As it happens, Volunteer Appreciation Week is April 20-26 and I am here to express my heartfelt gratitude to all of you dedicated, passionate members (and some non-members) who step up every day to make our League the success that it is. Our volunteers are the reason I am so very proud to have been able to represent LWVMC for the past two years. 

As a grassroots organization, we are very lucky to have attracted so many smart and talented volunteers. You have adopted our mission as your own, and you have applied your considerable expertise to our success. I am aware of a couple of cases where people volunteered for positions in which they had no expertise and then spent an incredible amount of time learning everything they could so that they could become experts in that particular area. And as I was typing this message, I learned of another member who will do the same. Other leaders have stayed on long past their expected tenure. That’s dedication! 

I recently attended a house party hosted by two members who invited friends and neighbors to learn about the League. The enthusiasm with which the hosts spoke about the areas in which they work was contagious. I was re-energized by their joy. For our recent testimonial series posted on social media entitled Why I Give to the League, several League leaders wrote truly moving reasons why they donate to our organization. That’s passion!

The venue was fair-like with attendees moving from booth to booth given their interests and time constraints. A key booth included a short presentation on the two-prong strategy of protecting and expanding reproductive freedoms via the judicial and legislative paths.  The importance of the April 1^st WI Supreme Court election was emphasized.  Other booths included the identification of mis/dis-information on social media, how to take personal action in ways that work for you, voter information, the Garland of Hope art activation, and the work of feminist artist, Niki Johnson.  

The committee’s efforts are a pilot to attract and engage youth to advocate for the LWVUS policy position….”that public policy in a pluralistic society must affirm the constitutional right of privacy of the individual to make reproductive choices”.  

Another key aspect of the ReproWarriors campaign is to align and work with other organizations which share the same goals and to expand the effort throughout all WI leagues to address this important state issue.  Niki Johnson, Persisters, Arts4Impact, and WIVEC collaborated.  

The end-of-year appeal letter from President Nancy Maloney presented options for donors to support regular operations or the Endowment Fund.  LWVMC has been working to secure an endowment fund for financial security into the future.  Just prior to the end-of-year appeal, an additional $22,000 was needed to be at the $100,000 level, the minimum needed to set up an endowment fund at the Greater Milwaukee Foundation.  A series of emails were sent to follow up on Nancy’s letter.  The goal for the endowment was reached, and plans are moving forward to set up the Fund.

Monthly giving

The Fund Development Team recommended that the Club Express donation page be implemented to add the option of recurring monthly donations. Currently, Club Express requires the donor to select a number of occurrences for the recurring donation.  The recurring donation stops when that is reached.  For monthly giving to be successful, we need to get that limitation removed.    

Senior Center Presentations

Peg Schrader created a presentation on the history of voting rights that was presented at Saint Camillus.  League materials on VOTE411, Legacy Giving and the 2025 LWVMC Value proposition were available.  The Dangerous Women film was shown in February at St. John’s on the Lake.  The Committee recommends that LWVMC develop additional presentations and establish a Speakers Bureau to increase the League’s outreach.   

House Parties

Bonnie Jacobson created a template for house parties as another way to identify potential donors, introduce them to the League, and build relationships to create new donors and/or members for the League. These are informal events with a speaker on a relevant topic.  Mary Voelker and Jane Glodoski co-hosted a house party in March. The link to the house party template  

Naming of Giving Levels

Last year the League began last year recognizing donors in the  annual meeting programs with gifts organized by giving levels. The Committee recommended that these giving levels be named and Committee members researched and suggested suffragists to consider.  After additional research and a write-up by Beth Lueck, the Committee selected a diverse set of suffragists to represent the giving levels. 

Giving Days

The Committee recommended that LWVMC have Giving Days associated with League important days rather than using Giving Tuesday as a Campaign, which comes in the middle of the end-of-year appeal.  They suggested one Giving Day on International Women’s Day on March 8, 2025, and another on International Democracy Day on September 15, 2025.  Both campaigns will target non-members and the general public with emails and social media posts leading up to each Giving Day. 

Celebrate Democracy Day was held on September 15 at the Central United Methodist Church, organized by Pat McFarland. 

