From employee matches to paid volunteering, giving takes forms large and small at Midco

This piece is sponsored by Midco.

Maybe you’ve seen that Midco recently renewed its 10-year title sponsorship of the Midco Aquatic Center.

Or that Midco just announced a $2 million gift to name and support the new Joe H. Floyd Education Center at the Great Plains Zoo.

Now that hockey season is here, hopefully you’ll also enjoy a game at the Midco Arena at Augustana University.

While those high-profile gifts are transformative for the community, Midco and its team members also are giving in powerful ways that don’t make headlines every day.

“We have a culture of giving, and it comes from the top, which is why it’s working,” said Rhonda Erickson, Midco senior community relations manager and Midco Foundation executive director. “Team members have tons of opportunities to volunteer or double their nonprofit contributions.”

Every Midco team member, which totals about 1,900 people, can apply for a company match of up to $500 in giving to nonprofits every year.

“We see a lot of team members write a $500 check to a charity of their choice at the holidays that we match, but we also see them do smaller ones – we see a lot of $25, $50 or $100 requests,” Erickson said. “It allows us to support a huge range of nonprofit causes that are important to our team.”

The Midco Foundation also gives to a wide variety of causes throughout its multistate service area. Since 1988, the foundation has provided more than $6 million in grants. They’re distributed twice each year, and each round typically results in more than $100,000 in giving. The fall 2025 round includes $150,000 in grants.

The Midco Foundation board, composed of Midco team members, evaluates requests and generally funds grants ranging from $1,000 to $3,000.

“We don’t fund operating costs. We look for things that are tangible, which can be anything from buying food to providing crisis support for kids,” Erickson said.

“We’ve purchased nets for a small community’s soccer fields, snacks or equipment for after-school programs, and we often purchase safety equipment for local fire departments. We’re looking for ways to help local residents.”

Midco team members also are invited to participate in check presentations.

“Our team loves to do those,” Erickson said. “It adds a personal touch, and they feel good about seeing what Midco gives back firsthand.”

When a cash donation isn’t the best fit, Midco often delivers even more value by offering to air public service announcements for nonprofits.

“We can work with most nonprofits on this and offer three months of airtime, so the in-kind value can be quite high,” Erickson said.

“PSAs give them the opportunity to talk about their mission, maybe promote a fundraiser, and the benefit can be higher than a traditional sponsorship. We’ve heard reports of organizations that have seen a significant increase in attendance at their events after running a PSA with us, so we know it’s working and feel really good about it.”

For much of the year, Midco’s team can help produce the PSA.

“We can help with script writing, videography and editing,” Erickson said. “They just have to be a registered nonprofit, and we run those spots across North Dakota, South Dakota and some of Minnesota.”

To learn more about the opportunity, nonprofits can fill out Midco’s PSA request form.

Midco also supports giving back through volunteerism.

Team members are allowed to use at least eight hours of paid time to volunteer each year, with some teams and individuals exceeding it.

“We’ve organized Midco Giving Days with structured ways to volunteer like cleaning up the Big Sioux River or boxing up food at Feeding South Dakota,” Erickson said.

“But team members can volunteer for whatever organization they’re passionate about. For me, it was smaller amounts of time throughout the year – volunteering at Feeding South Dakota, we helped Journey of Hope put together hygiene bags, and we’re going to volunteer at Sioux Falls Cares in December, so you can volunteer a couple hours at a time or use an entire day.”

“Everyone is talking about the need nonprofits are experiencing,” Erickson added. “There’s so much of it. We’ve seen a lot of applications come through, and I’m grateful we’re able to support as many as we do in so many different ways.”

Visit Midco.com/Foundation to learn more.