News
In this wintry season, a flurry of grantmaking activity

In 2021, the generosity of Impact100's 431 members will allow us to award a record-high eight grants. Our Core Mission funding program will award $400,000:

  • three Core Mission grants of $100,000
  • two Operating grants of $50,000

And our new pilot program, Community Awards, will grant $20,000:

  • one Community Award of $10,000
  • two Community Awards of $5,000
Despite these economically challenging times, Impact members stepped up in a big way to reach this high funding total, even allowing us to launch a second grants program. And because of these challenging times, the funds will be put to greater use than ever by nonprofit grantees.

More than 170 women are volunteering now through May, serving on five Focus Area Committees and reviewing 76 Full Proposals submitted by the nonprofit community. Next week, the 18 leaders in our grants process will attend an Implicit Bias training session led by Impact100 Founders Fellow Nnenna Akotaobi. (Read more about Nnenna below.)

Pictured above, grantees at our June 2019 Annual Meeting.

Next steps for the Community Awards pilot
Impact100's Community Awards launched in early February with a goal to support smaller nonprofits doing outstanding, critically important work, and to eliminate the burden of proposal-writing.

This new program involves no applications. For the past month, 16 women on the Community Awards Committee have researched independently and reached out to nonprofit, funder, and community contacts. At its first meeting, the "CAC" discussed 21 issue areas and created this short list of nine issues for further research. Impact members: Please watch your inbox today for a survey seeking your input.
 
This first phase of work has given committee members a deeper awareness of our region's needs, and an even greater passion for our collective grants.

A gift that will definitely keep on giving
Impact100 Philadelphia welcomes members and all supporters who would like to participate in our collective grants and make them even larger and more significant. Any time, in any amount, for any occasion (a birthday, honoring a friend, a belated Valentine's gift), please consider a donation to the Impact100 grants pool. Collective giving is incredibly powerful due to the size and scope of the grants, and its structure that draws upon members' time, research, and collective wisdom in identifying grantees.

Our grants each year are awarded to some of the most effective and inspiring organizations in the region. Only members may cast a vote for grantees, but we sincerely welcome everyone to contribute to the pool of grant funds. Donations in 2021 will support the grants awarded in 2022. If your donation is a gift, we will be delighted to send a special acknowledgment to your designated recipient.


DEI Committee Update

Thanks to Impact Founders Fellow Chelsea Hicks for the article below.
We were grateful for the opportunity at February 9's education program to hear from Nnenna Akotaobi and Kevin Ahmaad Jenkins, who shared their experiences as diversity strategists. The conversation elevated important themes that will inform the work of Impact100's Board, our DEI Committee and our members. 

As we proceed through our collective grantmaking this winter and spring, we hope to reflect on and incorporate these critical themes raised by Nnenna and Kevin:
 
  • We as Americans have been socialized to not speak about race and racism. We have not been equipped to discuss these tough topics, and thus we must continually practice and build up the "muscles" needed to talk about these topics. 
  • How can we think about the power we have? In particular, the power we have as members of a grantmaking organization like Impact100? How are we ensuring our stigma or bias does not affect how we use our power?
  • We are primed for action — to move, to do — but we first must listen, empower others, and democratize space. We must think about how harm has been perpetuated before we move on to take action.
  • Wanting to do good and having good intentions is not enough. This takes work. We must work to understand systemic issues every day. 

While reflecting on Nnenna and Kevin's comments, we are also lifting up Black History Month. To read and think more about issues of racial equity and social justice, you might find the DEI Committee's Anti-Racist Resource Guide helpful.


"Why I'm a Member"
This month we're featuring Beth Burrell, a 13-year member and a founding board member from 2008 to 2011.
Why did you first join Impact100? Why have you continued to join?

I had the amazing good fortune of joining the first Impact board as communications chair. I’d never heard of the Impact concept, but I didn’t hesitate. I trusted the idea. Our board of nine women had fun striking out – first getting members, then working together to identify nonprofits needing help.

I have joined every year since for the same reason: I love working with other women to fund critical work in greater Philadelphia. Impact knows what it’s doing. It’s well-run and the nonprofits are well-vetted prior to funding. Consequently, we as members know where our money is going and learn about the inspiring work nonprofits do in the process. Impact100 is philanthropy, education, and friendship, all rolled into one.

What's one of your favorite things about your membership?

The flexibility. Initially, I volunteered time on the board, then on FACs and as a member of the Communications Committee. Most recently, I’ve stepped back due to other commitments. But no matter my role since 2008, I’ve been all-in, thrilled to contribute to the grants pool, excited to cast my vote for grantees.

