Last Thursday was the kick-off of a new cycle of the Rainmaker’s Giving Circle.

Like many families, ours is considering ways to save more and spend less given the economic uncertainty we are all facing.  This year, I considered saying “no” or “taking a break” for this cycle and waiting to see where things go with the economy and my and my husband’s jobs.

What a funny coincidence that just last weekend, the senior minister at my church gave a sermon titled, “Spiritual Choices in Difficult Times.” He warned against giving in to fear and turning inward by creating a protective shell.  He encouraged us to resist the urge to take cover, and instead asked us reach out our hands, connect with others and live generously–reminding us that small actions and giving of our time can be powerful instruments of change.

For me, today’s kick-off meeting was a crystal clear affirmation of last week’s message.  It was a reminder of how building and maintaining those connections are so important.  In joining together to learn about the challenges and threats facing the women and children in our communities and determining how to distribute the Circle’s funds, I’ve received so much on a personal level.

During my six years with the Rainmaker’s, I became a mother to two wonderful daughters, my family “migrated” across state lines (something we were sure we would never do), and I’ve worked diligently to climb the corporate ladder at work.  Through all of these changes, the Rainmaker’s provided me with a group of supportive women who have been through these phases of life and who shared a belief in giving back to their community.

When I was pregnant with my first child, a fellow Rainmaker sent me a card with a little reminder that the pregnancy would fly by quickly and I would be able to see my toes again and to get ready for all of the positive and wonderful changes that were coming my way.  I was so touched by that card. 

Small gestures can have such a lasting impact.

Every year, I return from site visits we do as part of Rainmakers in awe of the things that organizations and their dedicated staff are doing to provide support to women and children in our communities. It’s a reminder of the powerful impact that a small group of people can achieve when they act collectively.

It encourages me to continue educating myself on these issues, sharing the information with others and to give a bit back to my community.

As we embark on another year practicing collective giving, I am very excited and so glad that I decided to continue participating in this wonderful process. I am thankful that The Women’s Foundation provides this opportunity. 

And, I don’t think we’ve ever had such a large group of participants!

It seems that others must have intuitively felt the need to connect during these uncertain times. I’m looking forward to getting to know the women in this year’s Rainmaker’s Giving Circle and to the inspiration that I’ll feel as learn about and witness all of the wonderful things that are happening in and around Washington D.C. to improve the lives of women and children.

Rebecca S. Manicone has been a member of the Rainmakers Giving Circle for six years. 

To learn more about how you can get connected to your community through giving circles or other collective giving opportunities, contact Nicole Cozier, Philanthropic Education Officer, at ncozier@wawf.org.  There’s a place for everyone at The Women’s Foundation…find yours today!

On Monday, I listened to the President’s first press conference.  I could see that the weight of his responsibilities rest heavy upon him. The enormity of the responsibility that he bears for moving the country through these challenges times is certainly not enviable.

His words that “inaction can turn this crisis into a catastrophe” hung heavy in the air.

But despite the weightiness of the message, I was heartened by his continual reinforcement that we are all in this together.  That the power of our collective efforts knows no bounds.

While very few of us can say that we have been untouched by the challenging economy, the reality is that we are not all affected in the same way. 

Women and girls continue to be the hardest hit in times of economic crisis, so while for some, the realities of this economy are a rude awakening - for others it is catastrophic.

Maintaining our perspective and continuing to believe in our power to make a difference is paramount.

More than ever, The Women’s Foundation’s belief in The Power of Giving Together holds true as an opportunity and a call to action.

For more than six years, The Women’s Foundation’s giving circles have allowed women to pool and leverage their resources to make change.  The outcome is that the whole truly is greater than the sum of its parts!  And the beauty of this model is that it enables a relatively small contribution to make a big difference.

We are now in the process of welcoming new members to both of The Women’s Foundation’s giving circles: the African American Women’s Giving Circle and the Rainmakers Giving Circle.  These circles continue to be dedicated to the power of collective giving and the empowerment of making the decision together about how to grant out their funds.

The Rainmakers Giving Circle will be hosting a reception for interested members on February 17, 2009 to learn more.  Please contact me if you’d like to join us and learn more about The Power of Giving Together and how you can make your investment in our community go further.

Now more than ever, we need people to come together to invest in our community and in the area’s women and girls.  We have our call to action from our President and from our community.

Please join us in working toward the solution.

Nicole Cozier is The Women’s Foundation’s philanthropic education officer.

Yesterday in Philantopic, Foundation Center President Bradford Smith made the case for which nonprofits are "too big, too important or too (blank) to fail."   In other words, these are the nonprofits that he’d give a bailout to, if he had the choice.

Women’s funds make the list of only 14 nonprofits he named,  including Greenpeace, Oxfam, World Wildlife Fund and Doctors Without Borders.

Not bad company.

