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  • Saturday, March 02, 2024 6:26 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    March is Women's History month, a month to pause and reflect on the vital roles that women have played in our history, culture and society.


    #philanos#philanoswomen#womenshistorymonth

  • Friday, March 01, 2024 6:28 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Congratulations Impact San Antonio on 20 years! Cheering for you to reach 500 members in 2024! #philanoswomen#collectivegiving


  • Monday, February 26, 2024 8:35 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)
  • Monday, February 26, 2024 8:17 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)


  • Thursday, February 01, 2024 8:12 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    ​February is a good month to share love and we love Philanos Affiliates and their members! Our Philanos theme for February is “Membership” beginning with our February Educational Webinar on February 13th at 12 PM ET – Building a Culture of Belonging: Recruiting AND Retaining a Diverse Membership.

    Membership and membership structures are the foundation of our circles. Last year, Philanos recognized the desire for more connection and sharing of membership themes and we launched a virtual affinity group entitled Membership Roundtable. This group now meets bimonthly to discuss and share membership ideas, challenges, and resources. Every Philanos Affiliate is encouraged to participate through their members. All are welcome. The next Membership Roundtable on Tuesday, March 19 at 12 PM ET, will be sharing ideas for listening to your membership.

    Breakout sessions on membership are always well attended at our national conferences, but even veterans of our Board (like Sandy) were surprised to see that a session on tiered membership fee structures was standing room only in Baltimore in November. We will be watching and following up on those circles that have embraced different fee structures and how those newer membership models fare in recruiting more diversity and in engaging and retaining those members.

    Of course, membership is often about more than writing a check, and our affiliates have many examples of engaging their members through social events, volunteer opportunities, grant committee work, and educational programming. Our members are deeply committed to and interested in continuous improvement of their communities. It takes thoughtful and hard-working leadership to meet those needs. Just two weeks ago, the day after MLK Day, Greenville Women Giving (Maggie’s SC affiliate) offered up an educational program on Intolerance and Inclusion featuring three local women –an FBI agent assigned to hate crimes in the Upstate, a Jewish educator who offers programs on the Holocaust in schools and churches and elsewhere, and the Director of the Upstate Urban League in South Carolina. It was a fascinating and timely discussion with a very engaged audience.

    Keep your members close, send them a valentine, and think about all the ways they enrich your community. 

    Read the full eNewsletter here

  • Monday, January 29, 2024 1:58 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Philanos Affinity Group Snapshot:

    • Philanos offers affiliates opportunities to connect with each other through ​our five Affinity Groups. 
    • Our Affinity Groups are for members, by members.
    • These are for all women engaged in giving circles - leaders and those new to giving circles.
    • W​e encourage all affiliates to share information and registration details for upcoming Philanos Affinity Group meetings with their members. 
    ​5 Affinity Groups for Philanos Affiliates
    • Philanos Affiliate Comms Club- Comms Club meets the 4th Tuesday of every other month. Join the conversation when we discuss issues and ideas for strengthening communications in your giving circle.
    • Coming Soon! Philanos Affiliate Grantmaking Group - Grantmaking Group plans to meet regularly in the coming year. Join us to learn and share together about all things grants. 
    • Philanos Affiliate Tech Talk- Tech Talk meets the 3rd Thursday of every other month. Come share your questions and ideas about software and tech platforms for your giving circle. 
    • Philanos Affiliate Membership Roundtable- Membership Roundtable meets the 3rd Tuesday of every other month. Participate in this forum to discuss issues concerning membership in your giving circle.
    • Philanos Affiliate A Table for Chairs- a confidential forum for affiliate giving circle chairs to  share ideas and expertise with leadership challenges.

    5 Reasons to Attend Philanos Affinity Groups:

    • Grow Your Leadership Pipeline  Encourage all your members to attend. Affinity Groups are not for current leaders only. New members, long-standing members, members of committees and members interested in the women’s collective giving movement - all benefit from learning about the challenges and successes of other circles.
    • Your Circle is not Alone  Learn how other circles face the challenges you are confronting. Ask your questions in an informal setting. Curious how other circles recruit and retain members? Interested in the software other circles use for grants? Maybe you have a question about the best ways to communicate with your members. Affinity Groups are the perfect forum for these topics and more.
    • Stop Reinventing The Wheel  Save your energy and borrow from what other circles have already done successfully. Maybe it’s a strategic plan. Or, maybe it’s an anniversary celebration. Ask your questions! Affinity Groups allow you to learn how other circles have done it and even give you a roadmap to get there.
    • Expand Your Reach  Hear what other circles are doing to engage their members, connect with their local communities and celebrate their successes. Learn about website design. Hear how circles find support from local businesses. Find out how circles are going beyond the check.
    • Make Priceless Connections  Meet other philanthropic women making impacts in their local communities. Then, keep the connection alive by staying in touch after the session. And, meet in person at the next Philanos Conference!
    Join Us!
    • Affinity Groups meet via Zoom for one hour from 12:00 Noon (ET) until 1:00 PM (ET). 
    • Registration is required and is available via email sent to affiliates and on the Philanos website. 
    • A Table for Chairs is a closed group and provides a forum for affiliate giving circle co-chairs to exchange ideas and expertise concerning leadership challenges.
    • All other Affinity Groups are open to affiliate members. 
  • Monday, January 29, 2024 8:49 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Thank you to those who participated in our January 23 Philanos Affiliate Comms Club! What a great discussion on blogging. Thank you for everything that was shared!

    The Zoom recording and document/chat file is now available

    Our next Comms Club will be on March 26, 2024 at 12 PM ET. Register here to join our conversation, Listening to Your Membership: Listening Sessions, Focus Groups and Surveys. 

    Please bring your questions. Comms Club is all about connecting, learning and sharing.

    Invite your colleagues to join an upcoming Philanos event.

    Regards,

    Buffy Beaudoin-Schwartz (Women's Giving Circle of Howard County, MD)
    Ann Marie McGee (Impact 100 Redwood Circle, CA)
    Philanos Communications Co-chairs
    media@philanos.org


  • Sunday, January 28, 2024 6:21 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    The inspiration remains alive for the 35 members of the Baltimore Women’s Giving Circle who attended PowerUp! Baltimore. Shortly after the conference, they got together at two brainstorming sessions to share their newfound ideas. Not surprisingly, the ideas shared ran the gamut from ways to onboard new members to thoughts on adding community leaders to the grant process to suggestions for members-only social gatherings to improve retention. Interestingly, some of the discussions even focused on past practices that might be ready for a second act. For instance, the talk about on-boarding new members led into a discussion of the former practice of hosting in-person orientations at members’ home for new members. Everyone agreed it was time to bring back the in-person orientations. The energy was palpable as members discussed ideas for developing closer relationships with grantees by helping grantees identify other funding sources and connecting grantees with schools in the area as a source of volunteers. Ideas for reinvigorating BWGC’s advocacy program by looking at the lessons learned at the conference were well-received. Using poster-size Post-It Notes Philanos Board member Renee Gordon captured the thoughts, ideas and suggestions shared at the two brainstorming sessions and then distilled them into six umbrella categories with all of the ideas sorted into one of the six umbrella categories. Now, the goal is to identify those ideas that BWGC should move forward on. All attendees felt not only re-energized but delighted to connect with each other in the brainstorming sessions.

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