MADISON, Wis. (WKOW) — Longtime Madison residents and philanthropists Dan and Patti Rashke are making what United Way of Dane County calls a groundbreaking commitment to support local philanthropy.
On Tuesday, the couple stopped by 27 News to talk about the donation.
Through their family foundation, the Rashkes will cover all operating and fundraising costs for individual, undesignated donations to United Way for the next 10 years. The gift, expected to total between $10 million and $15 million, ensures that 100 percent of donor contributions go directly to programs addressing Dane County’s most pressing needs.
“Dane County has been home to us for more than 40 years. We’ve raised a family and made a life here,” Patti Rashke, president and co-founder of the TASC Family Foundation, said. “That’s why giving back to the community and inspiring others to do the same is so important to us.”
The Rashkes say they hope the model encourages new and younger donors to get involved while inspiring current donors to increase their giving.
“In a time when individual and workplace giving is declining, we believe this model can spark a shift,” said Dan Rashke, owner and chairman of TASC. “Our goal is to empower everyday philanthropists and show that, together, we can create lasting impact.”
United Way of Dane County President and CEO Renee Moe said the gift could serve as a catalyst for future philanthropy.
“Dan and Patti’s leadership is already inspiring others to lean in,” Moe said. “Their generosity sends a powerful message: Strategic philanthropy can and should strengthen our community and address the hardest issues.”
The Rashkes hope their model of trust-based giving can be replicated by other philanthropists and organizations across the country.
‘Make the Rashkes pay’: How we are breaking down barriers to giving
Dan and Patti Rashke
The Greater Madison area is filled with generosity. We are fortunate to live in a region where so many individuals and organizations support a wide array of worthy causes — from health and education to housing, the arts and the environment.
And yet, as the population grows, so does the need. Unfortunately, current giving trends aren’t keeping pace. That’s a challenge we can’t afford to ignore.
At the Dan and Patti Rashke (TASC) Family Foundation, we strive to be strategic and innovative with our philanthropy. Successful giving should catalyze others to follow suit, amplifying and magnifying the donation in service to solving community challenges. Giving can be contagious.
We’re fortunate to be able to share our time, talents and resources with a range of nonprofits. But we want to do more. In addition to our own giving, we want to inspire others to give (or give more) whether that’s time, money or both. We want to create a community of everyday philanthropists who give what they can. Because philanthropy is not the size of the check. It literally means goodwill to fellow humans.
We’re hopeful that a recent commitment we’ve made to the United Way of Dane County will energize everyday philanthropists across the region.
A gift to amplify giving
We’ve made a 10-year commitment to cover United Way’s administrative and fundraising overhead costs associated with all individual, undesignated donations made to the organization. What does this mean? When you, or your employees, or your neighbors, contribute to address Dane County’s greatest needs through undesignated giving, 100% of that donation goes into service. We’re taking care of the administrative costs. Essentially, we’re adding fourteen cents to every dollar donated.
Why the workplace matters
We approach our partnerships with nonprofits in the same way we run a business. Any healthy organization — nonprofit or for-profit — needs top-line revenue. For nonprofits, that revenue comes from donations, grants and fundraising. Without it, they can’t do the critical work our communities rely on.
Taking that business analogy one step further, let’s talk about our target audience.
Of course we want to encourage everybody to give. But for long-term sustainability, we need to reach a younger audience of everyday philanthropists. And the ideal place to find them is in the workplace — in your workplace.
That’s why United Way’s workplace giving campaign is so important. It makes giving easy. Employees can give directly or through payroll deductions — no friction, no delay. That’s how everyday giving becomes a habit.
By setting an example, as a leader at your company, you can be a catalyst to giving as your team members see you stepping up to the plate.
Breaking down barriers
We could have just written a check to United Way. But that wasn’t our goal. Our goal is to inspire giving.
We want business leaders to increase their donations; we want existing donors to make sure their gifts serve the greatest good by making them undesignated. And, importantly, we want to break down some of the barriers that keep people from giving.
Anecdotally, we know some donors have an aversion to administrative costs or overhead, even though they may logically understand that nonprofits need to be well-run with a professional and able staff.
At United Way of Dane County, the administrative rate is just 14% — low by industry standards and a sign of smart, efficient operations. But we know that for some donors, even a small overhead can feel like a hurdle. So, we decided to remove it.
