Impact 100, Southern Connecticut Press Release
Impact100, Southern Connecticut is so excited to welcome founding members!
Impact100 Southern Connecticut is excited to announce that we are live and accepting founding members for 2025. We join the 75+ Impact chapters across the U.S., U.K., Australia and New Zealand who are already making a difference in their communities. Since its inception, Impact100 has donated over $160 million to worthy causes globally.
Impact100 was founded by Wendy Steele in 2001 in response to feeling as though women’s roles in philanthropy needed a new way to be expanded and encouraged. Wendy launched the organization with the goal of empowering women to see themselves as activists through utilizing large grants to make an impact within their communities. By 2002, Impact100 received nonprofit status and donated its first grant of $123,000. In 2003, People Magazine published a story about Impact100, and Wendy’s idea quickly began to spread.
Impact100 Southern Connecticut believes that through collaborative philanthropy we can build a dynamic and diverse membership of generous women who accelerate positive social change in our Region. Members will meet like-minded women, learn about nonprofits in the community, and make a true difference by contributing to transformational grants.
Impact100 Southern Connecticut is a 501(c) (3) and awards high-impact grants to nonprofits in the Middlesex, New Haven and New London counties. The premise is simple. Each Impact100 member needs only pledge $1,100 to the cause (100% of the 1,000 goes to fund the transformational grants and $100 covers administrative costs such as marketing, websites, etc.). Non-profits serving in the three counties apply for grants in one of the five focus areas: Arts & Culture, Education, Family & Animal welfare, Health & Wellness, and Environment Preservation & Recreation. Grant review committees then conduct a rigorous and in-depth review process.
Applications are thoroughly vetted, and members will vote on which organization will receive a 100,000 grant. The finalists chosen in each focus area, and the grantee(s) is voted on by members at the annual meeting, known as the “Big Give” scheduled for October – November 2025. Our goal is to award as many high-impact grants as possible each year.
We are so thrilled to bring this amazing organization to the Southern Connecticut Region and hope you will support us in the following ways:
- Become a member or encourage the women in your life to become a member: Our goal in our inaugural year is to have 100 founding members so we can gift a $100k grant to a local nonprofit. Please spread the word to your friends, family, colleagues, etc. We have open Board positions as well as various committees for members to be involved with – the level of involvement is up to the member in any given year. It’s easy to become a member. Just go to www.impact100sct.org.
- Corporate Sponsorships: If you know of any local businesses or corporations that do business in Southern Connecticut who may be interested in being a corporate sponsor, please let us know! Information on our corporate sponsorship program can be found on our website.
- Engage with us on social media: Follow/like/share posts on our social media channels including Facebook & Instagram.
For more information go to www.impact100sct.org or call 860-573-2835. We thank you in advance for your support and can’t wait to see the impact we will make in the Southern Connecticut Region with your help!