More than $5M in excess Republican National Convention funds donated to local orgs

Remember the 2024 Republican National Convention? The one that was held in Milwaukee July 15-18, 2024? Yeah, that one. Who could forget!

Anyway, more than a year after all the action, the MKE 2024 Host Committee has announced it has completed donating more than $5 million in excess RNC funds to more than 80 Milwaukee nonprofit organizations.

“Thanks to the welcoming spirit of our whole city, Milwaukee helped put Wisconsin on the map for tens of thousands of guests by hosting the 2024 Republican National Convention,” said Reince Priebus, Chairman of the MKE 2024 Host Committee, in a press release. “Now, thanks to our generous donors, we are able to give back to the city that did so much to help host this world-class event.”

“Since day one, the Host Committee’s goal has been to showcase the city, deliver a positive economic impact, and leave a lasting legacy in our community. Thanks to businesses and the thousands of local volunteers who pitched in, we accomplished that goal,” said Alison Prange, President and COO of the MKE 2024 Host Committee, in the press release. “We are hopeful that these charitable contributions will go towards leaving a long-term impact on Milwaukee.”

The charitable donations target three areas: youth, veterans, and “shelters like sober living and halfway houses.” They include:

• Boys and Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee

• Carmen Schools of Science and Technology

• Dr. Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy

• Fisher House Wisconsin

• Guest House of Milwaukee

• Hebron House

• Hope Street Ministry

• Kingdom Prep Lutheran High School

• Meta House

• Milwaukee County War Memorial

• Milwaukee Rescue Mission

• Nativity Jesuit Academy

• Notre Dame School of Milwaukee

• Veterans Community Project

• Wisconsin Veterans Network

Back in May, the MKE 2024 Host Committee and Visit Milwaukee announced that a report conducted by Tourism Economics says the week of the RNC had a $321.5 million economic impact on Milwaukee. A cool $216.3 million of that total is chalked up to direct spending. You can read the full report HERE.

If those numbers seem surprisingly high, well, that’s because they are. Convention boosters like Visit Milwaukee initially predicted a $200 million economic impact to Milwaukee. And when the convention finally got underway, downtown was a virtual ghost town. Hell, one guy told us that “hardly anybody” had visited the Bronze Fonz during the RNC. That doesn’t sound like $321.5 million to us!

But what do we know? A total of $321.5 million? Sure. Why not. More than $5 million in charitable donations? Sounds good!

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