Our Impact

Impact Giving benefits seven worthy causes

New philanthropy’s first year nets $90,000 for charity

Monday, April 5, 2010

Impact Giving, the newest collective non-profit in the county, presented $90,000 in charitable contributions to seven worthy causes at its inaugural awards ceremony held at The Turnip Rose in Costa Mesa on April 1.

Since its inception, the one-year-old, all-female philanthropy has attracted over 100 supporters willing to pledge $1,000 annually in support.

Representatives of the award recipients were on hand to accept the donations. Dan Hodes, on behalf of Ethiopian Family Fund, expressed gratitude for the $7,000 that would save the lives of seven children who would receive medical intervention to correct the otherwise terminal tuberculosis of the spine.

Costa Mesa-based Girls Inc., responsible for outreach programs to girls at risk of dropping out of school, was awarded $10,000 at the event.

“Our primary goal is to get the participants in our programs to attend college,” said Veronica Escobedo, director of programs for Girls Inc. “We have a very high success rate, with 87 percent of the 4,600 girls we serve annually continuing their education beyond high school.”

Success is a key requirement for award allocations, according to Carol Olson, founding board member and policy chair of Impact Giving. “We require the grant applicants to provide measurable objectives and proof of effectiveness,” she said. “We carefully review each nominee and even examine their financial records as part of our decision-making process.”

Additional charity recipients and their corresponding awards included The Hunger Project, $20,000, Free Wheelchair Mission, $15,000, American Society for Cataract & Refractive Surgery, $15,000, The Helping Hands Project, $13,000, and Human Rights USA, $10,000. To find out more about Impact Giving visit www.impactgivingnow.org.

From the Laguna Beach Independent March 26, 2010

Local Philanthropists Join Forces

Leaders of Impact Giving, from left, Karen Wilson, Carol Lindquist, Betsy Gosselin, Sam Dawson, Susan Marx, Ann Duncan and Liz Landon, plan to award their first grants next month.

Impact Giving, a year-old non-profit women's collective giving organization, will make grants of $85,000 to other non-profit organizations at their "Making the Impact" gala on April 1st in Costa Mesa.

In its inaugural year, the organization’s membership stands at 98 women, 37 of whom live in Laguna Beach. Each individually pledged to give $1,000, and 100 percent of their donations will go to grant recipients.

“We believe we can accomplish greater things together than we can individually,” said Karen Wilson, Impact Giving’s co-founder and chair.

A total of 37 nonprofit organizations were nominated by Impact Giving members and invited to submit grant applications. Members evaluated each based on the organization’s grant standards and voted on the finalists, said Sam Dawson, Impact Giving’s grants chair.

Member Carla Tesak Arzente, a Laguna Beach resident whose Salt Fine Art Gallery specializes in Latin American contemporary art, served as a sponsor to OEF, an El Salvador nonprofit that she supports.

Another local resident and Impact Giving partner, Susan Giusto, faced a crisis with her five-year-old daughter Cathryn, who was diagnosed with nueroblastoma cancer stage four. Since then, Giusto has become involved with the Nueroblastoma Foundation, and urged the organization to seek grant support from Impact Giving.

To effect positive sustainable social change through the impact of collective giving, Impact Giving intends to track the progress of their grant recipients. “We request that each grant recipient give us a six-month and one-year report to show the women how they are making an impact,” said Ann Duncan, co-founder and vicechair of Impact Giving. “Throughout this year, it will be rewarding to see the progress of our dollars working together.”

The founders envision Impact Giving 1,000 women strong who individually give $1,000 and collectively award $1 million annually.

The April 1 awards event “Making the Impact” at Turnip Rose is open to the public and costs $60 per person. Seating is limited. To register, go online to www.impactgivingnow.org, or call Ann Duncan at (949) 838-7444 for more information.

Impact Giving spreads women's donations

By CLAUDIA KOERNER

2010-03-19 15:27:50

LAGUNA BEACH – Ann Duncan and Karen Wilson wanted to make their charitable donations have more of an impact.

After eight months of planning, Impact Giving was born. The organization, now in its first year, has raised $85,000 based on commitments from its "partners," who each give $1,000 to be used for grants.

The idea is to make grants available to nonprofit organizations of the partners choosing, Duncan said. Organizations ask for funding for a major project that will create some kind of direct benefit to the people served.

"We give $1,000, but we can't give $20,000," she said. "I loved that you could really make an impact in an organization with more money."

The idea behind the group is collective giving, which Duncan saw working for other groups around the country. The group's goal for Most of Impact Giving's partners live in Laguna Beach, with others around Orange County and a handful living out of state.

After a year of enlisting partners – so far, 99 women have joined – the group will now divide its $85,000 pot between grant applications. Of the nonprofit organizations partners nominated, committees chose 12 finalists. Between now and April 1, partners are voting for their favorites online.

"That word partnership really has a more personal meaning," Duncan said. "They have a vested interest."

The group's goal for its first year was to reach 100 partners, something Duncan thought might be impossible after the economic downturn.

"We weren't sure they would be willing to give," she said.