Our hope is that the nature and structure of our gift will address that barrier to giving, resulting in additional donors and creating more top-line revenue.
Beyond social responsibility
With roots in Dane County that go back nearly four decades, we feel strongly about doing all we can to make Dane County a great place to live for all. We’ve built a business and raised a family here and feel a responsibility to strengthen the community that has given so much to us.
But it goes beyond a simple sense of responsibility.
Over the years we’ve studied the impact of giving, and what the research shows is compelling: generosity makes people happier.
A Harvard Business School study calls it “pro-social giving.” We just think it’s smart.
Happiness leads to productivity which, in turn, strengthens communities and economies.
Leaning into trust-based philanthropy
Our gift is also aligned with the principles of trust-based philanthropy. By incenting unrestricted gifts, we’re putting dollars in the hands of people who know what they’re doing.
We’ve long admired the way United Way integrates efforts across sectors, bringing together nonprofits, businesses and public agencies. They don’t work in isolation; they build coalitions that solve big problems. By convening diverse stakeholders, we know that United Way is drawing on expertise that any one agency alone might not have.
We trust they are doing the hard work to understand the issues and serve the community, and they’ve proven their approach can drive outcomes that change lives.
A vision for the future
In talking to some area business leaders, we’ve been a little tongue-in-cheek telling them to “make the Rashkes pay.” It’s a bit of a challenge — if they donate more, we pay more. That’s the way this gift works.
But beyond writing a bigger check than we originally planned, we’re hoping three things come out of this gift:
1. Getting others to think more strategically and innovatively about giving:The challenge I have for my peer business leaders is to always ask, “How is this gift I am about to give going to catalyze additional giving?” or “Is there more I could do to inspire the generosity of others – to create more everyday philanthropists?”
2. Scalable innovation:There are nearly 1,000 United Way chapters across the United States doing the work and getting results. There is no reason a corporate, foundation or individual donor can’t pick up this mantle and replicate what we’ve done here. Madison could be the petri dish from which this concept scales. Likewise, right here in Dane County, there are important administrative costs at United Way or other agencies that could be covered by a donor, freeing more dollars up for service and breaking down a barrier to giving.
3. A culture of everyday philanthropy. We’re challenging leadership givers to increase their donation but at the same time, we’re creating space for new donors at any level — $10 to $100,000 — to participate with greater confidence and impact. By eliminating barriers, we want more people to experience the joy and satisfaction that comes from helping others. And when that happens, we believe it will fuel a flywheel of sustained, long-term generosity.
Strategic philanthropy is how we’ll move from meeting needs to solving complex problems, and we’re looking forward to partnering across public and private agencies and with other philanthropists to do that. And we’re just getting started.
Dan and Patti Rashke are owners of TASC, where Dan served until recently as CEO. They are the founders of the Dan and Patti Rashke (TASC) Family Foundation, where Patti serves as president.
Hundreds of volunteers came together at Breese Stevens Field on Aug. 19 to work toward a common goal as the United Way of Dane County officially launched the 2025 Community Campaign with Day of Caring.
“Day of Caring highlights the best of Dane County – uniting to serve, connect and support our neighbors – it’s more than a volunteer event, it’s the spark that ignites more giving to catalyze the necessary impact that’s needed across Dane County. We’re incredibly grateful to our volunteers, partners and sponsors who continue to lead with heart,” said Renee Moe, president & CEO of United Way of Dane County, in a press release. “New this year, we’re excited that Dan and Patti Rashke and their Dan & Patti Rashke (TASC) Family Foundation want to inspire more giving and will ensure 100% of individual giving to the Plan for Community Well-Being goes to impact.”
Over 600 volunteers united for an afternoon of family and team-friendly volunteering activities. At the Day of Caring event, volunteers wrote notes of encouragement for local students, filled backpacks with school supplies and packed more than 9,000 ImPacks – essential care kits that directly support nonprofit partners with the most-requested essentials in our community.
“Day of Caring sets the tone for the annual campaign by demonstrating what we can accomplish when we roll up our sleeves and take action,” shared Kim Sponem, president/CEO of Summit Credit Union and United Way 2025 Campaign Chair. “It’s inspiring to see so many individuals and organizations across Dane County show up with compassion and commitment to lift up our community.”
