Thanks to the generosity of our 2010 Women's Fund members and the vision of our matching grant benefactor Betty Elings Wells, our grants pool for 2011 is $200,000 more than we were able to give to nonprofits in 2010.

We'll have more details soon, but we wanted to share our excitement now as we finish the work to create our 2010-11 Women's Fund ballot. Reminder: Money collected in one year (2010) is donated to nonprofit agencies in the spring of the following year (2011).

Don't forget these important dates:

• On March 21, we'll mail every 2010 member a ballot describing potential grant recipients for you to consider. If you are a member of a group, your captain will be responsible for submitting one ballot for your group's vote.

• Completed ballots are due to the Santa Barbara Foundation by April 8.

• We'll celebrate our new grant recipients at our annual Presentation of Funds Luncheon on Monday, May 2 at Fess Parker's Doubletree.

Please mark these dates on your calendar today. Questions? Email us at info@womensfundsb.org.