Are you curious what your nonprofit partners really think? Do you want to be more responsive to the community’s needs and desires in your grantmaking? Do you want to be a better partner?

Join us to share the love on February 14 when we are joined by Linda Simmons from Women’s Giving Alliance of Northeast Florida and Patricia Massey Hoke of Women’s Impact Fund (Charlotte) to discuss soliciting and responding to nonprofit feedback. This is a best practice of Trust-Based Philanthropy and there isn’t just one way to do it! Linda and Patricia will engage in a Q&A style discussion with each other to share the ways their approaches to feedback are alike and different. You will leave with some practical next steps you could consider for your giving circle. See you there!

Panelists:

Patricia Massey Hoke, Women's Impact Fund (Charlotte)

Linda Simmons, Women's Giving Alliance of Northeast Florida

Webinar Date/Time: Tuesday, February 14, 2023, 12 PM ET
Please Register by Sunday, February 12!

Your unique link to join this webinar is emailed separately.

Philanos Opens Nominations for National Positions!  Board of Directors Application  3-year term (from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2026) Experience needed in these areas:Communications, Development, Fundraising, Membership, Technology, Webinar Creation Click here for committee descriptions and Board member criteria.  Governance Committee Member At-Large Application  1-year term (from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024) Experience needed in these areas:Board-level Governance, Nominations, Strategic Planning Application deadline:  Friday, February 3, 2023

As a member of the national Philanos team, you have opportunity to: Create and amplify quality initiatives and solutions for affiliates across the globe; Change the narrative of an area of collective giving through your expertise and passion; Collaborate with women with diverse experiences and perspectives; Gain Confidence and be nurtured in your philanthropic leadership journey; Connect to women from across the network who are equally as committed to women’s collective giving; and Celebrate the joy of new friendships and fresh ways of thinking! We believe Philanos’ efforts to inspire women’s philanthropy and strengthen organizations for impactful grantmaking are best when inclusive of women with a range of skills and diversity of thought and experience. Together, we are impacting communities for the better! If you wish to refer a good candidate for the Board of Directors or Governance Committee, send her name, giving circle affiliate, phone number, and email to Paula Perkins, Governance Committee Chair. She will ensure that one of our Nominating Committee members connects personally with your referral.   Do you have questions about the application? Or, do you need to talk with someone before deciding if this is right for you? We’re happy to visit with you to talk about Philanos and these opportunities. Email your request to Paula Perkins, Governance Committee Chair. Throughout the year, we are seeking women who want to join one of our committees. Just raise your hand! It’s an excellent way to see how Philanos works, especially if you’re interested in joining the Board in the future.   Check out the following committee descriptions and then email listed contacts to voice your interests and/or for questions. Affiliate Engagement Committee Communications Committee Development Committee Education Committee Technology Committee We look forward to hearing from all nominees! Many thanks, Philanos Governance Committee  www.philanos.org

We have spent the last 18 months speaking with numerous Philanos Affiliates through our "3 Questions With" series, and getting their thoughts on the work they are doing, including asking them 3 specific questions:  1) What’s the most interesting effort your circle is focusing on right now? 2) What is something your circle is currently challenged by? and 3) What Philanos resource has been most helpful to you this year, and why?

Take a look at the good work happening in the Philanos network around the country!

We welcome 2023 and all our chances to do better. We are especially cheered by the opportunity to meet in Baltimore on November 5-7, for our first national in-person conference since 2020 in Seattle. Early bird registration will open May 1 – watch for our upcoming communications.

The Women’s Giving Circle of Howard County is our main host, along with an impressive regional contingent of co-hosts, including Anne Arundel Women Giving Together, Baltimore Women’s Giving Circle, DMV Collective Giving Network, Giving Together Montgomery County, Many Hands DC, Maryland Philanthropy Network, and Women’s Giving Circle of Harford County.

Multiple committees have planning underway, looking for inspiring speakers and shared wisdom. We are keen to highlight knowledge gained through collaboration, networks, and programs featuring our affiliates. If you would like to join our program committee, please hop on now, as we get busy building session ideas to populate our breakout tracks.

And speaking of hopping – we have multiple Philanos programs coming up in January and February, beginning with next week’s webinar, Tuesday, Jan. 10 at Noon Eastern, featuring leadership succession models that work, presented by Greenville Women Giving (Greenville, SC) and ninety-nine girlfriends (Portland, OR). Register here.