Bradford writes of women’s funds, "It started with Mama Cash in the Netherlands, spread to San Francisco with the Global Fund for Women, branched out to Mexico with Semillas, and keeps on growing."

Indeed. 

There are 134 women’s funds throughout the world today.  And Bradford putting them on the list begs the question–are they too important or too (blank) to fail?  And if so, why?

I’ve got a few theories, and I’ll even leave out all the (very true) stuff about how investing in women is the best way to improve a community and the world and will come up with some new stuff.

First, women’s funds and the way they do business are shifting the power dynamics of philanthropy.  Philanthropy and community development generally operate on a  top-down model, with program officers or funders making grants to nonprofits who are hesitant to share concerns, ideas, or mistakes with that funder for fear of a future loss of funding.  As a result, the organization doesn’t improve over time and weak aspects of a program or funding strategy aren’t addressed.  Further, the funder loses the valuable input of the organizations working most closely with the people and issues they want to address. 

Women’s funds tend toward community-based philanthropy, using diverse groups of people–whether in a giving circle or on a grantmaking committee–to award grants.  Decision-making is spread throughout the community, which leads to decisions that reflect the true needs and realities of what is happening on the ground, and also makes it possible for the nonprofits receiving the funds to have open, honest dialogue with the fund’s program officers and other staff.  Staff can serve more as advisors, capacity builders and partners than as "bosses."

This model is a win-win for the nonprofits, the funder and the community they’re serving. 

Second, women’s funds are fostering community involvement, ownership and social change.  Because they don’t just give out grants, women’s funds rely on their donors and supporters to be geniunely involved in their work, which requires them to learn more about their community, the issues impacting it and how strategies to address it. 

Whether that individual then stays in that community or moves to another one, or to another charity or nonprofit, they take all that they have learned about effective, strategic giving with them–meaning that every philanthropic dollar they invest is likely to have a greater return than if they had just written a check and never learned about how to make their gift go as far as possible.

Third, women’s funds are risk-taking and innovative, and therefore tend to root out and support the best strategies and organizations.  Due to the wisdom of collective grantmaking, which leads to its ability to seek out, find and fund organizations that may be small, new and/or struggling, they are truly able to elevate the best strategies, programs and ideas to a more visible, effective playing field.  Often when other funders won’t take that risk. 

And, because they foster open dialogue with their nonprofit partners, they are able to see when an effective program is otherwise being hindered by a management or fundraising issue–and help correct it.  And so organizations and ideas that may otherwise never have made it–but prove tremendously effective years later–receive the support they need to be seen beyond the more established organizations and strategies.

So, just off the top of my head, I’d agree with Bradford that women’s funds are too (important) (innovative) (effective) (inspiring) and (gamechanging) to fail.

Would you agree?  What other aspects of women’s funds make them too (blank) to fail? 

Lisa Kays is The Women’s Foundation’s Director of Communications

Looking at the recent grants issued by our two giving circles, they may seem a bit counter-intuitive given the current economic climate.

Some have asked me why I believe funding the arts for girls is so important when there are many other pressing issues and priorities in our city, and funds are so tight.

But I’m proud of these recent funding choices by our African American Women’s Giving Circle and the Rainmakers, who chose this grantmaking cycle to invest in the Cultural Academy for Excellence (CAFÉ), a music arts program for girls in Maryland, and The Art League, an art mentoring program for at-risk, pre-teen girls in Virginia.

I salute these choices because in tough economic times, so often the arts are among the first cuts made in schools and programs for youth.

And at The Women’s Foundation, it is part of our mission to encourage philanthropy that focuses on filling the gaps where services are most needed and our support can make a unique, significant contribution.

I am a long-time supporter of the arts. I serve on the board of the Cultural Development Corporation, which is committed to supporting artistic outlets in Washington, D.C. that also create economic return for our community.

I personally invest in the arts because I believe that they are a fundamental part of the health and vibrancy of any community, contributing a space for dialogue, reflection, spiritual and emotional growth and intellectual challenge. The arts remind us of our shared humanity.

Similarly, the programs our giving circles have chosen to support use the arts as a means to help our community’s young women to build self-esteem, academic skills, and an expanded sense of their place in their community and the world.

Opportunities like these are all-too-often lost in communities and families where resources are limited and must be directed to more basic needs like food, shelter and clothing.

So, at a time when attention is focused on where to cut back so many programs and opportunities, I’m proud to see our giving circle members taking the lead in recognizing the need for youth in our area to imagine and create a future based on all of their unique talents and potential.

Whether they lie in a book or on a computer, or on a stage or blank canvas.

Phyllis Caldwell is president of The Women’s Foundation.

As donors try to think of a way to maximize their gifts at a time of such great need througout the country, a lot of attention is falling upon giving circles as an innovative way to give a lot–as a collective, without breaking the bank–as an individual.

