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Your Involvement

Washington Women’s Foundation inspires, educates and connects women, bringing them together to collaborate on solutions to community issues, to develop their own leadership skills, and to serve as philanthropic role models to others. We invite you to join us!

Each member contributes $2,300 a year. As a 501(c)(3), your donation is fully tax-deductible as allowed by law. Of your annual $2,300 contribution:

$1,000 is allocated to the pooled grant fund to allow us to make five large annual impact grants. By pooling our funds to make large grants, we learn what a powerful difference we can make through informed, sustained collective giving. We also gain insights that make us more thoughtful, deliberate individual donors. Each member has an equal voice in determining which worthy nonprofits will benefit from the Foundation’s pooled resources.
$1,000 allocated for individual grant recommendations. You may recommend up to three nonprofit organizations to receive these funds. Your recommendations are reviewed and acted upon by the Foundation's board before distribution. Please note that in compliance with IRS regulations, the board retains the right to make final determinations with respect to distributions.
$300 helps fund part of the Foundation’s operating expenses and the many educational programs we offer each year.

Members are encouraged, though not required, to participate in the Foundation’s frequent educational programs, such as Discovery Days in November or our Fall and Spring Educational Forums. They may also join one of the many committees such as Grant, Membership, Communications, Education, Impact Assessment and others, as appropriate to their schedule and interests. Committee membership is a great way to meet other members and learn about the community and the nonprofits we fund. Committees generally meet monthly September through June. Grant Committee is most active January through June.

Roxanne Scott “One of the best things about Washington Women’s Foundation is that membership is so flexible. You can join and immediately become active, or you can join without feeling guilty if you don’t have a lot of time to be involved. There’s complete acceptance.”

“I’ve been very involved in the Grant Committee and that’s helped me understand how to be more thoughtful and focused – not just in my responsibilities to help the Foundation thoroughly research and choose nominees for pooled grants, but also in directing my own personal philanthropy. I’ve learned so much about the grant-making process and about the great work of local nonprofits. It’s been one of the amazing experiences of my life. It feels good to live in a community that cares so much about people and the world around them. I feel like I’ve made a meaningful impact on the community with my dollars, and I’ve gotten so much back from the educational opportunities and being able to work with other smart, caring women.”

Roxanne Scott
member since 2000