BUTLER TWP — Two Butler nonprofit organizations have asked the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau for donations.

The bureau’s board on Thursday discussed the requests from Butler Downtown and the Maridon Museum at a meeting at Butler County Community College.

Neither group asked for a specific amount.

Jack Cohen, tourism executive director, told the board he supported its thinking about a donation to Butler Downtown to help offset its operational costs for revitalizing downtown.

Butler Downtown was established four years ago through the Main Street Program overseen by the state Department of Community and Economic Development. The five-year grant program helps to bring businesses and people back to aging downtowns.

Now that the grant is shrinking, Butler Downtown is seeking other sources to keep the group going.

Tourism board member Larry Berg said he doesn’t like the idea of one nonprofit organization giving another nonprofit organization money.

“You don’t know how it’s going to be used; what it will go to,” Berg said.

But at the same time, Berg asked the tourism board, on behalf of the Maridon Museum in Butler, for a donation as well, explaining the museum is in a $3 million fundraising campaign.

“At the same time I still don’t like having a nonprofit making donations to another nonprofit,” said Berg, who is on the Maridon board.

Ed Tanski, the tourism board’s treasurer, agreed, saying he is afraid that type of giving could “open a whole can of worms.”

Cohen reminded board members of the $20,000 it set aside in 2011 to start a membership grant program and suggested that these tourism members could apply for those grants.

The money will be awarded at the May 17 tourism dinner in increments up to $5,000. Applications are on the tourism website.

“We want to make sure that this money is going to help promote tourism,” Berg said, with the board voting to recommend that both Butler Downtown and the Maridon make grant applications.

In other business, the tourism bureau has launched a new website. Cohen said it now links county information together.

“Say you look up Moraine State Park. The site now shows places to stay, restaurants and other points of interest that are near the location you have looked up,” Cohen said.

The website has the same address: ww.visitbutlercounty.com.