april 2023 News Brief
Grants Spotlight
Wood River Women’s Foundation Awards Record-Breaking $353,450 to Idaho Nonprofits
We are delighted to announce that The Wood River Women’s Foundation (WRWF) members voted to award 22 Idaho nonprofits that serve the Wood River Valley with grants totaling $353,450 in 2023. Since its founding in 2005, WRWF has awarded 215 pooled grants surpassing $3.4 million to nonprofits throughout Blaine County.
“For 18 years WRWF members have demonstrated extraordinary generosity and this year set yet another record of nearly $354,000 for our pooled grant fund,” said Sandy McCullough, WRWF President. “We are both honored and delighted to join together in support of our nonprofit partners who are doing the difficult and much needed work to deliver services throughout Blaine County.” This year the Foundation of 325+ members funded nonprofits that address housing, education, outdoor initiatives, and emergency, social and therapeutic services.
The Foundation’s Focus Grant—a special-purpose grant of up to $200,000 over a two-year period created to address a pressing need in the Wood River Valley— was also funded. In March of 2021, WRWF members chose to focus on “Closing the Opportunity Gap in Education.” In 2022, the WRWF Focus Grant was awarded $100,000 and in this 2023 cycle it received an additional $100,000 grant. WRWF members voted to award the Focus Grant for the creation of the Wood River Early Learning Collaborative with the Idaho Association for the Education of Young Children.
Grantees in the News
In March the Ski History Challenge offered people a chance to participate in the Muffy Davis Cup, view a night of films about female athletes and learn how to become a junior ski patroller as part of the Sun Valley Resort events.
Higher Ground and SheJumps partnered with the resort to offer a variety of activities in the spirit of International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month. Participants had the opportunity to ski as someone with a disability would during the Muffy Davis Cup, an adaptive ski training experience.
Sit-skier Jason Knoeller and Higher Ground instructor Charlotte Kilborn took on Dollar Mountain in Higher Ground’s inaugural Muffy Davis Cup. “It was such a fun day seeing people in our community come out and celebrate the hard work that Higher Ground does,” Knoeller said.
“What a fantastic day and event,” Dollar Mountain manager Nick Zelaya said. “It was so great to see members of our community learn to ski Dollar in a new way and it really puts into perspective the amazing work Higher Ground does teaching adaptive sports.” Nick concluded, “I personally had a blast learning to mono ski, can’t wait for next year!”
Sourced from Eye on Sun Valley here and Idaho Mountain Express here
Happy Spring everyone! After this very long, snowy winter, I imagine we’re all anticipating a change in scenery with spectacular wildflowers, green grass and dry hiking paths. Here at WRWF, we are also making changes thanks to the voices of members who eagerly share their opinions throughout the year.
Over the years, many (many!) of you have inquired about uncertainties around our renewal process – the Board of Directors is thrilled to share that over the next several months, the Foundation will be bringing on a new database management system that will enable the organization to better manage our financial and membership processes. Thank you to all of you who have prompted this improvement – your voices have been heard and we’ve responded!
This new platform will result in multiple efficiencies across the Foundation including the ability to offer members clarity and convenience around renewing. In short, we will be moving to an anniversary-based timeline rather than directing everyone to renew at the end of the year. For example, if a member joins in June, she will be notified each June that her renewal is due that month. No more mystery!
Members, including myself, who don’t remember the month we joined, will choose our anniversary month and for some members, the end of the year will continue to be the preferred time to make their annual contributions. The full details of this system are yet to be worked out but we couldn’t wait to share the concept with you given how many of you have been asking for clarity around your renewals.
It will take a year to fully implement this transition – in the meantime, you are welcome to send in your 2023 renewal contribution whenever you prefer; the month you choose to renew this year will become your annual renewal month going forward.
Another advantage of this renewal system is that your Foundation anniversary will be detailed in our database which affords us the opportunity to celebrate and appreciate your years as a valued WRWF contributor. We look forward to that! A huge thank you to the Finance Committee under Trinka Dyer’s leadership for conducting a multi-month exploration into understanding and creating this framework – your due diligence is greatly appreciated!
