Women Transforming Sonoma County Through Collective Philanthropy - February 2019   



President's Message
 
Watch us Grow! 
 
A hardy group of approximately 100 women braved the rain on February 13 to attend our winter membership meeting. We learned so much about making a grant nomination from the newly-formed Education Committee. Members then met in small groups to come up with suggestions for future education programs. I know we will hear more from the education committee over the course of this year. Thanks to committee members for all your hard work: Thea Hensel, Laurie Parish, Judy Freedman, Mary Beth Falk and Katherine Taylor.
 
We also heard about the newly-organized Next Gen program. A subset of the membership committee, this group will be creating a path-to-membership for young women who may want to join but are unable to contribute financially. Hopefully, we will see a cohort of younger and diverse members join in the near future. If you know someone who may benefit from the program (or if you would like to contribute to the scholarship fund) contact Robin Wendler at [email protected].
 
I hope, as you read this article, you will get the feeling that we have been very busy. As a young organization, we are constantly evolving. We are only limited by our imagination and the number of members who are available to step up and step in. In fact, our next evolution is a technological one. We are creating email accounts for each of our committees. Stay tuned as we roll out more efficient ways to communicate with each other.
 
I'm looking forward to seeing you at our next event, geared toward our newer members: Cocktails and Conversation at Beer Baron on March 14 from 5-7PM. Check the web site for more scheduling information.
 
Jan Gilman
President, Impact 100 Redwood Circle
In This Issue
 Upcoming Events
Cocktails & Conversation
Thursday, March 14
The Beer Baron
614 4th St (Courthouse Sq)
Santa Rosa
 
New Member Orientation
Saturday, March 16
9:30 - 11:00 a.m.  
At the home of Shirley Ward
3655 Rutherford Way
Santa Rosa  
 
Membership Meeting  
Monday, June 24
5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Scottish Rite Center
600 Acacia Lane
Santa Rosa 

Welcome to the newest members of our circle! 
 
Muncie Harper 
 
 
The Education Committee 
"Our role is to provide resources to members so that we may effectively nominate nonprofit organizations whose programs and services will make a lasting impact in our community", said Thea Hensel, co-chair. Impact 100 RC's goal is to nominate organizations that support arts & culture, the environment, education, health and human services.
 
Lasting impact, transformative.... words to keep in mind when nominating a nonprofit. Hensel, explained how our support of VOICES, Food for Thought and Catholic Charities are wonderful examples of grants that will have a lasting impact and have created transformation in our community.  
 
Education Committee Members 
Effective Philanthropy.   Although we all come with different viewpoints, experiences and passions we can find common ground. To assist us, the team provided a snapshot of criteria to determine the difference between an Impact and Community Grant. Effective philanthropy, at all levels, informs, empowers and connects. "The committee will continually update facts about current needs in the community and provide information on new and existing nonprofits", said Hensel.
 
Stay Tuned! After the Education Committee's presentation, members broke into small groups to share ideas on Community Needs and suggestions for further education programs. Look for a summary of the results in the March Communique!
 
The Education committee has provided helpful tools on the Impact 100 RC website: https://impact100redwoodcircle.org/resources-on-non-profits-in-sonoma-county/
 
  Thea Hensel & Laurie Parish, Co-Chairs
 
The NextGen Task Force  
 
The NextGen Program is up and running! 
We were pleased to introduce our new initiative at the February meeting.  
 
The program is targeted at women from younger generations than the majority of our members. The goals include making our organization more reflective of all women in our community and securing the longevity of our Circle. We also look forward to introducing the next generation of women to philanthropy through mentorship opportunities. We have initiated a scholarship program also to help ease the financial commitment. And Melissa Kelley is leading a group of young women to design the NextGen Program agenda for the upcoming year.
 
There are two significant ways our members can help this initiative succeed. The first way is to help in recruiting new younger members. Maybe you know a young woman in a professional organization or religious group you belong to? Might she be interested in learning more about philanthropy in our community? Maybe you've worked with a young woman at one of the many nonprofits Impact100 RC has interacted with over the past three years? Please reach out and introduce them to our dynamic group.
 
The second way is to donate to our NextGen Fund. This will enable use to award scholarships to younger women who will enrich our organization. You can also directly sponsor a younger member of your choice, which is what several members have already done. Donation forms are now available on the website, as well as scholarship forms. The annual membership form also contains an optional donation line for NextGen.
 
