Economic turbulence, cutbacks in government funding, and the dismantling of government agencies have taken a toll on nonprofits that serve our communities. Private fundraising is becoming increasingly critical as many nonprofits are short staffed just providing services much less raising money.
Enter three Delaware volunteer groups that specialize simply in raising money for local community programs – The Fund for Women, Lunch with a Purpose and 100 Women Who Care. All three have expanded over time and their members continue to step up to the plate to help. They all operate a little differently, but the “bottom line” is the same – supporting those who are making a difference!
This week, we’ll look more into our local chapter of 100 Women Who Care, started by Milton resident Jeri Berc. With more than 650 global chapters, 100+ Who Care Alliance is a network consisting of 100 Women Who Care, 100 Men Who Care, 100 Teens Who Care and many more. Each chapter meets four times a year donating on average $100 dollars per member in each new season.
“A friend of mine from Pittsburgh was visiting four years ago got a phone call that made her jubilant when I asked her what it was about, she told me she just got a match for her 100 Women Who Care Pittsburgh group that she was leading,” Berc said. “She told me about 100whocarealliance.org. I thought I could do that while I’m figuring out what I’m going to do with the rest of my life, and it’s turned out to be a wonderful source of fun and good trouble for me.”
The group has grown substantially since then. “My initial outreach to friends drew about 30,” Berc added. “I’ve always asked members to continue to reach out to their friends and neighbors. Now we have about 170 …members are allowed to join as a team or as an individual”.
The donations the group makes are not shabby either. The more than 150 members are asked to contribute $100 quarterly, and sometimes there is a supplemental donation. Members have a choice of donating online or doing so in person at quarterly lunches held at local restaurants.
No national non-profits are considered, but local chapters of a non-profit can benefit. The idea is to keep the fund allocated locally.
At the Southern Delaware chapter, three non-profits are chosen to make presentations, based on recommendations from group members, on their individual programs. Each organization is allotted five minutes to make a presentation and five minutes to answer questions. Funding decisions are made after the three presentations, and the allocation usually totals about $16,000 dollars.
The winning non-profits are diverse. Recent recipients of the funds include the Community Resource Center, Inc in Rehoboth Beach, Pathways to Success and the Parkinson’s Education and Support Group of Sussex Country.
So why do folks think it is important to support local non-profits?
100 Women supporter Laura Hackell puts it this way:
“In addition to our main careers, many of us have been actively involved with supporting and in doing pro bono work with non-profits. Now, many of us retired from our careers, are looking at the next generation who are working on the front lines for nonprofits and are ‘boots on the ground,” she said.
She noted that those in 100 Women Who Care can make that kind of impact a cash contribution can make on a non-profit’s operation.
The bottom line is to provide a mechanism that enables a group of dedicated community-minded individuals (in this case women) to give back to worthy causes that hep the community at large. Look for next week’s article where we continue with a deep dive into Fund for Women and Lunch with a Purpose.
By Mary Jo Tarallo, Resident Journalist
Mary Jo Tarallo spent much of her career in public relations with various non-profits and spent 40 years involved with the ski industry as a journalist, public relations director for a national trade association and as executive director of the Learn to Ski and Snowboard initiative. Prior to her ski industry involvement she worked for the Maryland International Center in Baltimore and United Way of Central Maryland. She won a Gold Award for TV programming for a United Way simulcast that starred Oprah Winfrey. She has been cited for her work by numerous organizations. Mary Jo grew up in Baltimore, attended the University of Maryland and Towson University, lived in Washington, DC for 21 years and has been a full time resident of Rehoboth Beach and Milton since May 2019.
