Member FAQ's

Who can be a member of Impact 100 NYC?
Impact 100 NYC is open to all women age 18 or older. Memberships are renewed annually.

How does Impact 100 NYC work?
We pool members’ individual resources to make large collective donations to applicant nonprofit organizations serving New York City’s five boroughs. The aggregation of member dollars creates a rare opportunity for nonprofit applicants and allows members to have a positive and significant impact on the five boroughs.

Is my contribution tax deductible?
Impact100 NYC is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and donations are tax-deductible, to the extent of the law, for the year in which the donation was made.

What is required of a Member?
Members are encouraged to choose their own level of involvement. Some members simply like knowing that 100% of their donation will be put to good use in the community, others may want to participate in an occasional volunteer or education opportunity and some may want to be part of the review process and choosing the finalists. Regardless of your level of participation, all members are given the opportunity to vote for the grant recipients at the Grant Awards Celebration.

I would like to contribute more than $1,000. Do I get more than one vote?
No. Our founding principle is “one woman… one vote.” Any amount given over $1,000 goes first to offset operating expenses. If we receive more funds than we need to cover operating expenses at our year end, our board of directors may vote to add that money to grant funds. Any contribution of $1,000 or more may also be directed to sponsor a founders fellowship.

Do you accept corporate matching?
Yes, please email [email protected]

My company or my spouse’s company matches funds for charitable donations. Can I give $500 and have the company match it to make my total $1,000 donation?
No, matching gifts are most certainly welcome but may not be used to fund your own membership donation. Matching gift funds are generally used to cover operating costs; however, they may be designated to fund a founders fellowship.

Can I be a part of Impact100 NYC without making the full $1,000 contribution?
You can become a Friend of Impact 100 NYC and play an important role in furthering our mission, by helping to offset critical operating expenses. These donations ensure that we can assess applicants and award and monitor large grants, while we grow membership and raise awareness. All Friend donations are tax deductible to the full extent of the law and will be allocated toward our operating expenses. We welcome donations from individuals and local businesses to offset administrative costs. Although they do not provide voting rights to the contributor, these donations help ensure that we have sufficient funding for our operations.

What is a Founders Fellowship?
An Impact 100 NYC Founders Fellowship will help support a philanthropist who is passionate about making a difference in her community by waiving her membership fees. Through generous gift donations of $1,000 to the Founders Fellowship, we will be able to engage a diverse and inclusive group of women in charitable giving.

What does the optional $100 additional operating cost cover?
$100 covers costs such as: technology, website maintenance, software, payment processing, printing, supplies, insurance, and an Independent Accounting Review.

Can I join more than one committee?
Yes! Impact 100 NYC is an all volunteer organization, run by its members. All members are encouraged, but not required, to serve on one or more committees. Committee activities include:

• reviewing proposals
• reviewing financials of applicant nonprofit organizations
• making site visits
• planning member and education events
• recruiting new members
• participating in community service activities, cultivating relationships and communicating with the non-profit organizations
• providing technology support
• creating internal and external communications

How long is my membership in Impact 100 NYC?
Our annual membership year runs from June through May. Each $1,000 donation provides membership for one year, including eligibility to vote at the Grant Awards Celebration in May. Membership is renewable beginning in June of each year

What types of projects or programs do you prefer to fund?
As a collective grant-making organization, we have a diverse group of women who make up our voting membership. The committee members reviewing proposals will change each year, so a project or program that generally appeals to a committee one year may not the next year. Our grant recipients will spread over a range of focus and service areas, and include projects or programs, as well as capital projects directly related to the projects or programs. In general, our members are most enthusiastic about projects or programs that are innovative and transformative to the organization and the populations they serve. We want to hear about organizations that, if empowered with our funding, would be taking a huge step forward to advance their mission and that the funding would have a dramatic effect on the lives of an under-served population.

Must an organization serve only women to qualify for funding from Impact 100 NYC?
No. Impact 100 NYC will consider an application from any 501(c)(3) organization that meets its funding criteria.

Are there any grants awarded for less than $100,000?
Our grant model is based on the number of members in our organization each year. For every 100 members, each having donated $1,000, we will award a $100,000 Innovation Grant. The residual funds may be awarded to the finalists. The amounts of these grants are not determined until January.

How does Impact 100 NYC decide who gets the grants?
We accept Letters of Inquiry, and then request Full Proposals by invitation. Members join committees that perform the review of the proposals. These committees review and evaluate the applications, invite organizations to host site visits, then select its finalists. Committee members attend training sessions about the grant process and learn how to evaluate grant proposals. This training teaches committee members to consider the credibility and merit of the applicant organization and the feasibility and significance of the proposed project or program.

After each committee selects its finalist, all Impact 100 NYC members receive information on the finalists for review. The finalists attend our Annual Meeting in May and make presentations about their projects. Members vote by individual ballot at the Annual Meeting (or by absentee ballot if they are unable to attend), and that vote determines the grant recipients. Grant awards are announced at the Annual Meeting

Can an organization get a list of the members of Impact 100 NYC?
No. During the grant process, a list of our Impact 100 NYC members is not published, but the names of those members who wish to be listed may be included in a program distributed at the Annual Awards Meeting. The membership list in our program is not to be used for any solicitation purposes.

Will more consideration be given to programs that affect more than one borough?
Impact 100 NYC members are advised to look at the impact of a request, including both breadth and depth. There is no policy that automatically confers an advantage to applicants with programs that affect more than one borough.