Nebraska’s Children Need Us - Here’s How You Can Help

Support Early Futures During the 2026 Give to Lincoln Day Event

Children’s earliest years lay the foundation for a lifetime of learning, health and success. In Nebraska, that foundation is only as strong as the communities, systems and policies built to support it—and there’s still much work to be done.

Early Futures Partnership was created to do that work. We bring together community practice and public policy in a united effort to strengthen Nebraska’s early childhood ecosystem because we believe that when our youngest children thrive, our whole state thrives. Through our founding initiatives, Communities for Kids and First Five Nebraska, we are making measurable progress on Nebraska’s most urgent early childhood challenges.

We invite you to join us in advancing this important work.

This year, Early Futures Partnership is participating for the very first time in Give to Lincoln Day, Lincoln Community Foundation’s annual, community-wide giving event. While Give to Lincoln Day is celebrated on May 28, the fundraising event has already officially begun. That means you can make a gift to support our work at any time between now and May 28. Give Now.

Your Gift Matters—No Matter the Amount

Each donation made to Early Futures through Give to Lincoln Day is matched proportionally from a challenge match fund of $650,000. Here’s how it works. If Early Futures raises 1% of the total raised by all participating nonprofits, we receive 1% of that match fund. Every gift from every donor helps move that needle and your support goes further now through May 28.

Even better, every donation makes us eligible for the following day’s $250 drawing conducted online by Lincoln Community Foundation. That means even a $5 gift puts Early Futures in the running for these bonus funds that go right back into our work for young children in Lincoln and throughout the state.

Your donation today is boosted by the match and could be increased by $250, providing crucial resources for our efforts to expand access to quality early childhood care, education and developmental supports.

Will you take the next step and join us with a donation?

What Your Support Makes Possible

Your gift enhances the impact of our work in Lincoln and across Nebraska, including:

• Translating community experience, innovation and insight into actionable policies that address early care and education, maternal-child health and other critical issues.

• Conducting research and interpreting data to help policymakers pursue well-informed early childhood solutions

• Providing specialized technical assistance to community partnerships to help grow local, high-quality child care infrastructure

• Creating peer learning opportunities so communities can share what works and navigate state, regional and national early childhood resources together

• Building cross-sector advocacy and public messaging to create sustained momentum for early childhood issues

Your Word of Support Matters

Whether or not you are able to contribute financially, you can make a real difference to our work by spreading the word. Let others know about our Give to Lincoln Day campaign with your networks through word-of-mouth, email or by liking and sharing our social media posts. Every new donor who finds us through your recommendation grows our impact by helping community practice and public policy work together to benefit Nebraska’s youngest children.

For more information, suggested language and other resources to help spread the word and increase support for our work, reach out to us directly.

How to Give

There are different ways to contribute to our work throughout the month of May, but we strongly encourage you to make your gift to Early Futures through our 2026 Give to Lincoln Day giving page. It’s a fast, easy and effective way to make sure your gift begins advancing our work as quickly as possible.