On Thursday, January 26th at Noon Eastern, our popular Comms Club will continue its deep dive into social media featuring LinkedIn, use of metrics, and member engagement tools. Marketing and communications teams will find these open discussions useful. Register here.

And, on February 9th at Noon Eastern, we will start the first in a series of Tech Talks, headed by our Philanos Board Technology Chair, Amy Conard, Spirit of St. Louis Women’s Fund. Amy is retired from a successful corporate career in Information Technology, and now consults with nonprofits to help them be more efficient and effective by leveraging software. So, if you have technology questions related to your work, bring them here for a smart place to discuss. Register here.

Looking ahead to Valentine’s Day, our webinar for February features techniques and wisdom behind gathering and responding to feedback from our nonprofit partners—a real-life valentine message. Register here.

Finally, January is also the month when we turn to recruiting new Philanos board and committee members. The work is always exciting, the company is exceptional, and there is not a better time or place to take a chance to get it right in all our communities through the power of collective giving. Please consider this opportunity for yourself or someone who might need a nudge. 

Our 3-hour event focused on trust-based philanthropy and included presentations by national speakers Pia Infante, Kaci Patterson. Philanos Board member, Deepika Andavarapu, facilitated a discussion with Q&A followed by Philanos Spotlight and Willoughby Awards. Watch the presentations and Q&A video recording.

Congratulations to our Spotlight Award Winners: (video recording)

Baltimore Women's Giving Circle - Black Women Build Baltimore

Impact Oklahoma, Oklahoma City - Pivot's Tiny Home Initiative

Spirit of St. Louis Women's Fund - Dream Builders 4 Equity

"Philanos affiliates reach deep into their respective communities to address national pressing issues with local solutions. Our 2022 Spotlight nominations by Philanos affiliates throughout the country each highlighted the pressing needs of foster youth, families, and single parents to have a safe place to live and to build economic security.” Ellan Bernstein, Philanos 2022 Spotlight Chair and Board Secretary, Member, Impact 100 Philadelphia.

Congratulations to our Willoughby Award Winner: (video recording)

Katherine Fulton - Impact100 Sonoma

Sandi Slap of The Transition Network Philadelphia Giving Circle

TTN Philadelphia Giving Circle improves the lives of women and children in Philadelphia through collective giving to nonprofit organizations serving their needs.  They are committed to inclusion across race, gender, age, religion and identify and seek to support organizations who share this commitment.

We recently spoke to Sandi and invited her thoughts on their current efforts!

	What’s the most interesting effort your circle is focusing on right now? The Transition Network Philadelphia Giving Circle has designated 2022 as “The Year of the Child” to commemorate our Giving Circle’s ten years of giving.  This year, we are focusing exclusively on the needs of Philadelphia’s children.  To that end, we have hosted three educational programs which addressed the most pressing needs and issues facing our city’s children, including, education, mental health, mentorship, youth job training and opportunities and gun violence.  We have also embarked on a year-long fundraising initiative to enable us to make impactful grants to nonprofits serving Philadelphia’s children in 2023.
	What is something your circle is currently challenged by? We recognize that small grassroots organizations have a positive and direct impact on the lives of children in their neighborhoods.  Our newly adopted Diversity Initiative is aimed at increasing diversity in the size, leadership and approach to addressing problems among our nonprofit grant applicants in 2023 and forward.  We seek small Philadelphia nonprofits embedded in their communities with strong leadership and/or professional staffs of people of color who reflect the communities they serve.
	What Philanos resource has been most helpful to you this year, and why? The webinars on Philanos’ website have provided valuable insights and information for our Giving Circle on trust-based philanthropy and grantee membership programs, among other things. Our Giving Circle is always focused on new ways to increase the impact of our mission and this type of guidance assists us in doing just that.

By Ann Marie McGee
Philanos Communications Co-chair
Impact 100 Redwood Circle, CA

Women’s Giving Circles are Making a Difference Across the Country. Check out news from these 22 Philanos Affiliates.

The 2022 - 2023 Philanos Board of Directors met in Denver in June to plan for the future.

"It was wonderful to be with these amazing national leaders to plan for our organization's future and for the women's collective giving movement" said Philanos Board Chair Susan Benford. "We are looking forward to many new opportunities to support our 78 affiliates in the coming year."

