Please join us on Tuesday, October 10, 2023 for the next gathering of 100+ Women Who Care of Grundy County!
Location TBD. Please RSVP to [email protected]
Also, you can pay your dues online by clicking here - $100 once or $100 quarterly
"100+ Women Who Care of Grundy County" is a Giving Circle. It's a pretty basic concept: Like a Stock Club, members get together, toss money into the kitty, make a group decision, and send the money out. Except with a Giving Circle, the money goes to charity.
Giving Circles can be formed by anyone with similar interests - women, men, youth, couples, companies...the possibilities are endless!
We are modeling this Giving Circle on "100 Who Care," a national movement with the premise that if one person gives $100 to charity, that's all well and good. But what if 100 people in a Giving Circle each give $100? That's $10,000 to charity, which is so much more impactful!!
"100+ Women Who Care of Grundy County" is housed at the Community Foundation of Grundy County, but the finer details of the Circle will be determined by the women who join. Our co-founders, Joan Eslinger, Julie Wilkinson, Devan Gagliardo, and Julie Buck are happy to brainstorm with you about your ideas for making this a Circle that meets the charitable goals of you and your fellow members.
$4,325 to Hands of Dignity and Hope Outreach
On May 8th, 20 Women Who Care met for lunch at South 20 for fellowship and grantmaking!
After 3 slips were drawn at random for brief presentations, the women voted to give their collective $2,000 (20 women x $100 each) to Illinois Valley Industries!
100+ Women Who Care of Grundy County has voted to meet 4 times a year and to pitch in $100 each per gathering.
Your $100 can be:
- 1 women bringing $100 = one vote
- 2 friends each bringing $50 = sharing one vote
- 4 friends each bringing $25 = sharing one vote
How it works:
- RSVP to Devan at [email protected] or 815-941-0852
- When you arrive, you will take a slip of paper and write down one favorite charity.
- You don't have to fill out a slip if you don't know the details of any charities - this is also meant to be a way to learn more about them!
- Please only pick charities that operate in Grundy County (the charity may be based elsewhere but the grant is only for their Grundy program).
- Those slips go into a basket.
- We pull 3 slips at random.
- If your slip is drawn, you have to stand up and in 3 minutes tell us why we should vote for your charity.
- You are limited to 3 minutes.
- No more than 3 women will speak about their charity.
- After 3 women have told us about their favorite charity, the gathering votes ($100 per vote).
- The majority vote-getter will receive a grant totaling the money in the kitty collected that night.
- Your $100 can be cash, a check written to the Community Foundation of Grundy County, or click here to donate online
- CFGC will deposit the money and write one check to the winning charity equaling the amount collected.
- CFGC receives no fees for housing the program - 100% of donations go directly to the charities chosen at each gathering.
- Pose for a group photo!
- We adjourn until the next quarterly meeting.
Please note:
- If you want a meal, please be prepared to purchase your own
- Always cash bar
- If you don't want a meal, you are very welcome to come for the official gathering, skipping the meal/cocktail hour - just bring your $100!
This group is a perfect fit for you if:
- You believe in the collective power of women
- You believe in giving back and want 100% of your donation to go directly to a charity
- You've been wanting to help but are not sure how to fit it into your busy schedule
- You believe in economy of scale
- You want to become part of creating a powerful, new group of women who will make an immediate, direct, and positive impact in Grundy County
All are welcome - men, neighbors, church, clubs, teens, couples!
You can run your own or ask us to be your administrators - there's no fee!
Please contact Devan to brainstorm: [email protected] or 815-941-0852
It depends on how many women attend each gathering.
IF 100 women attend and each puts $100 into the kitty, $10,000 will go out the door in one grant to one charity that night.
Because 100+ Women Who Care of Grundy County meets quarterly, that can be $40,000 in grants per year.
Each gathering will grant out $_____ based on how many women attend and how many pitch in $100 (one vote = $100 and friends can pitch in toward that $100).
Please note that CFGC collects no fees for this program - 100% goes to the charities chosen.
QUESTION: What could your favorite charity do with $10,000 in Grundy County?
Our goal is 100 women pitching in $100 each per gathering, which means $10,000 in one grant to one charity as voted on by the women attending.
Before you arrive, please chat with your favorite charity about this potential. If your name is drawn at the gathering, you will get 3 minutes to stand up and pitch your charity, telling all in attendance what your charity will do with that grant and why the women should vote for your charity.
$10,000 is not a promise because each gathering grant is dependent on the number of women who attend and how many $100 votes are in attendance. BUT...what a great conversation to have with your favorite charity!
Yes!
A. You have to pitch in $100 per vote (or get friends to pitch in with you toward that one vote).
B. You may not get to speak to the group - it all depends on whether your slip is drawn.
C. Just because you work for one charity doesn't mean you have to speak for that charity. Many of us wear multiple hats and have passions in various topics. Feel free to pitch yours...or yours may have already been pitched which means you can pitch a different one!
D. Our suggestion: bring friends!! Every woman who attends gets to write one charity on a slip of paper. If your slip is drawn, you get 3 minutes to stand up and pitch your charity. The more friends who attend with their $100, the more chances you have of having your charity written on a slip!
A. You will be added to our invitation list.
B. The one grant check that goes to the charity after every gathering will be from the Community Foundation of Grundy County so that:
- The addresses of the 100 women don't end up on the charity's solicitation list
- The charity doesn't have 100+ tax letters to send
- Instead, the Community Foundation of Grundy County will issue each attendee a tax letter for her contribution at the gathering
C. If after the event you'd like to be added to the charity's mailing list because you heard great things about them, you are very welcome to reach out to them individually!
Check, cash, or credit card
- If you are writing a check, please make it out to Community Foundation of Grundy County
- If you would like to pay by credit card,
- we have the ability to swipe it at the gathering OR
- you can click here to donate online
- If you bring cash, we will have a receipt book handy
That's okay - it's meant to be a learning experience, too!
You don't have to fill out a slip when you arrive, but you do have to pitch in your $100.
That's okay - you don't have to fill out a slip and risk it being drawn. Like those who don't know enough to stand up and speak, you can just sit and listen and learn...provided that you pitch in your $100.
Absolutely fine - provided that you pitch in your $100!
One goal is to teach about the various charities so that you become a better-educated donor. It would be fantastic if you learned something here that encouraged you to be a direct donor to that charity you learned about!
Quarterly.
But you don't have to attend every one. We know that our schedules are pretty busy.
If you can't attend, you can still pre-pay your $100 to the Foundation, but you won't be there to hear the pitches to cast your vote. But a great organization will benefit from your generosity anyway! We hope you trust your fellow Grundy women to make a great choice!
Nope - that's the beauty and refreshing part of this model!!
The rules are pretty simple:
- attend
- pitch in $100
- vote
- attend next time if you can!
We will definitely ask for your input regarding gathering dates, times, meals, and more...but there is no formal organization.