The Foundation has wrapped up our 18th successful grant cycle, and awards from our record-sized fund are being distributed to recipients this month. Big congratulations and much gratitude to everyone who served on the Grants Committee this cycle for contributing your precious time and joyful talent to help deliver our mission. And to every single WRWF member – your contribution to the 2023 Pooled Fund is what makes our service to the community possible. Thank you so very much for stepping up – you are appreciated!
On another happy note, please keep your eye on your inbox and the WRWF calendar as committee volunteers have been hard at work creating wonderful engagement opportunities for you! We are setting up a full schedule of M&Ms, FieldTrips!, the Member Appreciation ‘Tini Party and more. You’ll want to come join the philanthropic fun! And please join Board Members at the next BoardWalk (June date TBD) – member voices are most welcome and we invite you to share yours. BoardWalks offer a relaxed and enjoyable environment for ‘talking shop’; your Board looks forward to walking and talking with you!
With WRWF gratitude,
Sandy McCullough, President
Calendar
Date: May 25
Time: 5:00-6:30 pm
Location: at the home of Laura Rose-Lewis
advance RSVP required
Date: August 23
Time: 3:00-5:00 pm
Location: The Community Library
Date: November 5-7
november
Happy Spring WRWF members! This is a time of rejuvenation and new life and we rely on members’ feedback in order to keep our Foundation blooming and fulfilling our mission. On that note, it is time to conduct an all-member survey where you have a chance to tell us more about your experience and what is working for you as a member, and what you’d love to see evolve. The survey will take 5 minutes or less to complete — you can access it below, or through the All-Member email that will reach your inbox this week. Please fill it out by May 10th. Your answers are anonymous and results will be shared in a future News Brief.
Thank you for your membership and time – and a big thank you to member Deb Prost for putting this survey together for WRWF.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Mark your calendars!
The Philanos National Conference is back Nov. 5-7, 2023!
“PowerUP! Baltimore: The Spark Igniting Collaboration” is Philanos’ National Conference for visionaries who believe in the power of women’s collective giving to create an impact in local communities. Regional giving circles and networks of philanthropic organizations have joined forces to collaboratively host this event. Breakout sessions will address best practices for innovative, inspiring, and inclusive collective giving as well as trends that affect philanthropic initiatives.
As a Philanos affiliate, the Wood River Women’s Foundation has been well represented both on panels and in attendance at Philanos national conferences over the years. These events are terrific opportunities to gather with our sister collectives, learn about emerging issues and best practices, and hear what others are doing in this space.
Early bird registration opens May 1, 2023
Learn more about the conference and how to sign up at their website.
new members
Stephanie Saitta
Calling all WRWF members! We’re here to remind you about our new membership initiative program “BFF! – Bring Forth Friends!”
If two new members join WRWF under your encouragement, you will be thanked for your recruitment efforts with either a $25 coffee card or a bottle of wine. This is an opportunity to continue growing and strengthening our collective membership through our personal and unique networks. Remember, there is no limit to how many rewards you can receive in a year. Be sure your BFFs give you credit when they join so we can track your success towards a reward! The starting date for BFF! is retroactively set to January 1, 2023. Keep spreading the word about WRWF and our mission! This reward is being underwritten by a generous WRWF member.WRWF Summer Intern:
Work with a strong team of women philanthropists! Wood River Women’s Foundation (WRWF) seeks a part-time summer intern to assist the Foundation’s Administrator with support tasks. Duties include database updating, general office help, monitoring email, scheduling committee meetings, digital and paper filing, assisting with member events, and other tasks as needed. The ideal candidate has an interest in learning about local nonprofits, is familiar with Google Drive, has the ability to learn new software, and has excellent organizational and communication skills. This is a seasonal, part-time position with a wage of $18/hour.
Submit your resume and letter of interest to info@woodriverwomensfoundation.org or call 208-309-2530 for more information.
WRWF’s mission is to inspire and educate women to become leaders in philanthropy. We encourage and create significant positive change in our community through pooled grant-making. Visit www.woodriverwomensfoundation.org to learn more.
We have seen a great deal of progress recently in our impact across our channels! Your social media team is calling everyone at WRWF to share our post content about members, grantees, and events via Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Re-sharing our posts will further our mission of increasing visibility, reach, and engagement. If you have questions or need any assistance with re-sharing our posts, please contact Rebecca Ybarra Palma at rebeccapalma01@gmail.com
Please help us connect with our community even more!
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