News

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The leadership of the officers, collectively known as the Circle Advisory Team, helps make the work of the Women’s Giving Circle possible.

2019 Circle Advisory Team:

Tracey Smiskey, Team Chair
Sue Tienor, Vice Chair
Becky Schwinefus, Circle Advisory Team Secretary
Education Team, Education and Program Team Chair
Sara Antonson, Education and Program Team Co-Chair
Jeanne Peterson, Grants Team Chair
Diane Hoadley, Grants Team Co-Chair
Lacey Logslett, Membership Outreach Team Chair
Cindy Hangartner, Membership Outreach Team Co-Chair
Theresa O’Neel, Social Media Team Chair
Jessica Martin, Social Media Team Co-Chair

Past Team Chairs:

Sarah Stokes-Herzog, 2018
Jill Prushiek, 2017
Sue McIntyre 2016
Linda Bohacek 2015
Marianne Klinkhammer 2014
Karen Homme 2013
Jackie Belka 2012
Flo Sheridan 2011
Betsy Barnes 2009 and 2010
Pamela Macal 2008
Ruth Wallace 2007

We had a wonderfully full house this morning to celebrate the work of 7 deserving organizations. The Gift of Giving Breakfast also resulted in 4 new members joining our circle! We are now just 5 member shy of our goal of 300 members in 2018! 

The impact that each new member adds to our collective will help us continue to support organizations like those we helped today with over $37,000 in grants.

The Women’s Giving Circle is pleased to announce that in 2018, it’s awarding $37,250 in grants. Each grant recipient helps to fulfill the Circle’s mission of supporting women and children in the Eau Claire area. The organizations and programs the Circle has voted to fund are:

• Children’s Museum of Eau Claire–“Eat! Move! Live!”
• Chippewa Valley Free Clinic–“Women’s Health and Sharing Dignity Outreach”
• Eau Claire Area Hmong Mutual Assistance Association–“Ntuj Tshiab Support Group”
• Family Resource Center–“Hand in Hand”
• Junior Achievement of Wisconsin, Northwest District–“Creating Your Next Future Entrepreneur at the Pablo Center”
• Trinity Equestrian Center–“Finding Your Power”
• Western Dairyland Economic Opportunity Council–“Women Helping Women”

A complete history of WGC grants is available on the WGC “History of Grants” page.

The Women’s Giving Circle members pool their charitable dollars into a fund at the Eau Claire Community Foundation in order to maximize their philanthropic impact. The Circle began in 2007, when a group of over 100 Founding Members each pledged a total of $1,000 over 4 years. Today, it has over 280 members, and it continues to grow.

This year’s grant awards bring the Circle’s total grant distributions since inception to $265,203. Grantees will officially receive their awards at the Gift of Giving Breakfast, which will take place at the Florian Gardens at 7:30 am on December 5, 2018.

The Women’s Giving Circle members invite the Eau Claire community to attend this celebration of philanthropy. They also welcome new members; anyone can join the Circle at any time.

For more information about the Women’s Giving Circle, please consult the Women’s Giving Circle pageof this website and the Women’s Giving Circle Facebook page.

You can write to office@eccfwi.org, click on Gift of Giving Breakfast under our homepage’s Events Tab, or call 715-552-3801 if you’d like to RSVP for the Gift of Giving Breakfast.This entry was posted in News, Women’s Giving Circle and tagged Grants, Women’s Giving Circle. Bookmark the permalink.

The members of the Women’s Giving Circle, a Fund of ECCF, hosted their Fall Educational Event on Monday, Sep. 24, 2018. The topic was “Cyberbullying Education and Prevention: Responding to Adolescent Misuses of Technology and Its Effects on Children.”

Eau Claire Area School District Superintendent Dr. Mary Ann Hardebeck spoke about cyberbullying as it affects children in the District as well as the District’s efforts to combat it.

Dr. Justin Patchin, a pioneer in the field of cyberbullying research, then spoke about his work and provided an array of strategies for parents to use when addressing the issue with their children.