Thank you for supporting this new program!
 
Robin Wendler, NextGen Task Force
Update from Roseland Collegiate Prep
One of our 2018 Community Grant Awardees
 
Thanks to the support of the Impact 100 RC grant, Roseland Collegiate Prep Middle/High School has been able to create multiple college exposure experiences for our students: 
 
High School Support:
  • AVID Education Day at the A's Coliseum - the grant pays for tickets to this Career/College Fair for all RCP Juniors (63 students and 4 chaperones) and 2 buses to transport them to and from the event.
  • Mentor Program Event (Juniors - each semester) - a bowling social with mentors and mentees and SSU Career Day (grant pays for tickets and buses). The mentors join the mentees at the SSU Career Day. These events provide an opportunity for our community mentors and their junior mentees to spend time together and build relationships that will help support their bond for the future.
Middle School Support:
  • 7th grade trips to SSU and Dominican College (grant pays for the buses for 100 students)
We are also using some of the funds to hold Parent University Nights ( 7th-12th grade) to educate parents (approximate 30-40 parents) on reading transcripts, the importance of GPAs, and exposing their students to extracurricular activities as part of being college-ready. The Parent University Nights are designed to help our parents understand how they can support their children before and during college. Most of our students are the first in their family to attend college, and we have found these special information nights to be an essential piece of our students' success after they leave our district. Parents are eager to be involved and learn how to best help their children in college.
 
We would like to extend a huge thank you to the Impact 100 RC membership for providing the means for this important college experiences for the RCP community!
 
Submitted by Sharon Robison 
   
Impact 100 RC Gets Technical!
 
In its first year of existence, the Technology Committee is off to a productive start.
 
The committee's primary focus is to better-employ Wild Apricot, the software that houses our membership database. Thanks to Ann's data hygiene efforts, the membership data is in great shape and we are now sending out automated renewal emails. Over the next severa l months, Wild Apricot's utility will continually expand to better serve Impact 100 RC's membership.
 
Karen is spearheading a couple of projects to improve both communication and document sharing processes. For the various Impact 100 RC committees, Karen is setting up group emails as well as helping to move all documentation to the cloud, specifically Google Drive. Both of these improvements aim to ensure greater efficiency for current committee members and smoother transitions for future committee members.
 
Karen is also taking the role as backup for Vicki Groninga in maintaining the website, and will be covering Vicki through March while she is on a fabulous holiday.  
 
Ann Nolen & Karen Fass, Co-Chairs 
Membership Committee is Making Contacts
 
Fun was had by all at the January "Cocktails and Conversation" gathering at Perch and Plow.  We had the largest turn out for this event ever.  Please join us for the next "No Host" C & C casual get together on Thursday, March 14 at the Beer Baron on Old Courthouse Square in Downtown Santa Rosa from 5:00-7:00 PM.  No RSVP is necessary and you may bring friends who would like to know more about
Impact 100 RC.
 
Thank you to all members who brought guests to the well-attended February 13 Impact 100 RC membership meeting.  Many of the guests picked up applications for membership.
 
The next orientation meeting for new members will be on Saturday, March16, from 9:30-11:00 AM at the home of Shirley Ward, 3655 Rutherford Way, Santa Rosa.  This is an opportunity for committee chairs to promote their committees and new members to ask any questions about Impact 100 RC that they might have.  New members and committee chair members please RSVP to Lynn McIntyre at [email protected] or phone: 239-4967.
 
The next Membership Committee meeting will be Wednesday, April 10, from 9:30-11:00 AM at the home of Lynn McIntyre, 980 Slate Drive, Santa Rosa.  There will be no March meeting.
 
Bev Curry & Charlene Staples, Co-Chairs 
 
 
 
The Impact Grant Committee will commence its 2019 work soon, and there is still room for additional members to join the committee.  This is a wonderful way to become more i nv olved with Impact 100 RC.  You'll learn a ton about local non-profits.  You'll learn how to evaluate a funding  proposal. You'll work closely with amazing women.  And ultimately, you'll feel the satisfaction of bringing three "finalists" forward for our membership vote in November.  
 
If you're interested in learning more, please contact Suzy Marzalek, Committee Co-Chair, at (707) 478-8214 or [email protected] .   We'd love to hear from you. 
Contact our Newsletter Editor:
If you have questions or suggestions for The Impact 100 Redwood Circle Communique, please contact Editor, Jan Houts at [email protected]