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Most thriving organizations are driven by both a Mission Statement that explains what they do and a Purpose Statement that explains why they do it.
With every decision your Impact100 Board makes, we review our what and why: We are a community of women who seek to transform lives in the Greater Chicagoland area through high-impact and lifelong giving and we do this to inspire, educate, and encourage women to effect change in the Greater Chicagoland area through philanthropy.
I want to share an excerpt of an article from Impact100 Owensboro titled: “What is philanthropy? Am I a philanthropist?”
"I thought philanthropists were just people who had an abundance of wealth and could make dreams come true with a quick stroll through their enormous vaults of money.
Not true!
Philanthropy is defined as the desire to promote the welfare of others, expressed especially by the generous donation of money to good causes. It is translated from Greek to mean “the love of humanity.” A generous donation is subjective, but every donation to Impact100 at the $1,000 is exponentially generous when pooled with at least 100 others and is definitely going to a good cause. Every nonprofit grant application is vetted by our members to determine viability (is the project even possible to do), sustainability (will the project be around a while), & feasibility (is it worthwhile to the community)."
We have many generous people in and around Chicagoland; but ‘philanthropy’ has more to do with the motivation behind the gifts. Charity, for instance, is focused on providing immediate relief to people and is often driven by emotions, while philanthropy is more strategic and focused on helping people over the long term.
I want to challenge you during this season of giving, to think long term, to be intentional and well informed on the dollars you donate to the nonprofits that serve our community during the seasons of drought. There is no better time than the holidays to begin or continue your path to philanthropy by making your 2023 pledge to Impact100 Chicago.
Wishing you and yours all the beauty and peace of this
holiday season!
Deb Gammon, President
Impact100 Chicago
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