The Committee uses its Fund Development messaging Calendar  to guide communication on social media and email.  Mary Rode who is also on the Social Media team monitor the calendar and make suggestions for social media posts.

Articles in the weekly update during March celebrate women-owned businesses. 

Day by day we see the devastating impact climate change is having on our world.   Unfortunately, every day we also see that the federal government is not only turning its back on efforts to tackle climate change but instead is working to throw out 50 years worth of bipartisan policies that were established to protect our air, water and environments.  

Rather than despair, our league is taking action.  Regardless of what is happening in Washington DC there is much that can be done at the local level.  Last year, LWV of Milwaukee County created a Climate Action Group.   This January, LWVMC members, with an interest, passion, and concern about climate change, came together to make our local plan of action.  Over the next 6 months, the Climate Action Group will focus on the following goals:

1.Urge and support local government climate plans.   This will include support for the City and County of Milwaukee as they move forward with their Climate and Equity plans.  

2.Hold meetings of members in Wauwatosa, Franklin, and Shorewood to explore what can be done to engage their elected local leaders on the issues of climate change

3.Support and promote Earth Day activities in the Milwaukee area

4.Understand the impact of more gas plants being established in our region

5.Follow state legislation that impacts climate change

These plans will require league members to contact their elected officials and attend public events.   To guide this plan, a group of our CAG agreed to form a Steering committee.   This committee will meet by Zoom once a month to keep the plan on track and explore ways to engage all our members in this critical work to save our planet. 

The steering committee also agreed that we would send ACTIONALERTS to all members who have indicated an interest in climate change whenever action is needed. The group is also developing an easy report-back form to keep track of responses from elected officials.

Taking action is the way to combat despair and frustration. If you are interested in joining the Climate Action Group or being on the email list for future meetings, contact c.owley@lwvmilwaukee.org.       

The future of our world is at stake.    The time for action is NOW.

Activities impacted the record-setting 89% turnout of registered voters in the City of Milwaukee for the 2024 Fall Election.

More than 11,000 people were directly assisted through outreach services to help them register to vote, help them request an absentee ballot, or provide voter information and education. 

Launched a paid social media advertising campaign that included 18 ads that prioritized 18-24 year-olds in the Milwaukee metro area and resulted in 3,463 link clicks, directing to Vote411, Milwaukee Elections, or LWVMC Facebook page for Meta and 4,191 link clicks to My Vote for Reddit.

Sent out a weekly email to our community partners with 14,000 openings. 

The League held a Future Voter Fest, engaging young people in voter registration and civic engagement activities. Eight community organizations joined the League and contributed to this event.   

Partnered with the Brand Management and Strategy class at the University of Wisconsin School of Business to educate Milwaukee high school students about voting and voter registration by producing 44 videos. 

VOTE411

The League’s VOTE411 program identifies races and candidates and produces online voter guides for races throughout the 19 municipalities in Milwaukee County and the 13 largest communities in Waukesha County.   In 2024, VOTE411 invited over 300 candidates for over 190 races to participate in the Spring and Fall online Voter guides.  More than 41,000 users accessed VOTE411. 

Advocacy and Action

The League and partner organizations use grassroots mobilization, legislative advocacy, and public education to champion LWV-adopted positions on issues of interest to our local membership that impact our communities.  Current policy positions we advocate for are Reproductive Rights, Climate Change, Natural Resources - WI Infrastructure, and the National Popular Vote. 

The Reproductive Rights Committee provided educational events on healthcare that informed citizens, who could then more effectively advocate for equitable access and expansion of reproductive healthcare in Wisconsin. 

The Natural Resources Committee, with the American Society of Civil Engineers – WI promoted a nine-session webinar series to educate the community on the ASCE’s bi-annual report card for WI bridges and roads, aviation and transit, inland waterways and ports, dams and stormwater, drinking water and wastewater, broadband and energy, hazardous waste and solid waste, rail, and parks and schools. 

The newly formed Climate Action Group presented two educational programs, successfully advocated at the City and County of Milwaukee for funding for climate equity work, and participated in the newly established climate coalition, Our Future MKE (OFM) Moving Forward in 2025.