The event also featured a food drive where ImPacks, backpacks and non-perishable food items were distributed to United Way nonprofit partners, including Community Action Coalition for South Central Wisconsin, Porchlight, The Road Home of Dane County, Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin and WayForward Resources.
During the event, United Way announced the 2025 fundraising goal of $17.5 million.
Nonprofit United Way of Dane County on Tuesday launched its 2025 community campaign with a fundraising goal of $17.5 million. The announcement coincided with the organization’s Day of Caring, a volunteer event held at Breese Stevens Field.
Over 600 volunteers participated in volunteering activities, which included filling backpacks with school supplies and packing more than 9,000 ImPacks, which include paper products, menstrual products and other essential items that will be distributed through United Way’s nonprofit partners.
A food drive at the event also collected non-perishable food items for distribution through partners such as Community Action Coalition for South Central Wisconsin, Porchlight, The Road Home of Dane County, Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin and WayForward Resources.
MADISON, Wis. (WKOW) — Breese Stevens Field is set to be transformed on Tuesday for the Day of Caring.
The annual event, hosted by United Way of Dane County, aims to support community members in need with thousands of donated items and non-perishable foods. It starts at 1:30 p.m.
The Day of Caring marks the start of the United Way campaign, which has a goal to raise more than $17 million. Volunteers will gather in the early afternoon to pack snack kits, fill backpacks and write notes of encouragement
Renee Moe, president and CEO of United Way of Dane County, emphasized the broader impact of their goals.
“To really frame up the issues and mobilize caring power to get more done for our communities, we want to make sure that children, families, individuals that are struggling have the support they need, they know the community cares, and have those on ramps to more lifelong success and every United Way is focusing on that,” Moe said.
She shared that events like this helps the community get closer to finding solutions instead of just the issues.
The paper product, menstrual hygiene and snack packs will be distributed along with backpacks and notes of encouragement to the community through United Way’s nonprofit partners.
Moe encourages those in need to call 211 and invites others to get involved by volunteering or donating. More information on the event can be found here.
MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – To kick off this year’s community campaign season, United Way of Dane County hosted their annual Day of Caring on Tuesday.
Hundreds of local volunteers gathered at Breese Stevens Field to assemble care kits and backpacks, which will be distributed to different partners of United Way.
Those partners include Porch Light, The Road Home of Dane County, Second Harvest Food Bank and Way Forward Resources.
President and CEO of United Way in Dane County Renee Moe said it was great to see the community unite and support those who cannot cover the basics.
“When they get impacts like these, they cover the immediate,” said Moe. “So the snacks, the school supplies, the paper products that they might need. But it’s the campaign that raises for programs and services that help get families not only out of the day-to-day crisis, but hopefully into more well-being.”
Paper product packs, menstrual hygiene packs, healthy snack packs, school supplies and notes of encouragement made up the care kits.
The best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time, and one Dane County organization is hoping to dig its forks to the occasion Tuesday and make a sizeable dent in the elephant-size issue of local poverty.
On Tuesday afternoon, the United Way of Dane County will kick off what it hopes to be a $17.5 million season with its annual Day of Caring, a volunteer-driven event that sees participants compile things like food, school supplies and hygiene products to be given to those in need.
“It’s a chance to come together, get people more approximate to the issues and how we respond in the community,” United Way President and CEO Renee Moe said. “We need more than ever to come together as neighbors.”
From 1:30 to 3 p.m., hundreds of people will gather at Breese Stevens Field to pack food and health supplies, forming a sort of humanitarian assembly line. They’re tasked with putting together 250 backpacks, 4,000 paper products, 3,000 menstrual hygiene packages, 2,000 healthy snacks and 1,000 encouraging notes, which will go to Porchlight, the Community Action Coalition for South Central Wisconsin, the Road Home of Dane County, Second Harvest Food Bank of Southern Wisconsin and WayForward Resources.
Volunteers at the 2024 Day of Caring heft bags full of donated necessities, packed by around 500 volunteers. This year, more than 900 people have registered for the day.
“We’re really excited to see those numbers back up,” she said.
