Today we’d like to introduce you to Karen Wilson and Jennifer Lipinski.
Karen and Jennifer, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Karen Wilson: In 2008, as the economy was dropping rapidly, I mentioned to my husband that I hated cutting back on our giving. I pondered with him the idea of gathering my friends, whose philanthropy was also diminishing, and finding ways to give collectively so the impact wasn’t felt as strongly among our beloved charities.
As I was thinking this through, I met with one of these dear friends, Ann, and when we began our discussion, she surprised me by having just visited Austin, Texas where a group there was already doing this — and was very successful.
Ann and I decided to take two steps: study what was being done in Austin and gather a small group of our friends to excite them with the concept. After meeting with them for a day, all five of us agreed to set up our own non-profit fashioned similarly to Austin’s group. We formed a 501(c)(3); set up mission, vision, values; worked through the dynamics of a business plan, including leadership, task areas, finances, marketing, etc., and within a year had presented our first offering to some small groups.
Impact Giving was launched with 100 Partners (women who contribute annually, similar to membership). We call them Partners because they don’t just give money, they participate: they can sponsor their favorite charities for a grant, they sit on grant vetting committees, they all vote. We are a true partnership of philanthropic women.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Karen Wilson: The first few years were shockingly easy, partly due to the excitement in the concept, our capacity to inspire involvement and the close camaraderie of our group. The biggest challenge during our third and fourth years was our incapacity to grow to the scale we had envisioned. Looking back, we realize we are comfortable with roughly 150 Partners because we maintain our “high touch” value. By scaling to 500 or 1,000 (our original goal) we would have had to change the mechanisms of our values and business plan significantly. We like us the way we are.
We also struggled with our first change of leadership as the founders moved down to encourage new leadership (also in our values), but we worked out these transitions in the boardroom and our general Partners were not affected significantly.
Jennifer Lipinski: As with any organization the biggest struggle is transforming our vision and desired impact into a sustainable support model. We have evolved over the last decade to be who we are today, which is a sustainable organization with solid support, structure and leadership. We ran into a few bumps along the way, but it only contributed to our health today.
Impact Giving – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Karen Wilson: We are a women’s collective giving group that seeks to engage, educate and empower philanthropy. We seek to impact lives financially with gifts that encourage high impact, life transformation, education and empowerment through involvement with the community where the recipient exists. Our website conveys all this in more detail.
Jennifer Lipinski: Different from many collective giving groups that use an open application process, every nonprofit considered for an Impact Giving grant must be sponsored by a Partner, who typically has a relationship with the nonprofit. This allows the grant process to reflect the values and passions of the membership. Also, the nonprofits can be local or global and address any type of need, allowing Partners to put forward organizations they care most deeply about, regardless of the community that they serve.
I am proud that together we have given away more than $1.3 million to many life-changing grant recipients. We also maintain relationships with our grant recipients and provide opportunities throughout the year to volunteer and interact with them.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Karen Wilson: Personally, I have been off the board for a few years now, and I participate actively in the grant process — my favorite part of the organization. I trust our leadership, and I believe they think like me in that we are very happy with who we have become — a close group of local women who learn and grow together.
Jennifer Lipinski: Our plans for the future are to evolve Impact Giving into a local name. We want to welcome and embrace more Partners and supporters of our organization. We feel that once you get involved with us and experience firsthand the warm, welcoming and inclusive community environment you will become an Impact Giving partner for life!
Pricing:
- We have two levels for women to join as Partners. The first level is $105 per month.
- We also recently began offering a reduced partnership level for those under 40 of $65 per month.
Contact Info:
- Address: 668 North Coast Highway, #1139
Laguna Beach, CA 92651 - Website: impactgivingnow.org
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/impactgivingnow/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ImpactGivingNow/
Image Credit:
Allen Altchech Photography, D. Park Photography
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