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Council agrees to seed zoo endowment with leftover fundraiser funds
Summary
Alderman Tompkins moved and the council approved using $41,000 from a completed zoo exhibit fund as seed money to establish an endowment with the Marshfield Area Community Foundation to support zoo maintenance in perpetuity.
Alderman Tompkins told the Marshfield Common Council on June 10 that $41,000 remains in a fund established with the Marshfield Area Community Foundation after a zoo exhibit was built and that council should seed an endowment to protect the zoo’s upkeep.
“The endowment would be money that is never touched, but the interest from that money would then be used towards the zoo,” Tompkins said during discussion of the finance, budget and personnel item to close certain funding accounts. He proposed a city agreement with the Marshfield Area Community Foundation to create an endowment using the $41,000 as seed money.
Tompkins told colleagues the foundation brings donor connections and community trust the city lacks and that those strengths could help the endowment grow. He said the endowment would allow donors to designate gifts and that, if it grew to roughly $6,000,000, the interest could cover the zoo’s annual budget.
Council approved Tompkins’s motion to direct city staff to prepare an agreement with the Marshfield Area Community Foundation to establish the endowment using the remaining funds. The motion was made by Alderman Tompkins and seconded by Alderman Fire; council recorded the motion as passing.
Tompkins said he had consulted Parks and Rec, finance staff, and the foundation director and that all supported using the funds as seed money for an endowment. The council did not adopt a formal target or timeline for additional fundraising during the meeting.
