|
|
|
|
 |
|
Women Transforming Sonoma County Through Collective Philanthropy - May 2019
|
|
|
Can You Hear Us Now?
We don't want to miss a single member when we send out information.
There are many reasons to keep in touch in our rapidly-growing organization. We know you want to receive this monthly newsletter. In addition, there are emails to inform you about our events such as Cocktails & Conversation, education opportunities, new member orientations, general meetings, and of course our important grant selections. We know that occasionally you may feel overlooked when you fail to receive information, and other times, impatient when you receive duplicate emails. In one example a new member joined just in time to vote for the selection of Community Grant winners, but missed receiving an email informing her of the results.
Please know that we are doing our best to improve our communication by adopting a new data base called Wild Apricot. It can do many things to help us keep up with our membership. However, it does depend upon the human factor and it is not a small undertaking. In addition to all the initial set-up and input of information done by the Technology Committee, we must ensure that it coordinates with Sonoma Community Foundation (our umbrella organization) and all our committees. Your Leadership Team is doing our best to make sure that all parts work smoothly.
To assure that we avoid slip-ups with new members and membership renewals, please help us out by ALWAYS sending in a membership application with your payment. Even if you think we should already have your information. If you are a new member, please give us time to allow for the transfer of data from one source to another. It could take up to 30 days. And check your spam box to make sure your email recognizes us. For members in Dyad's, please note your partner's name on the application.
We always welcome a note from you with any concerns. Use the email template under "contact "on our website. It is monitored so that it gets to the right person. Or, if you know who you would like to reach, every committee's email is listed under the committee heading on the website.
Please know how important communication is to us. Just like the proverbial three bears, we want to get it "just right."
Jan Gilman
President, Impact 100 Redwood Circle
|
|
|
Membership Meeting
Monday, June 24
5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Scottish Rite Center
600 Acacia Lane
Santa Rosa
New Member Orientation
Saturday, Aug. 3rd
9:30 - 11:00 a.m.
Shirley Ward's home
3655 Rutherford Way
Santa Rosa
Summer Social
Saturday, August 24
10:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Teresa Denniston's home
Speaker: John McCaull, Land Aquisition Program Manager
Sonoma Land Trust
|
Welcome to the newest members of our circle!
Margie Pettibone
Ani Weaver
|
We now have 194 members, with 18 Dyads (accounting for 36 of the members). Watch for our next "Cocktails & Conversation" event listing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Our Five Community Grant Winners!
The votes are in!! We are pleased to inform you that the membership has selected the following five Community Grant winners:
- LIME Foundation
- PDI Surgery Center
- Russian RiverKeeper
- The Living Room
- Women's Recovery Services
We are happy to report that 148 ballots, out of a possible 177, were received. This year we had an 84% participation rate, a significant increase! Thanks to all of you who voted.
We also wish to thank the Impact 100 RC members who nominated the community organizations, and to our dedicated committee members who stepped up to vet the grant proposals, and volunteered in significant ways to make the process go smoothly. All committee members diligently read the proposals to select the top 10 contenders. For the first time, in order to reduce bias in selection, we redacted the names of the organizations before the Community Grants Committee members read the proposals.
A big thank you to this year's Community Grant Committee: Helen Berg, Ina Chun, Jennifer Cornell, Lynn Davis, Marion Dutra, Mary Farha, Anne Fitzgerald, Jennifer Girvin , Susan Gustavson, Jeanette Herring, Marsha Jacobs, Debra Mark, Meghan Murphy, Mary Poe, Stephanie Poley, Mary Radu, Sharon Robison, Robin Seltzer, Janet Waring and Marion Weinreb.
Please save the date for the celebratory Community Grant Awardees event (see below) on June 24 from 5:00 to 7:00 PM. Members and guests will hear from this year's five awardees and learn how the previous year's awardees used their grants.
If you would like to learn more about becoming involved in the CGC next year, please connect with Carol Newman (
Cnewman@sonic.net
) or Chris Chang Weeks (
ccweeks@mac.com
).
Chris Chang Weeks & Carol Newman, Co-Chairs
|
Upcoming Events
Monday, June 24 - Membership Meeting
You are invited to attend the Membership Meeting celebrating the Community Grants winners. The meeting will be at the Scottish Rite Temple, 600 Acacia Lane, Santa Rosa from 5:00-7:00 pm. Come and enjoy some food, wine and socialize before the presentation.
Representatives from the grantee organizations will have informative table displays with takeaway materials.
The 2019 awardees will be introduced and briefly outline their plans. The 2018 awardees will give short presentations describing the impact of their projects implemented over the past year.
Guests are welcome, but please RSVP for your guest.
Impact 100 RC Events Committee
|
Catholic Charities Update
Through their Impact Grant, Catholic Charities serves homeless families in the Family Support Center by providing targeted child-centered services under a pilot program known as "Emergency Services for Homeless Children". The grant funds support a Children's Resource Navigator to provide child assessments and linkages to childcare and other community resources as well as to provide focused financial assistance. Since our grant, Catholic Charities' has been able to uncover unexpected needs for families and children and present new opportunities to address those needs. The scope and impact of the Navigator has really blossomed.