Next year, once the group can show results from the first round of grants should make growing easier, she said. Inspired by her business background, one of the goals is to make the group sustainable in an environment where many charities are vying for donor attention.

"The ones who are successful have to be run like a business," she said.

Wilson, the group's cofounder, said the long-term goal is an audacious one – 1,000 partners collectively giving away $1 million every year.

"That idea was powerful," said Wilson, who has years of experience volunteering and managing nonprofit groups. "Women get the idea of doing things together."

Not only is donated money going to further bigger projects, the money is being spent wisely, Wilson said. Every dollar of partners' donations goes toward grants. Impact giving runs entirely online, so overhead is low. What expenses the group does have are covered by "friends," who have given less than the $1,000 partner commitment or prefer to act as auxiliary supporters, Wilson said.

Both women agreed the work over the past year has been fun as well as fulfilling.

"You meet the most incredible people, and you learn about these other nonprofits," Duncan said. "We wouldn't be exposed to that if we didn't have these wonderful partners who brought them in."

From the Daily Pilot Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Townhall

Impact Giving Awards $85,000 in their first year on April 1

By Ann Duncan

Impact Giving, a nonprofit women’s collective giving organization, will give more than $85,000 to other nonprofit grant recipients at “Making the Impact” on April 1, 2010, 6:00 p.m. at the Turnip Rose in Costa Mesa.

In its inaugural year, the organization has gathered 98 women together to individually give $1000, with 100% of the donation going to the grant recipients. Thirty-seven nonprofit organizations, all nominated by Impact Giving members (called partners), were invited to submit grant applications.

“Thoughtful consideration by each Impact Giving grant committee member was put into vetting every grant application,” said Sam Dawson, Impact Giving grants chair. “We asked each committee member to weigh the applications against our values and grant standards to see if the nonprofit organizations fit within our criteria. Grant summaries of the finalists are posted on our website where the entire partnership then cast their vote to determine the grant recipients.”

“We believe we can accomplish greater things together than we can individually,” said Karen Wilson, co-founder and board chair of Impact Giving. “Other collective giving groups throughout the United States give to their local communities; however, what makes Impact Giving unique is that we give both locally and globally. We have already gained partners in Aspen, Washington DC, Illinois, New York, San Francisco and Texas.”

In a 2007 study, there are approximately 400 collective giving groups in the United States according to The Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers' New Ventures in Philanthropy. A survey of 160 giving groups found that they leveraged $13 million in 2006 alone and nearly $100 million to in 2010.

To effect positive sustainable social change through the impact of collective giving, Impact Giving tracks the progress of their grant recipients. “We request that each grant recipient give us a six month and one year report to show the women how they are making an impact,” said Ann Duncan, co-founder and vice-chair of Impact Giving. “Throughout this year, it will be rewarding to see the progress of our dollars working together.”

The goal of Impact Giving is to gather 1000 women, who individually give $1000 and collectively award $1 million dollars. Impact Giving is dedicated to engage, educate and empower their partners and the grant recipients they support.

The awards event “Making the Impact” is open to the public and costs $60 per person. Seating is limited. To register, go online to www.impactgivingnow.org or call Ann

Duncan at (949) 838-7444 for more information.

April 3, 2009. Pooling Resources to Drive Change

By: Andrea Adelson

The Laguna Beach Independent (printable version) .pdf

March 11, 2009. Our first 25 Partners contributed more than $28,000 to become our Founding Partners at our official launch. These Founding Partners will set the stage for inviting more women to partner with us to create a ripple of excitement and involvement in Impact Giving. Come give with us. See our Partner Events section.

Press Release

Women Making An Impact

Laguna Beach, CA.--- Five Orange County women have committed to changing the world! Their vehicle? Bringing other like-minded women together to form a collective giving organization. Their name? Impact Giving. Their goal is to engage 1,000 diverse women from across the nation who will each contribute $1000 annually and together donate $1 million dollars each year to nonprofit organizations striving to make the world a better place to live.

"Starting an organization that gathers women together to make a huge impact has been a dream come true for me. I believe that as women we accomplish greater things together than we can individually." said Karen Wilson, chairperson and founding partner.

Impact Giving will annually award grants in one or more of seven giving categories including Environment, Hunger & Shelter, Women & Children, Health & Human Services, Arts & Culture, Human Rights and a very unique category called Beyond the Box.

Each potential grantee must be a 501(3)(c) organization and meet specific criteria to be selected as a grant recipient. Organizations that demonstrate a direct benefit to individuals or a cause, that offer educational value and are committed to sustainability are just a few of the requirements.

"We award non-profit organizations that are making a high impact on the cause they serve, that are innovative in their approach and can show us measurable results", said Ann Duncan, Executive Director and founding member.

Impact Giving is also an educational resource for member partners and the general public. The board of directors value opportunities to be informed about community and global needs and emerging trends in philanthropy. Every quarter Impact Giving plans to host an educational seminar addressing how and why we each can give more of ourselves and of our resources.

For more information about Impact Giving please visit www.impactgivingnow.org or call Karen Wilson at 949/290-7162.

Printable Version. (pdf format.)