MSN Money recently featured a piece called, "How to give away $500,000," highlighting the African Women’s Giving Circle as one example of how giving circles allow individuals to pool their resources and make their personal gifts go further.  Not to mention have fun and forge inspiring, powerful new friendships.

Additionally, PhilanthroMedia had a post recently on how a giving circle lets everyone be a philanthropist.

And, while not a giving circle, GoErie.com featured a story yesterday on how women in Erie are pooling their funds through the Erie Women’s Fund.  Each woman gives $1,000 a year over five years, resulting in their first grant of $50,000 to the "Listen, Mentor, Act Poverty Reduction Program."

If you’re in the Washington metropolitan area and are interested in learning more about getting involved in this growing trend that can help your individual philanthropy have a bigger impact through the power of collective giving, click here.  We have two giving circles currently recruiting new members.

Lisa Kays is The Women’s Foundation’s director of communications.

This afternoon, I had the pleasure of attending the 2008 Catalogue for Philanthropy awards ceremony, where we got a chance to hear from a number of past awardees about what recognition in the Catalogue has meant for them.

The wisdom of the Catalogue is based on the same wisdom that governs grantmaking at The Women’s Foundation.  The Catalogue brings together a diverse committee of volunteers–all experts in philanthropy at some level–to vet and evaluate potential candidates for the Catalogue, so that once in hand, philanthropists know that every nonprofit featured is doing excellent work and having an impact.

Similarly, The Women’s Foundation uses the power of collective wisdom in its grantmaking, placing the responsibility for decisions about funding in the hands of community members–whether through the Leadership Awards, grantmaking committee or a giving circle–and asking them to pool not only their resources, but their experience, perspective and wisdom to choose the most effective organizations in which to invest.

So it was no surprise to me today when I saw so many of our former Leadership Awardees and other Grantee Partners featured in this year’s Catalogue, or being honored as those who had best leveraged their appearance in the past. 

Among them, Fair Fund and A Wider Circle–2007 Leadership Awardees of The Women’s Foundation–are featured in this year’s Catalogue.

The Washington Middle School for Girls, a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation and former Catalogue charity, was featured via film.

In addition, Ascensions Community Services and Friends of Guest House were honored for having taken full advantage of being featured in the 2007 Catalogue by leveraging various marketing, media and outreach strategies to increase their fundraising and build important partnerships throughout the community.

Looking through the Catalogue of the 2008 honorees and those of the past, there is a great deal more overlap between The Women’s Foundation’s Grantee Partner list and the Catalogue’s selected nonprofits than I can list here.

All, I think, testimony to the value and power of investing in mechanisms that vet and evaluate the organizations working in our community through the common wisdom and involvement of our community.

In tough economic times like we’re facing now, when the needs are greater than ever before and resources are decreasing, there has never been a more important time not only to give to our community, but to invest wisely in it.

As Sidney Harman said during his remarks today, now is the time to give even more, not less, than we ever have before.   

Lisa Kays is Director of Communications at The Women’s Foundation and was a reviewer for the 2008 Catalogue for Philanthropy.

The Washington Post reports today that the Washington Middle School for Girls received a little sprucing up from about 40 volunteers from Chesapeake Surgical who came in to paint classrooms.

The Washington Middle School for Girls is unique to Washington, D.C. in that there are no other all-girls independent schools in any underprivileged part of the city.  The school was founded to provide a high quality education for young girls who show academic potential, but who are at risk of terminating their education prematurely, and also provides important support to the girl’s parents.  For example, during the course of its first mother/daughter book club, seven of the mothers pursued and completed high school equivalency programs.

Washington Middle School for Girls is also a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation through support by the Rainmakers Giving Circle.  In 2004, the Rainmakers granted funding for the addition of a fourth grade to the school.  In 2005, the Rainmakers provided funding to supply the 4th and 5th grades with supplies, books, teaching materials, and a reading specialist and teaching aid.

The Women’s Foundation is thrilled to see Washington Middle School for Girls receiving the sort of community support exhibited through the volunteer efforts by Chesapeake Surgical, and hopes that this inspires further support among the community for the organizations and strategies that are improving the lives of women and girls.

No, really.  That’s what Kimberly Palmer advises in her column at U.S. News.

"While it may sound like a crazy time to talk about giving money away, with the economic pinch many of us are feeling, it actually might be the perfect time," she writes.  "As Brent Kessel, author of It’s Not About the Money, recently told me in an interview, acts of generosity can help us feel content with what we have. ‘The irony is…you can’t be giving money away and feel like you don’t have enough,’ he says. ‘The act itself changes the message you tell yourself.’

Kimberly cites some smart ways to make your philanthropic dollar go further, including giving circles and the Women Moving Millions campaign.