One of Catholic Charities' moms, "Debra" reached out for assistance for child care while she was attending mandated Child Protective Services (CPS) classes and Domestic Abuse Awareness Classes (DAAC). After a month of verifying her eligibility for Sonoma Works, Catholic Charities' supported her in enrolling in 4C's for a county child care voucher. Debra successfully moved out of shelter and has her own place that she shares with two other mothers. With support from Catholic Charities' Children's Resource Manager, Debra has identified three day care providers that she will be visiting with the Children's Resource Manager. Debra's daughter is expected to be successfully enrolled in daycare by early May. This will allow Debra to seek employment and continue her mandated classes. Debra is doing well and is extremely grateful that Catholic Charities could help her overcome barriers to both childcare and housing.
How can you support Catholic Charities right now?
Catholic Charities always has a need for travel-sized toiletries to hand out through their homeless service programs (including the Family Support Center). These small bottles of shampoo, soap, conditioner, and lotion provide opportunities for a shelterless person to retain dignity, health and hope. The Liaison Committee will be collecting these small toiletries at our June 24th Membership Meeting to give to Catholic Charities. If you have items to share, please bring them with you or, if you can't make the meeting, contact impact100liaison@gmail.com
Kristin Nelson & Carol Lynn Wood, Co-Chairs
|
LOI Workshop Held on May 9th
"I love that you describe recipients becoming part of your Impact 100 Family and you becoming part of our family - truly a heart-driven process."
That is just one of the comments we received from a nominated non-profit agency after the LOI (Letter of Intent) Workshop held on May 9th. The Workshop was attended by 32 nominated agencies and several Grant Committee members. All attendees commented that the information was extremely helpful. Co-chairs Suzy Marzalek and Vicki Groninga presented the following information:
- Who Impact 100 Redwood Circle is, including our mission and purpose
- The timeline and process for awarding the Impact Grant
- Examples of past winners in order to help explain the types of projects/programs our members are willing to fund
The agencies must submit their LOI by May 30th and then the Committee will review them during the month of June to determine which agencies will be asked to submit a full proposal. There were 40 agencies nominated by members but thus far five have declined to participate as they are not able to submit a proposal for $100,000 at this time.
Suzy Marzalek & Vicki Groninga, Co-Chairs
|
We are very excited to announce that the NextGen committee is ready to spring into action, but we need your help! The heart of the NextGen Program will be comprised of women under 45
 |
|
|
NextGen members at an Impact 100 chapter in KY
|
who will step in to this community to help grow the mission of Impact 100 RC. We would like to ask you
r help in finding and inviting them to join us in our work.
Who could be a NextGen candidate?
- Active community members that you have noticed.
- Daughters, relatives, co-workers, neighbors. Any woman who you think might benefit from being a part of this organization.
- Income is not a bar for entry. We have a scholarship program for incoming NextGen candidates to support them as they begin their journey at Impact 100 RC.
What we are asking is simple: Reach out to women who you think would be a good candidate for our NextGen program. Bring them to an event or connect them with the Membership Committee:
impact100membership@gmail.com If you have scholarship candidates, please forward their names and email address to The NextGen committee for follow up: impact100nextgen@gmail.com
This is a call to action! We appreciate your support in bringing in the next generation of philanthropists and community stewards into the fold.
|
Education Committee
ED Talks: Environment (Recap)
Over 40 Impact 100 RC members attended the first in a series of ED Talks, hosted by the Education Committee. Karen Gaffney, Conservation Manager for Sonoma County Ag + Open Space District, discussed a wide variety of issues, including the environmental effects of urban sprawl, land management policies, greenhouse gas emissions, and use of plastic and its disposal.
She spoke about the impact of the October 2017 fires on our community, and offered a number of possible solutions to our local and national environmental issues through conservation,
land use policy, data collection, and environmental education. In response to a question about what we should look for when evaluating a grant application, she listed a variety of factors, including the scope of impact, a clearly stated goal, and an identified process for achieving that goal.
The capacity and sustainability of the nonprofit, and their ability to quickly launch the project effectively was emphasized. In her opinion, an environmental organization with a single or limited focus, is more effective in achieving their goals than one that is working on a variety of efforts simultaneously.
Thea Hensel & Laurie Parish, Co-Chairs
|
Thank you to all of the Impact 100 Redwood Circle members (over 100) who took the time to complete the recent membership survey. The survey is still open and your voice matters. Please take a moment and let us hear from you.
Those members who responded by May 8th were included in a drawing for a $100 gift certificate to Montgomery Village. Congratulations to Jody Edwards!
Jody has been a member of Impact 100 RC for the past three years and is currently a member of the Impact Grant Committee. She is also a volunteer for Women's Recovery Services, an organization supporting the return of children to their healthy mothers. Thank you, Jody!
If you need a link to the survey, contact Ann Marie McGee at:
Impact 100 RC Leadership Team
|
Contact our Newsletter Editor:
If you have questions or suggestions for The Impact 100 Redwood Circle Communique, please contact Editor, Jan Houts at impact100newsletter@gmail.com
|
|
|
|
