VERO BEACH — Representatives from Indian River County nonprofit organizations will spend a full-day learning to create persuasive proposals to attract transformational grants. The seminar, hosted by Indian River Impact 100, is open to all non-profit organizations serving Indian River County and will be held at 8:30 a.m., Wednesday, Oct. 28, at the Richardson Center on the campus of Indian River State College in Vero Beach.
Karen Osborne, an internationally recognized speaker and workshop leader with over 30 years of fundraising, management and marketing experience, will lead the workshop. Ms. Osborne is former Vice President for College Advancement at Trinity College, where she was responsible for designing and implementing Trinity’s successful $100,000,000 campaign. She is currently president of The Osborne Group, a consulting firm that helps nonprofit organizations build capacity from within while building and maintaining strong relationships with constituents.
“Transformational philanthropy is a unique approach to grant making because it focuses on organizations that are pursuing a larger vision of change, rather than just doing business as usual,” said Laura McDermott, vice president of Impact 100. “This seminar will help nonprofit organizations explore the concept so that they can be successful in writing grants of this nature.”
Impact 100 is a philanthropic group founded in 2008 that allows women to pool resources and make transformational grants of in the amount of at least $100,000 to non-profit organizations in Indian River County. During the group’s inaugural year 205 women each donated $1,000, which allowed the group to make two transformational grants of $102,500, with each member receiving a vote on the final selection. In 2009, voting took place at the annual meeting during which six grant finalists presented their proposals to the membership. The two grants were ultimately awarded to Treasure Coast Food Bank for expansion of the “Backpack Buddies Program” and CASTLE for purchase of a new Indian River Family Service Center.
“Our members are committed to bringing effective, transformational philanthropy to Indian River County,” said Ms. McDermott, “and this seminar will help nonprofit executives examine how they can bring their transformational ideas to life for the benefit of our community.”
Other partners helping Impact 100 bring this seminar to Indian River County are Wilmington Trust, the Association of Fundraising Professionals-Indian River Chapter, Indian River Community Foundation, The Robert F. and Eleonora W. McCabe Foundation, Richardson Family Foundation, Quail Valley Golf Club and the United Way.
To register: Email grants@impact100ir.com no later than Oct. 21.