Not surprisingly, Kimberly’s column starts with an observation from a friend of hers, Lisa Philp, head of philanthropic services at JPMorgan Private Bank, that there was a gender shift happening in her clientele.  Instead of working primarily with men like she used to, her clientele is now two-thirds women.

There are now more women in business.  More women heading family foundations.  More women getting involved in women’s philanthropy at all levels–from giving to their local women’s foundation, to volunteering for organizations serving women and girls, to pooling their resources through giving circles.

"The women’s funding movement has grown by leaps and bounds," Philp says in Kimberly’s column.

Due in no doubt to the satisfaction that is gained from giving with greater impact by giving together–models and structures created largely through the advent of women’s philanthropy.

A rich tradition that doesn’t require a rich bank account to make a big difference.

Last Monday, I met with 12 other women for three hours and discussed our shared goal: improving the lives of young women in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

This might sound like wishful thinking, but it was much more than that.  We are members of The Women’s Foundation’s Rainmakers Giving Circle and have pooled our charitable contributions in order to make a bigger impact than we would by writing individual checks.

Our task on Monday was to review and sort through 34 proposals from nonprofit organizations seeking funding from our circle and narrow the field to those we want to consider further and visit.  It was daunting, but we were up for the challenge.

I left the meeting feeling overwhelmed by the vast needs of so many at-risk populations in this area but, at the same time, exhilarated by the circle’s collective energy and humbled and inspired by the good work of the 34 organizations we reviewed.

This is my fourth year as a Rainmaker, and the proposal review meeting is my favorite part of the grantmaking process.  I love the free flowing sharing of ideas, as well as the dynamic and organic nature of the discussion. The conversations take unexpected twists and turns, are always lively and sometimes intense, but never contentious.

Many questions are raised, discussed, partially resolved, discussed again and sometimes even left unanswered.

Do we want to find the “diamond in the rough” where our money will help a program get off the ground?  Or should we support an established organization with a strong track record and add our name to a reputable list of funders?  Should we decline a prior grantee organization that seems to be having managerial problems?  Or stick with it so as not to abandon the organization at a fragile time?  Does a particular issue push our buttons, tug at our heartstrings and compel us to say, "Yes!…Let’s keep that organization on our list"?  Or, should we ignore our emotions and just look at the statistics?

These questions and many others make the review process exciting, frustrating and, ultimately, rewarding.

The Rainmakers have a few requirements for the proposals, such as the age of the target population and a specific geographic focus, but we have a lot of discretion in reaching our decisions—and that discretion generates rich debate.  I have learned that grantmaking is an art,  not a science, and the life experiences of each member as well as the “pulse” of the circle as a whole make a tremendous impact on the decisions that we reach.

By the close of our meeting, we had narrowed our 34 organizations to eight that will remain on the docket and receive site visits in the next phase of our grantmaking process.

We didn’t raise our hands to vote or record our preferences on pieces of paper that were tallied.  Instead, we reached our decisions by consensus, ultimately selecting a slate of organizations that likely does not match any one individual member’s dream list of organizations, but represents the collective thinking of our giving circle.

Since we have joined together to leverage our charitable giving, I can’t think of a more fitting or satisfying result.

Debbi Lindenberg is co-chair of the Rainmakers Giving Circle.  In her professional life, she is an attorney working as a grantmaking consultant to foundations.

I recently hosted a reception at my home to introduce my friends to the Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League (SMYAL), an organization I learned about through my participation in The Women’s Foundation’s Rainmakers giving circle.

I loved doing the event.  SMYAL is such a worthy organization, and I had never heard of it before I was assigned to do a site visit last year for Rainmakers. I was totally taken with the fact that I knew so little about how at risk lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT ) youth are in this community. 

I really wanted to do the "friend" raiser to educate people about this.  It was very successful, with 25 or so attendees that are now better educated about LGBT issues, have new friends and had great conversations about how to get some political types involved in Arlington.  Many said they would volunteer and stay involved!

At the reception, four staff members spoke for SMYAL, discussing the intricacies of how SMYAL helps gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered youth in our area become healthy, happy and productive members of our community.  SMYAL has been serving LGBT youth for over 24 years, providing a variety of services and opportunities including counseling, mentoring, social activities, HIV education and prevention support and serving as a vocal advocate for LGBT youth throughout our region.

These services are more important than ever as kids are coming out and dealing with their sexual orientation at a much earlier age. Yet, they are still subject to rejection by family and friends and face violence and emotional abuse, resulting in far too much homelessness and suicide.

These issues struck me deeply and I wanted to provide a way for my friends to learn about this as well, and to provide an opportunity for them to get more involved if they’d like.

If you’re interested in getting involved, please let me know!

Heather Kaye is a member of the Rainmakers giving circle.  The Rainmakers made a grant of $10,000 to SMYAL in 2007.  In her professional life, Heather is the owner of Invision, LLC.