Making Headlines
IMPACT GIVING AWARDS $130K FROM POOLED DONATIONS
Recipients Include Lotus, Foster Youth Org
By Sheri Cruz, Orange County Business Journal
Monday, May 14, 2012
Laguna Beach-based Impact Giving recently awarded $130,000 in grants to several Orange County nonprofits during a ceremony at the lrvine Marriott. The group presented the checks to: Irvine-based Families Forward ($30,000), which helps families at risk of becoming homeless through transitional housing and job programs; San Diego-based Just in Time for Foster Youth ($30,000); Laguna Beach-based R Star Foundation ($20,000), which built a school in rural Nepal; San Diego-based Lotus Outreach International’s Lotus Pedal program, which buys bikes for girls in Cambodia; Costa Mesa-based International Princess Project ($20,000), which sells Punjammies loungers and pajama pants and shorts made by women in India; and Orange-based Orange County Child Abuse Prevention Center ($ I 0,000), which offers parenting training, mental health services and other programs.
Impact Giving chose recipients from a field of 60 applicants. Sponsors of the grant-giving ceremony included Laura Tarbox, president of Newport Beach-based The Tarbox Group Inc., a wealth management company, and Kim Shepherd, chief executive of lrvine based Decision Toolbox. lmpact Giving is funded through “collective giving,” in which the organization pools donations of $1,000 a year from each person in a collective. The goal is to have 1,000 collective members donate a pot of $1 million annually.
Impact Giving chooses recipients once a year after analyzing financial data and making onsite visits to the prospective nonprofit. It has granted $345,000 to 20 organizations, including 11 local nonprofits, since starting in 2009. Karen Wilson, the group’s chair and cofounder, has worked in various capacities for nonprofits that serve women, children, minorities, immigrants and prisoners. Ann Duncan, vice chair and cofounder, formerly worked for Round Rock, Texas-based Dell Inc. for 20 years.
Impact Giving benefits seven worthy causes
New philanthropy’s first year nets $90,000 for charity
By Rita Goldberg, OCLNN
Monday, April 5, 2010
Impact Giving, the newest collective nonprofit in the county, presented $90,000 in charitable contributions to seven worthy causes at its inaugural awards ceremony held at The Turnip Rose in Costa Mesa on April 1.
Since its inception, the one-year-old, all-female philanthropy has attracted over 100 supporters willing to pledge $1,000 annually in support.
Representatives of the award recipients were on hand to accept the donations. Dan Hodes, on behalf of Ethiopian Family Fund, expressed gratitude for the $7,000 that would save the lives of seven children who would receive medical intervention to correct the otherwise terminal tuberculosis of the spine.
Costa Mesa-based Girls Inc., responsible for outreach programs to girls at risk of dropping out of school, was awarded $10,000 at the event.
“Our primary goal is to get the participants in our programs to attend college,” said Veronica Escobedo, director of programs for Girls Inc. “We have a very high success rate, with 87 percent of the 4,600 girls we serve annually continuing their education beyond high school.”
Success is a key requirement for award allocations, according to Carol Olson, founding board member and policy chair of Impact Giving. “We require the grant applicants to provide measurable objectives and proof of effectiveness,” she said. “We carefully review each nominee and even examine their financial records as part of our decision-making process.”
Additional charity recipients and their corresponding awards included The Hunger Project, $20,000, Free Wheelchair Mission, $15,000, American Society for Cataract & Refractive Surgery, $15,000, The Helping Hands Project, $13,000, and Human Rights USA, $10,000. To find out more about Impact Giving visit www.impactgivingnow.org.