbell
Perry Cook
Fremont Therapy Group
George and Paula Hunker
Don and Judy Legerski
BRONZE LEVEL | $1,000-$4,999
Anonymous (5)
Susan and Rich Brame
Sandy Colhoun and Selina Rossiter
Elemental Performance and Fitness
Michelle Escudero and Scott Kane
Lander Medical Clinic
Alan Garms
Andrew Gramlich and Jackie Nelson
Emily Horne
FUNDS RAISED PER YEAR 2011-2024
Jeff Kimber - Precision Dirt Works
Michael Kotrick and Rita Neill
Lander Children's Museum
Lander Valley Animal Hospital
Christine Lichtenfels and Dan Heilig
The Marshall Chapin Family
Eric and Sandy Martinez
Karen and Steve Matson
Maven Outdoor Equipment
Robert and Virginia Nagy
Deborah and Mark Nunnink
Sky and Jan Phifer
Michael and Atha Quinn
Joseph and Andrea Quiroz
Garth and Annie Reber
Robert and Bonnie Sewell
Cyndy Simer
Robert and Barbara Spengler
Whitco Blasting
Wyoming Community Bank
IRON LEVEL | UP TO $999
Anonymous (8)
Academy of the Winds
Brenda Alexander
Lisa Andersen
Apple Valley School
Margaret Appleby
Barbara and Clint McMahill
Jennifer and Brian Barrett
Marty Brammer
Alice T. Brew
Nancy Brumsted
Bill and Jill Calder
Central Wyoming Climbers' Alliance
Alcmene Chalazonitis Greene
Mike Charles
Michael Cheek and Kathy Brown
Child Development Services of
Fremont County
Dennis and Lucy Cone
Carl Cote
Delaine Cox
Eva Crane
Jeremy Crews
William Darr
Susan Darrin
Jewel Dirks
Richard F. Fagnant
Julia Fairbank and Eric Levy
Robert Fay
Marilyn and James Fisher
Ron and RaJean Fossen
Maureen Fox
John Gans and Steff Kessler
Carolyn and Phil Gilbertson
Cristina González
The Graf Family
Ariel and Mary Greene
Jerre Gresly
Robin Gucker
Hamlin, Sarah and Mark
Molly and Bruce Hampton
Rod and Mary Haper
Joel Harms
Helen E. Higby
Riley Hopeman
Alicia D Jordan
Justus Jacobs Insurance Agency Inc
Laura Koch
Ron and Patti Kopriva
Becky Larsen
Dick and Julie Lefevre
Linda Lindsey and Monty Hettich
Eddie Lobatos
Justin Loyka
Perry and Anita Marple
McCormick Marketing
Kathie McFarlane
Patrick Mettenbrink
Meyer's Gambles Inc.
Roberta Palmer
Lander Dental Group
Nancy A Pieropan
Mcdonald's
Mary Anne Rau
Deborah Reguera and Bill Mayo
Gary Reiter
Scott Robeson
Shannon and Rick Rochelle
Amanda Sempert
Kathryn Shanks
Silver Spur Lanes
Carol and Ron Smith
Jason Snyder
Spear S Produce Company
Suraj Suwal
Tegeler Insurance
Cara Tschida
Leslie and Scott Van Orman
Rick and Jeni Vander Voet
Web Webster
Travis Welch
Karen Wendt
Rick Wilmes
Kevin L Wilson
Wyoming Outdoor Council
Jenny Young
Thomas Zimmer
Photo: Dick Lefevre
DONOR LIST
Unrestricted
Anonymous (12)
Academy of the Winds
Almost Home Wyoming
Anam Cara Caregiving
Amy Andersen & Tim Wilson
Apple Valley School
Art Link Wyoming
Ellen and Steve Bechtel
Soley and Rich Belt
Joyner Benfield Distinctive Land & Waterscapes
Gary Blackwelder
Andrew Blair
Bossert Collective - FSE
Susan Bourg
Susan and Rich Brame
Carol and Bruce Campbell
Central Wyoming Climbers' Alliance
Central Wyoming College
Norm and Sue Cessna
Alcmene Chalazonitis Greene
Mike Charles
Ray and Linda Charles
Mark Cole
Community Entry Services
