Impact 100 Jersey Coast, a member-funded nonprofit empowering women to improve lives through philanthropy, recently welcomed 366 members to the organization for 2024, bringing its total funding for nonprofits serving Monmouth County to $3,257,000 in the past nine years.
The organization, which uses member dues to make transformational grants to local nonprofits, will award three $100,000 grants in 2024, along with five $10,000 Mission Awards to finalists. New this year is the launch of Ignite Awards — a pilot program designed to empower smaller nonprofits in the community.
With $16,000 allocated for the Ignite pilot, grants will range from $2,000 to $8,000 to organizations with annual operating budgets of less than $100,000. This goal is to streamline the grant process and provide much-needed unrestricted funding to grassroots organizations doing vital work in their communities.
“We’re excited to kick off our ninth grant cycle this year with the addition of Ignite Grants,” said Rowena Crawford-Phillips, Impact 100 Jersey Coast’s co-president. “We are always looking for ways to broaden our impact, and this pilot provides an opportunity to serve more nonprofits and address a wider range of needs in the community.”
Impact 100 Jersey Coast members donate $1,100 to the organization, of which $1,000 is tax- deductible and used toward the Impact Grant Fund. The remaining $100 covers various membership activities and fees.
“The 2024 membership class brings together both new and returning members of different ages and backgrounds, all of whom have made it a milestone year,” said Lori Missig, Impact 100 Jersey Coast’s co-president.
The women celebrated their organization’s $3.2 million total funding milestone during a membership reception on May 7 at the Columbus Club in Fair Haven. Food was provided by No Limits Cafe, a Red Bank nonprofit that empowers people with intellectual disabilities by providing meaningful employment. No Limits Cafe was a 2022 recipient of an Impact 100 Jersey Coast grant.
Guest speaker Liz Graham, executive director of 180 Turning Lives Around, a nonprofit that provides programs and services for survivors of domestic and sexual violence, provided members with a heartwarming account of the positive impacts her organization has made in clients’ lives, thanks to the 2023 Impact 100 Jersey Coast grant it received last year.
Although the application period for the core $100,000 grants for 2024 has already closed, the Ignite grant pilot application process just opened. For more information about Ignite grants, go to the Impact 100 Jersey Coast’s website here.
