​In this Issue:

• Happy New Year!
• Mark your Calendars
• Demographics Data Collection
• Endowment Increases by $84,000
• Get to know...East Beach Walkers​
• Good Friends and Good Will​

Happy New Year!

Dear Members,

It's January and the Women’s Fund Research Committee is moving swiftly to finalize their examination of the 2016-17 nonprofit grant candidates being considered for funding this year. We sincerely want to thank all of the 2016 Women’s Fund members who renewed or joined this year and have helped make this our most successful member-only funding cycle ever. Thanks to each of you, we increased our membership contributions, exceeding the 2015-16 grants pool total of $470,000. The exact total of contributions that can be dedicated to the 2016-17 grants pool will be finalized soon.

Further, we are very pleased to announce membership increased by 13%—we are now 749 women strong! We welcome our new and returning members and offer our sincere appreciation to all who joined the Women’s Fund in 2016.

Best Regards and Happy New Year!
Nancy Harter and Laurie Tumber, Steering Co-Chairs

Mark your Calendars

Let’s all mark our calendars with the dates listed on the post-it note. They represent the dates we need to keep as essential for selecting the 2016-17 grant recipients.

• March 10 - Ballot worksheets and background information sent to all 2016 Women's Fund members via our electronic newsletter. This information will be useful for planning your individual or group vote.

• March 16 - Individual Members and Group Captains meet to discuss ballot choices and learn how to vote electronically. Look for your electronic invitation in mid-February.
  Group Captains: You may want to make plans now to meet with your group members sometime between March 17 and the April 2 voting deadline to discuss and determine your group’s vote.

• March 17 - Ballots emailed by Survey Monkey to all eligible voters (Individual Members and Group Captains). It will include a link to cast electronic votes.

• April 2 - Deadline for electronic voting by eligible voters.

• May 8 - SAVE-THE-DATE for our 13th annual Presentation of Grants reception, kicking off at 3:30 pm at The Fess Parker, where we’ll gather to celebrate our new 2016-17 grantees. These nonprofits will join the 78 other agencies who have received over $5.6 million in Women's Fund grants since 2004.

Demographics Data Collection

Any well-run organization uses data to help its leaders make good decisions. We want to do a better job of identifying information we need, gathering it and analyzing it to improve our work and help us achieve the goals of our strategic plan.

For example, we need more volunteers and leaders who understand how to use technology—from websites and databases to social media. We’re certain we have members who have those skills but we haven’t yet found them.

So we’ll be embarking on some simple data collection to better understand the demographics and skills of our members. You will see these new demographic questions when you renew your membership this year.

Endowment Increases by $84,000

In September 2015, an anonymous Women’s Fund member offered to contribute $25,000 to the Endowment Fund if we raised $75,000 within the next 12 months. Last September, the Endowment Challenge grant expired, but thanks to the anonymous challenger—and all the Women’s Fund members who responded to her challenge—our Endowment increased by $84,000.

In the 12 months of the challenge, we raised $63,000 from members—84% of the $75,000 goal. Graciously, our anonymous donor agreed to match that percentage—$21,000 (84% of $25,000). This, coupled with Jackie Inskeep’s very generous and unexpected $100,000 gift in 2015, puts the Women’s Fund Endowment balance over $320,000 at the end of 2016.

We very kindly thank all who contributed to the Endowment Fund. It is an important tool, providing another way to support the Women's Fund mission by helping sustain our financial health over time.

Get to know...East Beach Walkers

East Beach Walkers gathered for their summer social. 

To get to know East Beach Walkers better, we interviewed Co-Captains, Lalla Brutoco and Pat Fulmer.

Why did you join the Women’s Fund?
Pat: I first heard of the Women’s Fund and its good works shortly after moving to Santa Barbara, but was under the impression it was a very exclusive organization. In 2011, I met Barbara Hauter Woodward at Susan Case’s house and was pleased to gain a new understanding about women working to make a difference in our beautiful community—and having a good time doing so. We were all affiliated with a group of walkers who gathered together every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday—about 100 strong. From this group, Susan organized a Women’s Fund group of ten now called Women Who Care.
Lalla: I was also a member of the walking group, and again, Susan Case played a role in educating me about the Women’s Fund. We were out for a walk one day, and the topic of the Women’s Fund came up.

What inspired you to create your group?
Pat: Even though I was very supportive of the work the Women’s Fund achieved for the community, I felt slightly hesitant when Susan asked me to head a new members’ group. But, when I learned each member’s annual contribution would be given at a level that was comfortable for her, that made the task much more reasonable. I agreed to become a group captain if my neighbor, Lalla Brutoco, would serve as co-captain.
Lalla: Right away I said YES, I really wanted to contribute to a totally female-run organization doing such important work in our local community. It offered the perfect way to get involved and give-back.

What is the significance of your group name—East Beach Walkers? So many members in our walking group had heard about the Women’s Fund through the friendships formed during walks on East Beach, it seemed very appropriate to name ourselves the East Beach Walkers.

How many group members do you have? We now have 39 and counting!

What is the one thing you would like people to know about your group? Our group is congenial, committed and enthusiastic about participating in the Women’s Fund. We are committed to “our mission” [to vote every March] and we take it seriously.

These are just a few of their answers; read the full interview on our website.

Good Friends and Good Will

Just before they set out on an East Beach Walker's stroll in the fall of 2014, Jackie Inskeep and Lalla Brutoco were talking about a Women’s Fund Site Visit they had both attended the previous day. Lalla commented to Jackie, “What a great organization. I want to remember to leave them something in my will,” to which Jackie replied, “Why wait until you die?” By the following summer of 2015, she replied to her own question with a most generous act—donating $100,000 to the newly created Women’s Fund Endowment.

To show their appreciation and pride in Jackie’s extraordinary act of kindness, and to celebrate the announcement of her gift of $100,000 to the Women’s Fund Endowment, Lalla and Pat Fulmer hosted a summer afternoon party at Pat's house for all the East Beach Walkers. Jackie was presented with an arrangement of roses, as Lalla and Pat relayed to the group the story of Jackie’s very generous gift. Good friends can inspire great things.