The philanthropic women’s collective giving organization, Greenville Women Giving, will kick off its 15th season on Sept. 17 via a virtual gathering on Zoom.
Members of the organization traditionally meet in person for the launch of the new season of giving, but this year an in-person meeting was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The online event will be a combination of live and prerecorded videos that will allow viewers a chance to learn about the group’s upcoming education event and the organization’s plans for the year. A few nonprofit organizations that have benefited from Greenville Women Giving’s grant funding will also speak.
To address the toll taken by nonprofit groups during the pandemic, the organization has decided to change its normal funding structure.
“The difference is this year, all of our grants are going to be for $50,000 and for one year, and the reason for that is we know that nonprofits are struggling right now,” said Greenville Women Giving co-chair Diane Perlmutter. “They have less money, more demand for their services [and] less volunteers.
“The organizations that we fund are doing critical jobs, so we want to do things to help sustain them,” Perlmutter added. Organizations will have from Nov. 1-27 to apply for a Greenville Women Giving grant.
Perlmutter said they are expecting about 300 members to attend the virtual meeting.
“We feel really lucky that we have such fine nonprofit organizations who are doing such great work, and we’re happy to partner with them,” she said.
Greenville Women Giving was created in 2006 as a special initiative of the Community Foundation of Greenville County. Since then, Greenville Women Giving’s 500-strong membership has awarded more than $6.5 million across 123 grants to local nonprofit organizations. Greenville Women Giving awarded $541,844 in grants to seven organizations last spring alone.
The grants fall into five core giving areas: the arts, the environment, education, health and human services. The group usually grants funding to one organization covering each issue area, which the members vote on. Other organizations are funded until the group’s funding pot runs dry.
“The quality of life in Greenville County has been profoundly enriched as a result of the grants that Greenville Women Giving has funded and allocated,” said Bob Morris, president of the Community Foundation of Greenville, in a statement. “Helping our most vulnerable creates a better tomorrow for everyone.”
Greenville Women Giving will hold all its events through January 2021 online. Membership in the organization is open to all women who commit to the annual contribution which provides the funding for the grant awards.
Find out more about the organization here:at greenvillewomengiving.org.
