By Renee Gordon
Philanos Board Secretary, Comms Committee and Co-Chair of Baltimore Women's Giving Circle 

Impact100 DC is incredibly proud, and deservedly so, of the record-breaking results of their 2026 membership campaign,which increased membership by 141 new members bringing the overall membership base to 312 members - a 46% growth over 2025.

Impact100 DC credits these enviable results to exceptional planning and execution of a strategic membershiprecruitment campaign. The plan incorporated professional best practices in membership marketing, with an emphasison in-person events and personal outreach; tracking tools and follow-up with prospectivemembers, as well as regular outreach to current members to encourage renewals.

Impact100 DC expanded its number of in-person “Meet & Greet” events held in the fall at members’ homes,with the larger events featuring remarks from former grantees who spoke passionately about theimpact of our grants on their work.The Meet & Greet events were effective in recruiting 67 new members, nearly half of the new members. 

A key element of the plan was to enlist and empower current members in the effort. Members were provided with a recruitment “toolkit” of resources, including information and promotional materials, sample emails and social media posts. Members were also encouraged to bring guests to all events. Impact100 DC provides guidance and support for hosts of Meet & Greet events.

While retention data for the new members isn’t yet available, Impact100DC has every reason to be optimistic based on 2025 recruiting data. Impact100 DC’s 2025 new member cohort (also a record number of new members) renewed at a historical first-year member renewal rate. Impact100 DC attributes the success to a new member onboarding program, which included new member coffees and various new member check-ins throughout the year and personal invitations to upcoming events.