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Real People. Real Stories.

How reliable broadband helps the Marysville Community Foundation support the people and organizations who serve our community.

At the heart of Marysville and Marshall County is a network of nonprofits, donors, and community partners all working toward a common goal: strengthening the place they call home. The Marysville Community Foundation exists to connect those dots - linking charitable donors with the organizations doing vital work across rural communities. In the background, reliable broadband plays a quiet but critical role in making it all possible.

Founded in 2014, the Marysville Community Foundation serves as both a nonprofit itself and a family of funds supporting dozens of local organizations. Its mission is simple but powerful: to provide a vehicle for current and future community needs through philanthropic giving.

“We want to be part of all the good things happening in our community,” says Jeff Crist, board president of the foundation. “When our local nonprofits are supported, Marysville and Marshall County become better places to live, work, and visit.”

One of the Foundation’s largest initiatives is Pony Up Marysville Match Day, a 24‑hour charitable giving event held the first Friday of  each May. Since its inception in 2016, Match Day has grown from supporting 23 organizations to more than 60. In 2025 alone, the event generated more than $623,000 in donor contributions, matching funds, and grants - supporting everything from scholarships and historic preservation to emergency repairs and community improvements.

“Pony Up Marysville Match Day shows what’s possible when people come together for one purpose,” Jeff shares. “In just 24 hours, we can generate support that directly strengthens dozens of organizations across our county.”

Behind initiatives like Match Day is constant coordination, communication, and trust. That work increasingly happens online.

As the Foundation’s first Executive Director, Ashley Kracht works closely with donors, nonprofit leaders, financial advisors, and partner organizations across the county, state, and even the country. Much of that collaboration depends on cloud‑based tools, shared servers, remote meetings, and real‑time communication.

“Reliable internet is truly essential to what I do,” Ashley explains. “I support donors and nonprofit funds locally, but I also collaborate with colleagues and resources all over Kansas. Strong connectivity allows us to build sustainable funding and meaningful relationships without being limited by location.”

Broadband also enables the Foundation to remove barriers to giving. By offering flexible donation options such as gifts of stock, grain, real estate, or donor‑advised funds, the foundation makes it easier for individuals and businesses to support multiple causes that matter to them.

“We want to remove any challenges to doing good in our community,” Ashley says. “Having an online presence allows us to work closely with advisors and donors so giving can be thoughtful, strategic, and impactful.”

For the foundation, confidentiality and reliability are critical. Jeff notes that strong internet service allows them to operate with confidence every day. “We work with sensitive donor and organizational information,” he says. “We simply wouldn’t be effective without secure, dependable internet. It lets us focus on our mission instead of worrying about our connection.”

For Ashley, strong connectivity also means the freedom to work wherever she needs to be - at her desk, in meetings, at events, or on the road. “Most of the design, writing, and outreach work I do lives online,” she says. “If the internet goes down, my ability to support our nonprofits goes down with it.”

Ultimately, broadband isn’t just a tool for the Marysville Community Foundation - it’s an enabler of connection, collaboration, and community care. “Strong internet allows rural organizations to operate on a much larger stage while maintaining the close relationships that make communities like Marysville special,” said Ashley.

That confidence is why Jeff says recommending BVT comes easily. “We can focus on our work and never have to worry about internet service,” he explains. “BVT has great leadership, a great staff, great service at a fair price, and they give back to the community.” For an organization built on trust and stewardship, that shared commitment matters.

By keeping organizations like the Marysville Community Foundation connected, BVT helps strengthen the broader network of people and nonprofits serving the community every day. When connections are strong, generosity travels farther, partnerships grow deeper, and communities thrive.