Philadelphia, PA -- Closing out its 13th grants cycle, Impact100 Philadelphia has announced the award of $420,000 in unrestricted funds to eight nonprofit organizations in the region. Representing the collective giving of 431 women members, funds are being awarded to eight nonprofit organizations, the highest number of recipients in Impact100's history. Including these 2021 grants and awards, Impact100 Philadelphia members have provided more than $4 million to regional nonprofits since the organization's founding in 2008.
$100,000 CORE MISSION GRANTS
- ACHIEVEability works to permanently break the generational cycle of poverty for low income, single parent, and homeless families in Philadelphia through higher education, affordable housing, supportive services, community and economic development, and accountability.
- African Family Health Organization (AFAHO) serves members of the African and Caribbean immigrant and refugee communities in Greater Philadelphia who experience difficulties accessing services due to cultural, geographic, linguistic and other barriers.
- C.B. Community Schools is a small, healing-centered high school that ensures that vulnerable students, currently or formerly involved in the child welfare or juvenile justice system, learn, heal, and grow into caring, confident, competent citizens of the world.
$50,000 OPERATING GRANTS
- Centro de Cultura, Arte, Trabajo, y Educación (CCATE) serves as a point of community engagement, a social hub, and a food distribution center for the Latinx community of Norristown and Montgomery County, a community hit particularly hard in the past year as the pandemic exacerbated existing food and job insecurity.
- Theatre Horizon uses the transformative power of storytelling to foster empathy and create an inclusive home for artists, audiences, and students, providing theater productions and cultural and educational programs, and serving as a vital public space in the Norristown community.
$10,000 COMMUNITY AWARD
- YEAH Philly works with teens and young adults in West and Southwest Philadelphia, providing safe and authentic hangout spaces and culturally relevant engagement, and implementing teen-led interventions to address root causes of violence.
$5,000 COMMUNITY AWARDS
- Chester Community Coalition seeks to heal the psychological and emotional impact of homicides and reduce trauma-related reactive violence in Chester City through compassionate services and activities for children and adults.
- Sisters Returning Home improves the options for women coming home to Philadelphia after serving time behind bars, providing services and helping establish and achieve goals related to employment, housing, education, financial literacy, and reconnecting with family.
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ABOUT IMPACT100 PHILADELPHIA
Impact100 Philadelphia is a grant-making organization that enables women to turn their personal donations into large collective grants and awards. Since 2008, Impact100 members have awarded more than $4 million to smaller nonprofit organizations in the five-county Philadelphia region.
Here’s how Impact100 Philadelphia works:
- To join for 2022, a woman must be 21 years or older, and must donate $1,150 to Impact100 Philadelphia by November 15 (by installment payments or a single donation). Of that amount, $1,000 goes straight into the pool of grant funds for the coming year and $150 supports Impact100's operating expenses.
- Women who are 35 or younger may join as Young Philanthropists by donating $575, with $500 going to the grants pool and $75 to operating expenses.
- Membership is a one-year commitment and there is no obligation to participate beyond donating.
- Grant and award finalists are determined through a detailed process of review and evaluation by members, and recipients are selected by a vote of the membership — "one woman, one vote."
A significant thing to note about our organization is that each member chooses her level of involvement. Of our 431 members, many are investors in the grants who want only to make their donation and cast a vote for grantees. Many others participate actively by serving on committees to review proposals and select our grant and award finalists. For those who want to engage further, there are opportunities to serve in leadership roles or a range of other volunteer commitments.
Members say that their Impact experience is gratifying and educational. They learn about remarkable nonprofit work in our region and spend time with interesting women they wouldn't encounter otherwise. The main reason women say they join is to leverage their personal donation into something bigger and more meaningful than they could accomplish alone.
Closing out our thirteenth year, we remain excited about the impact of this unique philanthropic model, how we can collectively contribute to our region's nonprofit community during a time of great need, and how we each can find meaning -- on our own terms -- through our membership.
We thank each of our members and every organization that applied to Impact100 beginning last December, as well as the entire nonprofit, funder, and broader community for your interest in and support of our work. Congratulations and thank you to 2021's eight grantees and award recipients!