Thanks to the work of both presenters, local families will now have an expanded toolbox to help them fight the pervasive and destructive problem of cyberbullying.

Click here for the Cyberbullying Fall Educational Event Synopsis

The Women’s Giving Circle Grant Cycle is Accepting Grant Applications Until July 1! 

The Women’s Giving Circle grant cycle is NOT the same as the Eau Claire Community Foundation grant cycle.

WGC TIMELINE:

April 1: Applications for the current year become available.
July 1: Deadline to submit WGC grant applications
Early to Mid November: Grant awards are announced.

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENTS BEFORE APPLYING FOR A WGC GRANT:

Program Grant Eligibility and Restrictions,
Guidelines for Interpreting and Responding to Questions

WGC Eligibility Guidelines:

WGC grants will be awarded ONLY for requests of up to $6000.

(Grant requests for more than $6000 will not be considered, so please plan your application budget accordingly.)

Programs funded by WGC Grants must be implemented between January 1 and December 31 of the following year.

If an organization is funded by the Women’s Giving Circle in two consecutive years, its application will not be considered in the third year. However, it can apply again in the fourth year.

Still not sure if your program is eligible for a Women’s Giving Circle grant? Click on the chart below to see a concise summary of Women’s Giving Circle and Eau Claire Community Foundation grant eligibility criteria.

Chart – What kinds of proposals do we fund?

If you determine that your organization’s program is eligible for WGC grant funding, you can click on the “Apply for a WGC Grant” button below to get to the grant application form. The “Grant Report” button is for previous WGC grantees who are ready to submit their grant report.

You can click on the PDF version of the Women’s Giving Circle grant application if you would like to view it in its entirety: 2018 WGC Grant Application. However, all official grant applications must be submitted via the online form linked below.

In 2006, a small group of women came together to discuss the idea of creating a Women’s Giving Circle in the Eau Claire community. These women wanted to establish a collaborative effort in which women could work together, gather contributions, educate members about the power of collective philanthropy, and provide opportunities for hands-on involvement in awarding grants and making social investments that address the needs of women and children. With this mission in mind, Women’s Giving Circle, a Fund of the Eau Claire Community Foundation, was formed. To establish the Fund, 103 women pledged $1,000, payable over four years, and became founding members of Women’s Giving Circle.

The Founders agreed that they would accept and review grant applications from nonprofit organizations, then distribute four or more grants annually to programs that enhance the lives of women and children.

The grant cycle of Women’s Giving Circle is separate from the grant cycle of the Eau Claire Community Foundation. Grant funds are distributed yearly in December for use the following year. Members volunteer to participate in grant review training, then read all applications and make a recommendation of four or more grants for the membership as a whole to approve. The first four grants totaling $10,000 were awarded in 2007 for use in 2008.

To become a member of the Women’s Giving Circle, each woman makes a contribution of $250 annually. 50% of this contribution is added to the Women’s Endowment Fund, 45% is used to finance each year’s grants, and 5% is used to support the administrative costs of the fund. Each individual can decide how active she wishes to be in the ongoing work of the circle. By combining our collective resources of time, talent, and finances, we can achieve a greater impact than any woman could do alone.

There is power in collective giving– each and every dollar creates real and sustainable change by funding your favorite programs. Women’s Giving Circle or another type of Circle enables participants to make collective funding decisions and become more involved in the giving process than by simply writing a check to a favorite charity.

Giving circles vary in structure, size, and charitable focus. Some giving circles are very informal, simply a group of friends who meet in each other’s homes to discuss and decide on where their funds will go. Other giving circles have hundreds of members and governing boards, and may use a community foundation, such as the Eau Claire Community Foundation to manage the financial aspects of their giving.

Giving circles also provide social and educational benefits for their members as they share their hopes and visions for the community, research community needs, and make collective decisions. It is a philanthropic process which strengthens communities.