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Know a woman that would be a great addition to the
Women's Impact Fund?

If so, please invite her to the next Member Recruitment event - from 5 to 7 p.m. Feb. 2nd at Vin Master on South Boulevard. Please invite one, two or three women before signing up yourself.

Here's the process: send the names and email addresses of your invitees to WIF's Operations Manager
Jessica Lehmann (jlehmann@womensimpactfund.org). She'll ensure your guests are invited and registered and receive all the necessary information.

Space is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis, so get your names to Jessica quickly. This is one event where we want potential members to outnumber current members!

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In Memoriam

Former Board of Advisors and Women's Impact Fund Member, Mary Elizabeth Francis, passed away in November. She had such an impact on our community, serving on numerous boards, serving her church, Myers Park United Methodist Church, in many ways, and truly setting an example of leadership. Please take a moment to celebrate her life and the legacy she left.

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Facebook

LinkedIn

Please take a moment to like the Women's Impact Fund page
on Facebook. Invite your friends to "Like" it too!

If you are on LinkedIn, please ask to join the

Women's Impact Fund Group by clicking on the "Join Group" button.

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Women's Impact Fund Apparel

It's Time to Register For Wine & Wisdom 2015

If you haven't already, it's time to register for this year's Wine & Wisdom: 6-8:15 p.m. Monday, Feb. 9th, at Wake Forest Charlotte Center on College Street Uptown.

Wine & Wisdom will feature a community conversation on measuring non-profit effectiveness. It follows a provocative presentation last fall by Dan Pallotta in which he debunked the use of overhead as an important measure. It prompted many donors and board members to ask: If overhead is not the right tool, how should we evaluate an organization's effectiveness? What are the most common characteristics of a high-performing non-profit?

WIF Board Member Chris McLeod will moderate the discussion. Panelists will include Tom Lawrence, executive director of The Leon Levine Foundation; Karla Williams, organizational consultant and author; and Ron Lamberth, CPA and partner, Cherry Baekert.

It promises to be a lively and useful discussion for all WIF members.

Event sponsors are the Institute of Philanthropic Leadership and Wake Forest Charlotte Center.

Meet WIF Member, Beth Addison

Just over a year ago, Beth Addison sent an email to WIF to find out how to become a member. As the fund development and communications manager at Hands On Charlotte and founder of her own nonprofit (Road to Home Canine Refuge), Beth has always been focused on philanthropy. But WIF stood out as an opportunity to join with like-minded women to do something meaningful, and she knew that was a unique opportunity she couldn't pass up.

What inspired you to join WIF?

My inspiration was actually a process that started with an article I read five or so years ago about WIF in The Observer. I kept hearing about the group through friends and acquaintances, until finally I sent an email to find out how to join. As a humanitarian and philanthropist, I was thrilled to find there was a group of women that I believe feel the way I do about giving back. I have my girlfriends but never found a connection with any of them in regard to putting forth a true effort in helping others in need. We are lucky to be as fortunate as we are; even more reason to give back.

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Focusing on WIF Values

Education: We believe in providing compelling education opportunities to our members, creating a membership of knowledgeable and effective philanthropists who are inspired to strengthen our community.

By Vida Harvey

I am an oddity, an outlier here in the Queen City: a native Charlottean! I strayed from home for college and law school, and by the time I found my way back home Charlotte had undergone a sea change. No longer a sleepy town with big city ambitions, I came back to find a Charlotte that was a small but thriving urban center. To find my footing in the new Charlotte, I began looking for ways to get involved and engaged in the community. My colleague, Dianne Bailey, introduced me to the Women's Impact Fund and accurately billed it as a group of smart, engaged and conscientious women, dedicated to making a positive impact on the Charlotte community through collective giving. The pitch would have been enough to get me to join, but WIF's focus on informed philanthropy and its demonstrated efforts to educate its members on the critical needs and emerging issues of the Charlotte area set it apart from other organizations.