Women's Fund of Vanderburgh County

What is Women's Fund of Vanderburgh County?

The Women's Fund of Vanderburgh County is an initiative begun by a core group of women in the Evansville area to bring women together for the purpose of improving the quality of life for women and children in Vanderburgh County by collectively funding significant grants to charitable initiatives with the same purpose.

How does it work? Both a permanent endowment fund and a nonpermanent fund to benefit women and children have been established with the Vanderburgh Community Foundation. The permanent fund will build a legacy that will impact the lives of women and children in Vanderburgh County forever! In the meantime, the nonpermanent fund will provide a significant grant to make a difference in the community THIS YEAR!

How can I participate? The initial goal of the Women's Fund was to bring together 100 women as members of the fund in 2007. The result was 185 women who participated and supported the women's fund in some way. In 2008, 225 women participated!  While gifts of any amount will be accepted, donors of $1,000 or more by June 30 will be considered a full member. Women who pool their resources to form a group membership will have one vote for the whole group. All gifts are tax-deductible as allowed by law. Unless otherwise stated, contribution will be credited equally in the permanent and nonpermanent funds in order to make a difference TODAY and FOREVER!

What does it mean to be a member of the Women's Fund? A member will be any donor who contributes $1,000 within the fiscal year (June 30). At the end of each grant cycle, an annual meeting of the membership will be held. Four grantee finalists will be invited to make a presentation about their grant proposal. Each member has the right to cast her vote for the recipient of the grant award at the annual meeting or by proxy if unable to attend. The winner of the grant will be determined by majority vote of the fund members and announced at the annual meeting.

What is the Women's Fund Advisory Board? The advisory board assumes the responsible for organizing and overseeing the solicitation of contributions to the fund, membership activity, annual meeting, and grant making activities. The board serves in an advisory capacity to the board of trustees of the Vanderburgh Community Foundation with regard to all grants awarded from the permanent and nonpermanent field-of-interest funds.

Can I participate in any other way? The advisory board will appoint a grant committee, membership committee, and annual meeting planning committee. All committee members must be fund members in order to serve. The grant committee will review all of the applications and invite eight (8) semi-finalists to submit additional significant documentation. After research, site visits and other necessary due diligence, the grant committee will select the four (4) most deserving projects as finalists, who will be invited to present at the annual meeting of the membership.

This is a great idea! Sign me up! Who should I contact? You may contact Barbara Dicken at the Vanderburgh Community Foundation by phone at 812.422.1245 or by email at barb@vcfoundation.org.  Or stop by the Foundation office at 123 NW Fourth Street, Suite 220, in Evansville.