Dennis and Lucy Cone
Perry Cook
Becky Crane
Eva Crane
Judy and Mark Crawford
Jeremy Crews
Crossing the Threshold
Lora and Chuck Davidson
Nancy M. Debevoise
Anonymous
Matt Enlow
Michelle Escudero and Scott Kane
Julia Fairbank and Eric Levy
Robert Fay
First Stop Help Center
Marilyn and James Fisher
Kate and Aaron Foster
Fremont County Lander Search and Rescue
Fremont County Pioneer Association
Fremont Symphony Orchestra
John Gans and Steff Kessler
Carolyn and Phil Gilbertson
Good Samaritan Community Meal
Greater Toledo Community Foundation
Mary nd Ariel Greene
Ben Groneman
Sydney Hartsock
Help for Health
Polly Hinds and Lynda German
Jennifer Lamb and Jim Hutchison
Lander Art Center
Celina Hudson
Molly and Wayne Hughes -
Hughes Charitable Foundation
George and Paula Hunker
Independence Day Fireworks
Hope Johnson
Alicia D Jordan
David Kallgren
Wyoming Outdoor Recreation
Business Alliance
Ron and Patti Kopriva
Michael Kotrick and Rita Neill
Michael Kusiek
Lander Boxing Club
Lander Care and Share Food
Bank
Lander Christmas Baskets
Lander Climate Action Network
Lander Cycling Club
Lander Free Medical Clinic
Lander Library Friends
Association
Lander Master's Special Olympics
Lander Nordic Ski Association
Lander Old Timers Rodeo
Lander Performing Arts
Photo: Brad Christensen
Ron and Jacque Horn
Charlene Hubble
Lander Pet Connection
Lander Senior Citizen's Center
Lander Spay and Neuter
Lander Swim Club
Lander Valley Farmers Market
Lander Womentum
Rebecca Larsen
Trillium Family Foundation
Edward Lee
Linda Lindsey and Monty Hettich
Izzy Marshall
Karen and Steve Matson
Kathie McFarlane
Patrick Mettenbrink
Rick and Janie Muir
Michael Kotrick and Rita Neill
J.C. Nemecek
Melody Nolan
Cortney O'Connor
Jennifer O'Connor
Andrea Orabona
Friends of the Canyon
Kathy Pappas
Sarah Parrish
Shane Parrott
Lander Family Medicine
Nancy A Pieropan
Shana Tarter and Steve Platz
Potters of the Wind Rivers
Pushroot Community Garden
Deborah Reguera and Bill Mayo
Barbara Reid
Fairview Foundation
Betsy and Ken Richardson
Maia Rose
Rotary Internatonal Lander Rotary
Blackbird Foundation
Rebecc Ryon
In-Kind Donations
Brad Christensen
City of Lander
Coepto Consulting
County10
Erin Freed
Friends of the Canyon
Matt Herr
Kiwanis
Lander Journal
Lander Library
Amanda Sempert
Diane Shoutis
Sinks Canyon Conservancy
Sinks Canyon Wild
Linda Sisco
Nan Slingerland
Slow Food Wind River
Soldiers House, Inc
Wyoming Shakespeare Festival Company
Joanne and Joe Stellar
Jill Stillwagon
Mark A Sutcliffe
Suraj Suwal
Beverly Swistowicz
The Lightner Sams Foundation of Wyoming
Caryn and Tom Throop
Leslie and Scott Van Orman
Water for Wildlife Foundation
Mark Watkins and Susannah Bletner
Travis Welch
Stacy Wells
Wind River Cultural Centers
Foundation
Wind River Dojo
Wind River Wild Horse Sanctuary
Annette Withington
Gary Wolfe
Leann Woodhouse
Wyoming Outdoor Council
Wyoming Pathways
Wyoming Shakespeare Festival
Wyoming Wildlife Federation
John Larsen
McCormick Marketing, Inc.
Barbara McMahill
Mr.D’s
Rita Neill
Kirk Rasmussen
Nathan Shoutis
Summit West
Emily Tilden
