A donor circle is a group of individuals, corporate representatives and philanthropic partners who pool their donations to make a greater impact on the issues they care about. The Women’s Foundation of California donor circles provide members with an opportunity for hands-on community activism and collective strategic philanthropy. Donor circles are an optimal philanthropic vehicle for donors who wish to:
- Do more than write a check by having a say in how their donations are used.
- Learn to be effective, strategic philanthropists and grantmakers.
- Connect with other donors in a broader community.
- Connect with social justice advocates and their work on the ground.
- Connect with and learn more about the Women’s Foundation.
- Leverage gifts for greater impact.
- Learn about the needs and realities of women and girls and find inspiration in their solutions.
Donor circles are a vital part of the Women’s Foundation’s vision, mission and business model. Some of our donor circles are operated by Foundation staff, while others operate more independently. We are open to many different models of working with donors to fulfill their philanthropic goals and leverage their existing leadership and assets.
Donor circle members receive education about strategic grantmaking for lasting systemic change and training to evaluate grant proposals, conduct site visits and make grants to effective organizations and programs. The circles have membership ranging from eight to 25 members, and often a member serves as the chair for one cycle. Our donor circles welcome members at varying levels of income, wealth and philanthropic experience. Though there are minimum annual contributions required for each circle, we welcome donations of all levels to support the circle’s field of interest, strategy or geographic focus. To make a contribution to a circle, you must enter the name of the circle in the box marked Special Instructions for your donation.
For more information about joining any of these donor circles or starting one of your own, please contact Cathy Schreiber, Vice President of Development and Finance at cathys@womensfoundca.org or 415.321.2044.
Our current donor circles are:
Athena Fund – Statewide
The Athena Fund supports projects that advance personal growth and leadership development of girls and women. For more information about the Athena Fund, contact Katherine Chappelear at kchappelear@att.net.
Economic Development and Justice Donor Circle – San Francisco
The Economic Development and Justice Donor Circle (EDJe) is the Foundation’s oldest donor circle, having launched in 1999. EDJe promotes the economic independence and security of low-income women in California. Since its inception, members of EDJe have invested more than $2 million in organizations engaged in job creation and training, access to higher education, enterprise development, asset building and, more recently, policy advocacy. EDJe members contribute a minimum of $2,500 annually. The current range of investment is $2,500 to $25,000. Meetings take place in San Francisco, generally on a fall to spring cycle.
Marlborough Student Charitable Fund – Los Angeles
The Marlborough Student Charitable Fund (MSCF) is a student-initiated fund established by juniors and seniors at the Marlborough School in Los Angeles. MSCF students raise money each year to build their fund and learn from Foundation staff about effective proposal review and strategic grantmaking. Since 2008, MSCF has awarded $45,000 in grants for educational programs for low-income young women and young women of color in Los Angeles. MSCF members make annual contributions of their time and leadership. Meetings take place on campus in the fall.
Race, Gender and Human Rights Donor Circle – San Francisco
The long-term goal of the Race, Gender and Human Rights Donor Circle (RGHR) is to reduce the number of prisons and the overall prison population in California. The circle supports organizations and coalitions seeking to secure systemic reform in the criminal justice system, decrease the number of individuals incarcerated, challenge disproportionate minority confinement, improve conditions of confinement, eliminate barriers to successful reentry, address the impacts of incarceration on children, build the leadership of those most impacted by the system and advance the criminal justice reform movement. The circle is particularly interested in efforts that specifically focus on the intersection of race, women and girls and human rights. Since its inception in 2001, the circle has awarded $1.5 million to organizations using policy advocacy, organizing, public education, litigation and media strategies aimed at securing policy changes, strengthening communities impacted by incarceration and empowering new voices in the struggle to change the criminal justice system in California. RGHR members contribute a minimum of $10,000 annually. The current range of giving is $10,000 to $250,000. Meetings take place every other month in San Francisco.
Women Give San Diego – San Diego
Women Give San Diego is the Foundation’s newest donor circle, launched in September 2009. Women Give’s focus is on changing systemic deficiencies to close the wage gap and level the economic fields to present women with choices previously unavailable to them—the opportunity to attend college and to earn, save and invest. Women Give funds programs in San Diego County that increase women’s incomes and build assets that break the cycle of generational poverty, such as job creation and training, access to higher education, enterprise development and policy advocacy. Women Give founding members contribute a minimum of $1,000 annually, with the opportunity for women in their 20s and 30s to engage at more modest levels. The current range of giving is $250 to $25,000. Meetings take place in San Diego County.
Women of Color Donor Circle – San Francisco
The Women of Color Donor Circle invests resources in San Francisco Bay Area organizations that address the health and economic well-being of young women and girls of color. Circle members are themselves women of color who are motivated to increase the number of women of color philanthropists investing in innovative and effective strategies for long-term change. Women of Color Donor Circle members contribute a minimum of $2,500 annually. The current range of giving is $2,500 to $10,000. Meetings take place in San Francisco, generally on a fall to spring cycle.
Women of Silicon Valley Donor Circle – Silicon Valley
The Women of Silicon Valley (WoSV) promotes the economic self-sufficiency of low-income women in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. Since 2006, the Circle has awarded over $450,000 in grants with the goal of increasing the number of women and families in Silicon Valley who are economically self-sufficient. WoSV members recognize the importance of education, training and leadership development for women and girls in achieving economic self-sufficiency; the troubling reality of Latina high school drop out rates and achievement gaps; the important contributions of immigrant women, including low-income immigrant women, to a thriving Silicon Valley community and the desire to make community-level impact that ultimately leads to lasting systemic change. As such, WoSV funds education or programs to see that more young women, particularly Latinas, complete high school and go on to college and programs that build the skills of low-income and immigrant women to develop their voice and take leadership in solving community-wide problems. WoSV members contribute a minimum of $5,000 annually. The current range of giving is $5,000 to $50,000. Meetings take place in Mountain View, generally on a fall to spring cycle.
Women’s Achievement Network and Development Alliance (WANDA) – Silicon Valley
A partnership of the Women’s Foundation of California and Opportunity Fund, WANDA supports financial education and matched savings programs to enable low-income single mothers in San Mateo County to build assets, such as a home, a small business, education for themselves or their children or a retirement account. Members’ contributions include a 2:1 savings match of up to $4,000 for each participating single mother over the course of two to three years. WANDA members also produce and evaluate monthly seminars designed to enhance and reinforce the financial education classes and to provide ongoing networking opportunities for the WANDA moms. WANDA members contribute a minimum of $5,000 annually. Meetings take place throughout San Mateo County three to four times per year.
YWCA of the Mid-Peninsula Donor Advised Fund – Silicon Valley
Building on its history, the vision of its foremothers and its long-standing principles, the YWCA of the Mid-Peninsula Donor Advised Fund seeks to create opportunities for women’s growth, leadership and power in order to attain a common vision—peace, justice, freedom and dignity. The Fund believes that both service and advocacy projects, those bringing about systemic change, those primarily committed to bettering women’s and girls’ lives and those which break racial and ethnic barriers in scope, leadership and participation will best achieve this goal. Members of this fund are stewarding the assets from the sale of the YWCA of the Mid-Peninsula and do not make a minimum annual contribution.
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