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Health & Fitness

New Women's Giving Organization Grants $130,000 to Boston Area Non-Profits

The Philanthropy Connection, Boston's fastest growing women's collective giving organization, just announced its first-ever grants to five Boston-area non-profits, including several whose efforts reach the Brookline community. One of The Philanthropy Connection's Board Members, Ilene Greenberg, is a longtime Brookline resident, and several other members live in Brookline. Read below for more about our approach to philanthropy and our first grants!


Less than a year old, The Philanthropy Connection (TPC) is already Boston’s fastest growing women’s collective giving organization with 130 members who each contributed $1,000 toward the grant pool of $130,000.  Members voted during the final stage of the grant process to determine which non-profits received funds. The non-profits receiving $26,000 TPC grants are:


RESPOND, Inc.
(Somerville) – RESPOND, Inc. is New England's first domestic violence agency and the second oldest in the nation. For over 35 years RESPOND has provided life-saving shelter, support services, training and education. Services are free and confidential, and available to all survivors of domestic abuse. (http://www.respondinc.org)

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Crossroads for Kids
(Duxbury) – Through a unique combination of immersive summer camp and year-round mentoring and enrichment programs, Crossroads for Kids provides youth ages 7-18 years old with comprehensive support, resources and opportunities which guide them toward academic success, higher education, meaningful careers and responsible citizenship. (http://www.crossroads4kids.org)


Family Nurturing Center of Massachusetts
(Dorchester) – For nearly 20 years, Family Nurturing Center’s mission has been to collaborate with others to build nurturing communities where children are cherished, families are supported, and healthy human development is promoted by all. FNC works to strengthen families and counter child abuse and neglect by building parents’ skills as nurturers and teachers and connecting families to resources and each other. (http://www.familynurturing.org)

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REACH Beyond Domestic Violence
(Waltham) – Serving 27 cities and towns north and west of Boston, REACH Beyond Domestic Violence is building healthy communities by ending domestic violence. REACH is committed to advancing the safety, healing and empowerment of those who experience domestic or relationship violence through direct services and education while promoting social justice for individuals and families of all backgrounds. (http://www.reachma.org)


Adoption and Foster Care Mentoring, Inc.
(Boston) -- Founded in 2001, AFC Mentoring is the only community-based mentoring program in Massachusetts that exclusively serves youth with foster care experience. (http://www.afcmentoring.org)


Each organization will receive $26,000 from The Philanthropy Connection to support a specified program or initiative. The idea behind The Philanthropy Connection is simple: Members make a $1,000 donation, which is pooled, and given away at the end of each year to eligible non-profits. TPC focuses on small organizations with annual budgets under $4 million serving the Greater Boston area. Together, members decide which non-profits are awarded grants. TPC’s stringent grant evaluation process takes a large part of the risk out of giving, and by combining member donations, women are able to have a significantly larger impact than they could have on their own. “At The Philanthropy Connection, we instill the confidence that every dollar of a membership contribution is put to good use,” says TPC co-founder Marla Felcher.  Members also can take part in various committees and receive training in grant evaluation and other non-profit-giving activities.


Response to The Philanthropy Connection’s model of giving was immediate, explosive, and at times a bit overwhelming. Co-founders Marla Felcher and Suzanne Carter set a goal to recruit 100 members and raise $100,000 in six months. It took only seven weeks for 130 women to join. Not long after, TPC had office space with The Next Mile Project, an innovative community in Boston for non-profits to accelerate solutions to social challenges (http://nextmileproject.org/). TPC plans to grow to 200 members in 2014—which means $200,000 in grants to local non-profit organizations.


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