By Rebekah Bonde
Philanos Board Treasurer
Washington Women’s Foundation

In 1998, I sat in the congregation of University Presbyterian Church in Seattle, listening to a Sunday morning 'Moment for Mission'. Two women shared of their experience in a collective giving group and how they were learning an intentional modality of grant making that was changing how they viewed philanthropy. I was transfixed. It was one of those rare moments that etched in my brain because it felt immediately significant, and I noted three things: 

1. The buy-in was $1,000, which was more than my monthly rent as a 27-year-old in the nascent stages of her career.
2. What would it take to participate in this level of giving; and
3. Who in the world is Colleen Willoughby?

18 years later, I am in Colleen's kitchen pulling out things to make an impromptu cheese and cracker platter at her direction and talking about scarves and Gen-X giving patterns.

I could spend the next several minutes itemizing Colleen's many accomplishments at Washington Women's, the Evans School at UW, or even the fact she has a Wikipedia entry. But I'd rather tell you about how her work directly changed me even though she had no idea who I was until I joined the Philanos Board (née WCGN) in 2015.  

After my husband and I moved from Seattle to Austin, TX, a neighbor introduced me to Impact Austin as a way to use my professional skill set in a meaningfully volunteer manner and to meet other women seeking to make an impact in their community.  I joined and attended my first WCGN conference in 2012 when Kathy LeMay spoke, and she asked us to write an audacious goal on a piece of paper that we had to fulfill within one year.  It was always my worst fear to be called upon in public, and since I'll probably never have to do it…I wrote down "speak in public about philanthropy."

I saw Colleen at that conference and oh-so vaguely remembered something about Washington Women's.  Colleen spoke about the genesis of WaWF, about how important it was for women to give philanthropically in their own name, and why she chose $1,000 - the level at which you first get your name printed in a charity's list of donors.  And then the memory of the 'Moment for Mission' came flooding back, and I had to pinch myself: "I can't believe I'm here."

Within 12 months of that conference, I was (very nervously) giving my first talk, standing up and being called on by name. I made my first donation as ME, not "the wife of…" And I found a calling that has elevated not only my voice and my financial impact, but more importantly my sense of self. I never, ever thought I would chair a Board of Directors, or sit on a panel of city leaders as an Impact Austin representative or write for a national publication on behalf of Philanos. Yes, all this because of the women's collective giving movement because Colleen started a movement. How ironic that when we all come to the collective we meet ourselves front and center, sometimes for the first time.

Since that first conference, I've spoken at several Philanos conferences, captained a boat race, ran to meet a political idol, and aggressively shook her hand on a street corner in Washington DC, stood up and said more at work, and even orated to a large group of Presbyterians when selected as my church's 'Woman of the Month'.  I think about the 27-year-old women who were in the audience that day, looking at me and wondering, "What would it take…". 

Most of us start in the audience, and now we are in front talking to the next generation of women.  We are the leaders of today so we can model leadership for tomorrow. And let me tell you, you never know who is listening. It's probably someone you've never met and never will, until…

Thank you, Colleen.

Watch the 2020 PowerUP! slideshow tribute to Colleen!

Philanos July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023 Board of Directors

Susan Benford, Chair, member of The Philanthropy Connection (Boston, MA) and Impact100 Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA)

Margaret (Maggie) Glasgow, Chair-elect, member of Greenville Women Giving, (Greenville, SC)

Ellan Bernstein, Secretary and Education Co-chair, member of Impact100 Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA)

Rebekah Bonde, Treasurer, member of Washington Women’s Foundation (Seattle, WA)

Deepika Andavarapu, member of Impact 100 Cincinnati (Cincinnati, OH)

Buffy Beaudoin-Schwartz, Communications Chair, member of Women’s Giving Circle of Howard County (Columbia, MD)

Amy Conard, Technology Chair, member of Spirit of St. Louis Women’s Fund (St. Louis, MO)

Sandra (Sandy) Cook, Affiliate Engagement Chair, member of Impact100 Metro Denver (Denver, CO)

Stephanie Cook, member of San Diego Women’s Foundation (San Diego, CA)

Heather Jauregui, member of Idaho Women’s Charitable Foundation (Boise, ID)

Deborah Majewski, Education Co-chair, member of Women’s Impact Fund (Charlotte, NC)

Ann Marie McGee, Communications Vice Chair, member of Impact 100 Redwood Circle (Santa Rosa, CA)

Clare O’Brien, member of Impact 100 Cincinnati (Cincinnati, OH)

Paula Perkins, Governance Chair, member of Impact100 Wichita Falls (Wichita Falls, TX)