We are excited to announce that next month our 2020 Women’s Fund members will vote to award the largest grants pool in our 17-year history – an amazing $750,000!

That’s three quarters of a million dollars from us—from you—to help local women, children and families as the community continues to cope with the effects of the pandemic and forge a path to recovery.

It Takes Time

Our researchers have worked diligently to finalize the ballot we’ll use to cast our votes. A larger grants pools means more nonprofits on the ballot than ever before, breaking another Women’s Fund record. Now we need to learn as much as we can about these deserving agencies in the coming weeks.

First, carefully review the Ballot Information Package which will arrive in your inbox on March 5.  All 2020 members will receive this package. If you don’t receive yours, please let us know at info@womensfundsb.org.

Next, since we are doing things virtually, EVERY member of the Women’s Fund will be invited to hear about the agencies directly from the Research Committee. We hope you can attend both parts of the Ballot Review Meetings; half the ballot will be reviewed in Part 1 and half in Part 2. To preserve confidentiality, these meetings will not be recorded, so this is your chance! Mark your calendars and register here:

• March 10, 4:30-6:00 PM (PT): Virtual Ballot Review Meeting Part 1
• March 11, 9:30-11:00 AM (PT): Virtual Ballot Review Meeting Part 2

What’s the Timeline?

Once we learn all we can about the agencies on the ballot, then we vote. Here’s that timeline:

• March 11 - Ballots emailed by Survey Monkey to all eligible voters (Individual Members and voting Group Captains) with a link to cast electronic votes.
• March 11-27 – Window for voting. Group Captains host meetings with their groups to discuss the ballot and decide on how to cast their group votes. Individual Members can join IM ballot discussion groups.
• March 27, 6:00 PM – Voting deadline for Individual Members and voting Group Captains.

Let’s Celebrate!

And then on May 5, we will celebrate together, virtually. Save the date for our Virtual Celebration of Grants to recognize our new 2020-21 grantees. These nonprofits will join the more than 100 agency programs that have received nearly $8 million in Women's Fund grants since 2004.