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The Guinness World Record for the largest piggy bank belongs to Kreissparkasse Ludwigsburg, a banking institution in Germany. The super-sized, two-story, cherry red piggy is more than 26-feet long, 18 feet tall, and 18 feet wide. It’s made from fiberglass and reinforced plastic and weighs a hefty seven tons. Inside, there’s enough space for an exhibition about the history, development, and importance of—you guessed it—money. And, just to keep things fun, you can exit the exhibit via a slide.
In Foundation work, it’s harder to speak to the “fun” side of raising money, but I can speak to the importance of building flexible resources for unmet needs. It’s one of our key strategies for strengthening the community (see our latest report, Connecting Cape Cod).
A case in point: we just awarded $50,000 in inaugural grants from The Women and Girls Fund of The Cape Cod Foundation to the four nonprofit organizations featured below. We established this permanent endowment fund in 2022 to support programs and initiatives that will strengthen the lives of women and girls throughout the region, now and in the years to come. While we’re happy to say we met our goal to distribute $50,000 during the fund’s first year, we need to build a pretty big piggy bank to sustain those kinds of withdrawals in the future.
There's a team of strong women behind us: Andi Genser and Muska Yousuf, who served as our consultants prior to the launch of the Fund and are now members of our leadership team; intern Natalie Sweeney; and the members of our inaugural Advisory and Grants Committees. We can't thank them enough for their dedication to this initiative.
Two local banks have also been very instrumental in the Fund’s initial success. The Cooperative Bank of Cape Cod provided seed funding to establish the fund and has pledged two years of additional support for a total investment of $50,000. With the same generous spirit and commitment to women and girls in the community, The Cape Cod 5 Foundation has contributed $25,000. And, we have received support from individual donors, private foundations, and other corporate partners. We are so grateful for this critical support from two leading Cape Cod businesses
Other help is emerging. The leadership team at Lilly Pulitzer just reached out to host a shopping day to support The Women and Girls Fund. On Saturday, March 25, 10% of all proceeds from the four Cape stores (Chatham, Falmouth, Mashpee, Osterville) will benefit the fund (see below).
Our goal is to raise $1 million by the end of 2026. An endowment fund of that size will enable us to make about $50,000 in grants annually and create a resource that will support the changing needs of women and girls in the community for years to come.
In our first few months, we have raised nearly $175,000. By working together, we can do this. At the beginning of the pandemic, we started with an empty piggy bank and have raised over $5.77 million for ongoing relief and rebuilding efforts to date through The Strategic Emergency Response Fund.
Equally important—we need to do this. We’ve said it before. The statistics related to women and girls are sobering. According to Women in Philanthropy’s Women and Girls Index, less than 2% of all charitable giving in the United States is directed specifically to nonprofits serving women and girls. Nationally—and locally—the cycle of poverty continues. The inequities—in pay, in job opportunities—are still great. The barriers to affordable housing and childcare are incredibly high. So are the unemployment rates. The challenges faced by women and girls of color persist.
In 2022, we compiled critical data, led focus groups, interviewed members of the community, and hosted a virtual community forum to share information about the current needs, resources, and opportunities for community engagement with a larger audience (see links below). Our first impactful grants have been made. We are in full fundraising mode.
It took a small crane to carry each coin to the slot at the top of the enormous piggy bank at Kreissparkasse Ludwigsburg. If we work together, raising $1 million will not be a laborious lift. It will be a far-reaching gift to the women and girls in our community.
Thank you for your support in helping us change Herstory.
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