In this week’s update: $2,500 foundation match challenge met, 1/4 of Membership Match Challenge met, Heritage Christmas this Saturday, and more!
In our weekly update, keep up to date on what staff and volunteers at the Lindsborg Old Mill & Swedish Heritage Museum are working on to lift up the history of Lindsborg and the surrounding region. This weekly update both looks back at what happened last week and looks ahead at what’s coming.
For November 27 – December 3, 2023:
- Thanks to a number of generous donors, we successfully met the maximum match of $2,500 through the Smoky Valley Community Foundation’s “second-chance” match campaign! Thank you so much to everyone who ensured we didn’t leave any of these matching funds on the table and helped us continue to expand and grow our endowment funds to support ongoing operations at the museum.
- We are inviting everyone to our annual Heritage Christmas event, 5:30 – 8:00 p.m. on THIS Saturday, December 9! Come to visit with Santa, enjoy music in the Swedish Pavilion, make decorated cookies and holiday crafts, tour the Old Mill, and – NEW! – join up for the Mayor’s Christmas Kaffe in the Train Depot! Admission is by-donation, with a recommended donation of $5 per person and a $4,000 goal for the event.
- We have a year-end $50,000 Museum Membership Match Challenge! So far, about 25% of the match campaign has been met.
Right now anyone who buys a 2024 Lindsborg Museum membership will also secure a bonus to the museum worth three times the amount of the membership. It’s a perfect way to make donation dollars stretch farther this holiday season. With a generous challenge pledge of $50,000 from Julie-Ann Neywick – longtime museum supporter and volunteer – she will triple match any individual, family, and business memberships purchased between now and 5 p.m. Central Time on December 31.
The terms of the challenge mean that a $40 individual membership brings the museum another $120, a $60 family membership secures another $180, and getting a $125 business membership (which also grants membership benefits for up to 10 employees) will impressively secure an additional $375!
So far, there has been $2,905 from memberships, and 17% of the $50,000 Match Challenge has been secured!
To become a member today, visit www.oldmillmuseum.org/members to purchase online (NOW with the option to purchase a gift membership) or send a check to PO Box 94, Lindsborg, KS 67456 (including with the check the level of membership being purchased, email address, mailing address, full name, phone number, and indicating whether the museum’s biannual newsletter should be sent by email, mail, or both). Memberships can also be purchased with a credit or debit card over the phone by calling 785-227-3595 or in person at the museum at 120 E. Mill St., Lindsborg, Kansas, during museum hours of 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday – Saturday.
Learn more about the match challenge HERE.
- Full final approval has been secured on four projects at the museum under the $250,000 SPRINT Grant, awarded earlier this year. These are the new museum security system, guttering on the museum and shop, an upgrade to the Old Mill heating system, and removal of several damaged trees for safety purposes. These projects represent about a fifth of the total grant.
- Mark your calendars: We have two upcoming genealogy workshops. First, the next all-day Swedish Genealogy Workshop will be on February 3. A shorter beginner German Genealogy Workshop is scheduled for February 17. Pages to register for both will be available soon on this website.
- We have officially kicked off our Endowment Campaign 2025 to add $1 million to our endowment in supporting our annual operational budget to make sure that not only do we preserve these historical treasures, but we can also “keep the lights on.” Read more on the flyer and giving form below, or visit to www.oldmillmuseum.org/donations to learn more!