Is there something new you've learned through Impact?

I’d always considered philanthropy to be something other people did, beyond my reach. Impact upended this for me, and revealed that it can be democratic, malleable, ours to create.

Working with other women and giving collectively is awesome. Through Impact, we make a difference every year – funding smaller, sometimes off-the-radar, nonprofits at unprecedented levels. It’s extraordinary and I feel lucky to have been a part of it since the beginning. 
Grantee Update
Thanks to Impact member Susan Greenbaum for the article below.

Mighty Writers: Serving up both writing programs and food for families struggling through the pandemic
Last March, very early into the covid pandemic, it became evident to the staff of Mighty Writers that their students’ families were being hit hard economically. Many parents, particularly those in the Mexican communities of South Philadelphia and Chester County who worked in restaurants and on farms, were immediately out of work. Food insecurity was prevalent, so the organization responded by providing lunches for their students. The distribution effort expanded quickly and dramatically and now Mighty Writers staff and volunteers at select MW centers and pop-up locations throughout the city provide much needed essentials like grocery boxes with staples and produce, formula, diapers, and books. 
 
Mighty Writers is a 2020 Impact100 grantee whose mission is to teach kids — pre-K through high school — “to think clearly and write with clarity.” Says executive director and founder Tim Whitaker, “Kids can't do either when they’re hungry.” 
 
With seven sites (five in Philadelphia and one each in Chester County and Camden), the organization reaches 3,500 kids each year through over 150 classes led by over 400 teachers and writers, journalists, and other trained volunteers. 
 
When the coronavirus crisis forced a halt to in-person classes and workshops, the organization developed an engaging virtual curriculum and shifted to online instruction. Now they offer virtual literacy, arts, and mindfulness workshops in both Spanish and English to over a thousand children. For students who had little or no access to computers or the internet, a cellphone app that offers reading and writing activities was developed. Additionally, MW staff distribute learning materials with fun activities, writing exercises, and books. 
 
One-on-one tutoring and mentorship is an important component of the Mighty Writers programming, but in the past year, these efforts have also gone virtual. As evidence of the increased need for learning support, many volunteers are now meeting with students online several times a week for homework help and to fill a void for kids struggling with isolation. 
 
From the first days of quarantine, it became obvious to staff and volunteers that kids had a lot on their minds, so Mighty Writer students were encouraged to explore their thoughts through writing. Their stories focused on how they were feeling and how they were dealing with their day-to-day lives. Over the summer, as police shootings and protests dominated the news, students’ writing began to reflect their opinions as well.  In December, Mighty Writers published Writing from Quarantine: In the Words of Mighty Kids, a collection of thirty student essays.
 
Wrote Whitaker in the book’s introduction, “It’s been a tough time, for sure. A lot for all of us to process. But in these stories you can feel the power that writing holds.” 
 
In a recent grant report to Impact100, Mighty Writers noted its appreciation for Impact's flexibility that allowed grant funds to be diverted to emergency distribution initiatives and shifting in-person programs to an online format.  
 
To learn more about Mighty Writers, reach out to Impact100 Grant Champion Nancy Pasquier at ndpasquier@gmail.com. To get information about volunteering or to order a copy of Writing from Quarantine, visit Mighty Writers' website.
Save the Dates

Wednesday, February 24, 6:00pm and/or Wednesday, March 10, 6:00pm
"Impactful Conversations" on Zoom with small groups of Impact100 members
Members: see your January 5 Member Letter for details, or email us to sign up

April -- (TBD), evening
Educational Program
details coming soon

Monday, June 7, evening
Impact100 Philadelphia's Annual Meeting
a celebratory event to mark the end of the grants year and honor the 2021 grantees
Would you like to join us or tell others about Impact100?

If you'd like to tell others about our organization, please feel free to forward
this newsletter — and we thank you for spreading the word. The top reason for Impact100's growth since 2008 has been members referring other women as members.
Women ages 36 and over join for $1,150; of that total, $1,000 is added to the grants pool for 2021 and the balance supports our operating expenses. Women 35 and under join as Young Philanthropists at half that rate, $575, with $500 going to the grants pool.

Members joining now will help fund the 2022 grants.
We welcome anyone — whether a member or not — to contribute to Impact100 Philadelphia's 2022 grant funding and to leverage a personal donation into large grants that will benefit nonprofits in the region.

Only members may cast a vote for grantees, but everyone is welcome to add to the funds that will support Impact100's 2022 grant recipients.
Women Giving As One