But just as the volunteer number has increased, so too has the need. More than 58,000 Dane County residents are living in poverty, 10.5% of the population. Calls to 211, United Way Dane County’s help line, are up 36%, with the highest volumes seeking food, rent and utility assistance.
Another issue United Way hopes to address is the racial disparities in Dane County, where Black people account 5% of the overall population but more than 40% of those who are homeless, according to the organization’s data. Black people in Dane County are also twice as likely as white people to be living in poverty, and the average life expectancy of a Black person here, 71 years, is more than a decade shorter than for white, Asian and Latino people in the county.
Fourteen cents of every dollar United Way raises toward its charitable efforts goes toward administrative costs. This year, though, another local organization is looking to bridge that 14-cent gap with its own contributions.
The Dan and Patti Rashke (TASC) Foundation will be underwriting each individual donation, making up for those administrative costs so that all of the money an individual donates goes directly to people in need.
“It takes that barrier out,” Moe said. “That’s a really big deal.”
Registration for the event is still open, so anyone who wants to attend the Day of Caring or otherwise contribute to the United Way can find information on the organization’s website, UnitedWayDaneCounty.org.
Next Tuesday, Aug. 19, is United Way’s Day of Caring at Breese Stevens Field, and it resonates with me in ways it hasn’t before. The world is a bit of a mess. Every day seems to bring a new story of human suffering, and each of those stories contains some evidence of the absence of concern, to say nothing of compassion. Human beings, children and entire families are living in fear, misery and desperation. And people who can do something about it don’t give a damn. So, a “day of caring.” What a concept.
It is not a new concept, of course. United Way of Dane County, or UWDC, has organized the day of volunteering as the kickoff for its annual Community Campaign for almost 25 years now. (Last year’s Community Campaign raised $17.3 million thanks to more than 13,000 people and 500 businesses.) The Day of Caring is a kickoff event where hundreds of people, employees from local businesses, families, groups of friends and community-minded citizens help folks who need it with clean-up, pick-up and fix-up jobs at dozens of designated homes and community spaces. (There are 900 people registered so far for this year’s kickoff.)
It’s an uplifting, positive day that — like United Way of Dane County itself — makes a difference in people’s lives. But, for reasons beyond that, it just feels like we need as many days of caring as we can get right now. And I’m grateful to UWDC for reminding us of that.
Caring — and caring enough to do something about it — is what makes UWDC so special. I believe our county’s United Way stands apart from most United Ways in other communities. Over the last 40 years I’ve been in more UWDC-led meetings than I can count, and I have seen firsthand the level of commitment and dedication, from volunteers, young people, retirees and civic activists, as well as occupants of C-level suites of almost every major business, organization and employer in Dane County. It is a display of trust, confidence and belief that UWDC has earned through decades of hard work, accountability and unparalleled knowledge of Dane County.
The work has included concerted and badly needed efforts that include supporting families, providing housing stability, ensuring children are healthy and able to achieve in school, allowing older adults to enjoy quality lives, and confronting racism and injustice wherever it rears its ugly head. Importantly, UWDC has also demonstrated the wisdom and nimble flexibility to pivot when necessary to address compelling community needs when they arise. And underlying every one of those decisions and action plans — every stay-to-the-end meeting, every hard decision of how to allocate limited resources — is a visible, palpable, explicit expression of caring. People work at, volunteer at and support UWDC because each one of them cares.
There are times I wish United Way of Dane County could change its name. I worry it has become so ubiquitous that we take it for granted: it will always be there, it will always be wisely directing dollars to nonprofit service providers, and it always raises enough money to do that.
But the contrast between the positivity, hope and impact of a Day of Caring, and the often depressing, frightening, soul-sapping times in which we live should motivate us all to give what we can — of our time and/or money, to make sure UWDC really can continue to promote a community that cares. That may require a little more thought and effort given the evolution from traditional workplace giving and paycheck deductions models to now-common online giving. But I’m recommending we make the effort.
There’s still time to register for free to volunteer at the Day of Caring on Aug. 19 at Breese Stevens Field. Or, visit unitedwaydanecounty.org for an invitation to be inspired by the power of many, the kindness of others and how we can incorporate that spirit into our lives in ways that contribute to that effort.
Neil Heinen is a former editorial director of Madison Magazine and News 3 Now. He writes this “I Have Some Thoughts” web-exclusive column monthly.
