TTN PHILADELPHIA GIVING CIRCLE

 MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

March, 2023

Dear Giving Circle members and friends:

Welcome to March! Although it doesn’t seem that winter ever actually started, we’re inching towards spring and daylight savings time.

After our record breaking 2022 “Year of the Child” fundraising achievement, we’re now focused on getting those funds into the hands of Philadelphia nonprofits. We received over 70 grant applications, also record breaking for the Giving Circle. Right now, the Executive Council members are reviewing the applications, making decisions on which will move forward to the Grants Committee for further review and site visits. We will be making four grants of $30,000 each, so we’ll really be making our biggest impact on Philadelphia’s children, through the nonprofits awarded our grants this year, in honor of the "Year of the Child." Thanks to Carol Williams, Chair of the Grants Committee, who is leading this herculean effort! Thanks also to Kathy Gosliner who leads our diversity efforts and is educating us all on how to promote and evaluate smaller, often neighborhood focused nonprofits that often fall under funders’ radar.

As we are also working to incorporate trust-based philanthropy principles and diversity awareness into our process, we have provided training on both of these topics to our grants committee. If you are unfamiliar with these terms, you will learn more about them at our first educational program of the year, “New Perspectives in Philanthropy: Bringing About Change”. This program is scheduled for March 2nd and will also focus on how women are changing philanthropy to have a more direct and localized impact.

And, finally, our new Development Co-Chairs, Nancy Newman and Sandy Horrocks, are looking at new ways to introduce our Giving Circle to like-minded, community-focused women in the hopes of gaining new members. In addition to other initiatives, they are encouraging all Giving Circle members to consider holding small events in our own living rooms. Nancy recently held her first such gathering, which she called her "Fireside Chat", which you can read about below. If you have friends, colleagues or relatives who may be interested in learning more about the Giving Circle, please let Nancy or Sandy know so they can be invited to one of these events.

We have so much planned for 2023 and are excited to share these initiatives with you. We welcome your participation in any way that works for you. 2023 looks to be another great year!

With appreciation,

Linda Senker, Chair

TTN Philadelphia Giving Circle



As you know, our first Educational Event of 2023 is Thursday, March 2nd.

For all those who have registered to join us, thank you.

For those who weren't able to attend, we will have a recap in our Giving Circle "Update", which will be sent out via email next week.

Message from the Grants Committee

The 2023 grants season is off to a rousing start. We held two workshops in February for the Grants Committee and the Executive Council on the topics of "Working in Google Drive" and "How to Read a Grant." As mentioned earlier, over seventy organizations applied for our 2023 grants, the largest number of applications ever received. The Executive Council is busy reading through in teams of two in preparation for our March 9th meeting to whittle down the number of applicants to pass on to the Grants Committee for their review. 

By April 1^st we will have selected our semi-finalists with whom members of the Grants Committee will conduct site visits. None of these decisions will be easy as the organizations that applied are doing amazing work towards bettering the lives of the children in Philadelphia. 

And don't forget to mark your calendars for the May 18th Giving Circle's "Membership Meeting" for the final vote. 



Message from our Development Committee

On a "balmy" February evening, Nancy Newman and Sandy Horrocks hosted the first "Fireside Chat" at Nancy's Chestnut Hill home replete with a roaring fire! Thirteen guests attended with most being potential new members of the Giving Circle. We were enthralled by the presentation of TTN Philadelphia and Giving Circle member Kris Lindenmeyer (author, Phd, professor) on a topic of which she is very familiar, "Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Lives".  Her depth of historical knowledge made for a fascinating presentation and had us all in awe. We thank Kris for sharing her research and experiences with us! Then Mary Klein and Bonny Hohenberger spoke about how the Giving Circle got its start with a small group of TTN friends (sitting around a table over ten years ago) who wanted to do something to improve their Philadelphia community. We are excited to report that we are already starting to grow our circle for 2023 with two new Giving Circle members who were inspired by Kris's presentation and how ordinary women through "collective giving" can have an extraordinary impact on the lives of others.