Our mission is to leave a legacy of love - an enduring gift for generations to come - across a broad spectrum of issues impacting our community's quality of life.
Annually the Women's Philanthropy Society invests through a high-impact grant to address a systemic issue affecting local women and families.
Donors who contribute at least $1,000 are invited to become "members" of the Women's Philanthropy Society.
The Women’s Philanthropy Society is the fundraising arm for the Women's Endowment, which is the heart of this effort. The Women's Endowment provides a permanent source of community capital to support the work being done by various organizations and agencies to address a wide spectrum of systemic issues that impact the quality of life for women and families in our community.
Each year the Women's Philanthropy Society awards one high-dollar grant to create systemic change for women and their families. The mission-focused Power of S.H.E.E. framework guides our efforts to create a positive and measurable impact through grants selected from four core areas.
We partnered with ELM Foundation for Community Connections, a collaborative case management network to quickly move homeless women with children into housing by streamlining the referral process and providing intensive case management to connect families with available services. This program included providing local agencies with free, unlimited subscriptions to CharityTracker, a shared online case management tool used in 1,334 communities across the U.S.
2020 was a year of unique challenges and rapid change for our nation. Even in the midst of unpredictable times, the Women’s Philanthropy Society moved forward to expand initiatives to fund the high impact grants that create positive and measurable impact for women and their families in our community. Partnership for a Drug-Free Community’s Recovery Resource Hub was granted $50,000 to support their work to reduce the number of overdoses and deaths in our community through treatment, prevention, and education outreach.
Through a partnership with WellStone Behavioral Health, the Connections Matter project was launched in Madison County and Huntsville City schools. This program strengthens children and families with a history of trauma through intentional caring interactions that develop healthy brains to allow individuals to cope, heal, and thrive and affect the long-term health of these individuals, as well as their families to grow strong, safe, and successful.
In 2021, a $50,000 grant was awarded to a collaboration which addressed the two main education issues identified at the Education Community Conversation: literacy and equity. Fellows from Greengate School will provide Orton Gillingham training to 90 teachers across the three public school districts in Madison County. The Orton Gillingham method is scientifically proven to improve a struggling reader’s ability to read, write, spell, and comprehend, which affects the one in five children in our community diagnosed with dyslexia.
The Women's Philanthropy Society chose safety, security, and stability as the focus area for 2022 grantmaking. Grant applications were evaluated by a Grants Committee which selected two nonprofit organizations to receive funds in this grant cycle: First Stop’s “S.A.F.E. Program for Homeless Women” which received a $50,000 grant, and National Children’s Advocacy Center’s “Handle with Care” project with a $50,000 for a total grant distribution of $100,000.
We believe that, in addition to women coming together for a common good, there is power in nurturing relationships. In addition to our philanthropic efforts, the WPS offers a yearly luncheon, Community Conversations, socials, and a book club.
Book Club
Summer Social
Membership luncheon with inspirational speaker and opportunity to select the focus area for the following year
Service Project
Mary Grace Evans | Chair
Holly McCarty | Past Chair
Leta DeMaioribus | Chair Emeritus
Bobby Bradley
Jeanne Brown
Caroline Buncick
Jodie Clements
Kristina Hendrix
Melea Horton
Kelly Moise
Jana Moody
Kori Paull
Jessica Hovis Smith
Karen Stanley
Deb Taylor
Kathi Tew
Lynn Troy
STAFF PARTICIPANTS
Ann Kvach
Melissa Thompson
The Community Foundation will recognize cumulative gifts of $1,000 or more on its website at the following levels:
$1,000 - $4,999
$5,000 - $9,999
$10,000 - $24,000
$25,000 or more
All gifts to the Women's Philanthropy Society are appreciated. For more information about the Women’s Philanthropy Society, please contact the Community Foundation at giving@communityfoundationhsv.org.
Although the Women's Philanthropy Society is primarily for women and by women, anyone can donate to celebrate the impact of the women in their lives.
At the annual gathering in October, the Women's Philanthropy Society members will select the focus area for the upcoming year. The following August, the Grants Committee will select the grant recipient(s).
In order to positively impact women and their familes, the Women's Philanthropy Society will award a high-impact, high-dollar grant addressing systemic change in the chosen focus area.
One-half of all donations to the Women's Philanthropy Society will be used for annual grant-making, and the balance will be endowed to provide a permanent source of funding to support women and their families in our community forever.
The Greater Huntsville community is very generous, and so it is no surprise that there are a number of worthwhile organizations, projects, and programs that benefit women and children in our area. Many of these projects address targeted areas of concern to women and families such as job training, education, health, human services, or youth development. Furthermore, most of these programs rely on annual donations to support their work.
The Women’s Philanthropy Society is the fundraising arm for the Women's Endowment, which is the heart of this effort. The Women's Endowment provides a permanent source of community capital to support the work being done by various organizations and agencies to address a wide spectrum of systemic issues that impact the quality of life for women and families. The Women's Philanthropy Society invests annually through a high-impact grant to address a systemic issue. The Women’s Philanthropy Society will not replace the work of any existing organizations but rather provides an additional, perpetual funding source to ensure that good work can continue.
Half of all donations to the Women’s Philanthropy Society will be used for annual grantmaking, and the balance will be used to grow the Women's Endowment in perpetuity and to generate additional income for current-year grantmaking.
An endowment provides a stable source of income to address the concerns of women and their families forever, and contributions to the Women’s Philanthropy Society provide a lasting legacy of the women who support it. The impact of these investments will continue to benefit the community long after the donations have been made. Additionally, our community is growing and changing each year, and the needs of tomorrow may be different from our needs today. The Women’s Philanthropy Society will be here to meet the needs of the community today and in the future.
The Community Foundation of Greater Huntsville promotes grant opportunities from the Women’s Philanthropy Society through its website, through social media channels, and through targeted e-mail correspondence.
Yes! Each of us can point to strong women who have made a positive impact on our lives. What better way to honor these women than by making a gift to the Women's Philanthropy Society in their honor and creating a permanent legacy to celebrate their contributions forever.
Yes! The Community Foundation can accept not only cash and credit cards, but also non-cash gifts such as stocks and bonds. Assets such as real estate and other personal property may also be accepted, but are subject to Board approval.
To make a credit card donation to the Women's Philanthropy Society, please click the Donate button above. If you would like more information about making a non-cash gift to the Women's Philanthropy Society, please contact Stuart Obermann at stuart@communityfoundationhsv.org for simple transaction instructions.
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