Insight Impact: June 2020
Highlights in our first Issue
What's up with Grantees: All of our major grant recipients continue to provide services to the local community despite the pandemic. Who would have known how critical our grants would be to provide transformational change to vulnerable lives and communities in Essex County? This section provides updates on our three major grantees.
2020 Grant Process: Our application process for non-profits was augmented with a preliminary phase— a required Letter of Intent designed to lessen the burden of the full application for non-profit applicants with a low chance of success..
Membership: Our current membership, at 150 members, ensures we can give at least one $100,000 grant yet falls short of our ambitious goal of 200 members in 2020. See this section for how you can help recruit and increase our giving power.
What’s up with Grantees
Covenant House Feature Article - Grant Recipient 2017
This year, Impact100 Essex completed the administration of our first grant recipient (2017), Covenant House New Jersey (CHNJ) in Newark, focused on instilling resilience in homeless youth in Essex County, critical to a path to independence. In just two years, so many lives have been touched by the Impact100 Essex grant and the work from CHNJ Newark. Here are some of the highlights and results from our inaugural grant giving cycle. Please be on the lookout for a more detailed case study that is forthcoming.
CHNJ’s original plan was to build out the Dove Learning Center (DLC) and create a model for educating homeless, at-risk youth aiming to build resilience and hope, proven characteristics for building a successful future. The documented success of their 2016 pilot project encouraged CHNJ to seek expansion of the program.
Two years later, Covenant House has created a welcoming DLC, a place where residents have resources that value them as individuals. Our grant of $112K over 2 years funded:
Development and implementation of a curriculum focusing on 5 content areas: Education, Employment, Financial Literacy, Social Navigation, and Physical/Emotional/Spiritual Wellness
DLC staff: Coordinator, Specialist, and Volunteer Manager
Nearly 90% of young people at CHNJ participate in the DLC program, averaging approximately 100 participants a quarter. Jim White, Executive Director of CHNJ, describes the impact of the DLC on young people at CHNJ in this video.
Some unexpected benefits have also accrued: the Impact100 Essex grant served as a catalyst, attracting interest from Microsoft and Audible, who provided technology, training and learning expertise. The impact of our grant is further amplified as Covenant House replicates the program beginning with its Atlantic City site.
Schools That Can (STC) - Grant Recipient 2018
Under COVID-19 school closures, STC Newark pivoted from their original goal of expanding their pilot Career Skills Program to two additional high schools,instead shifting to virtual operation and continuing to provide mentorship and job skills to Newark students. At the time of school closures, STC Newark was working with 200 students and has continued to work with many of them in a virtual capacity with program aspects relating to work with school leaders, teachers, and industry partners, as well as initiating new efforts through virtual programs. STC Newark recruited 100 volunteers to review resumes, serve as mock interviewers, and participate in weekly Career Chat panels with students. As a direct result of the Impact100 Essex grant, STC Newark received a grant from an individual donor for $100K, as well as funding from other foundations.
Meeting Essential Needs with Dignity (MEND) - Grant Recipient 2019
Despite substantially increased demand and the cancellation of food shipments, MEND has managed to build new supply sources and increase the numbers of families served. MEND significantly accelerated its project timeline and bought a food transport van (affectionately called the “Sweet Pea”), a critical move given the loss of volunteers and the consequent closing of two pantries. In addition, storage space was secured in June and a major grower has committed to supplying 350 boxes of fresh produce per week, as well as another supplier that is coming on board by the end of July.
Enhanced Grant Process for 2020
This year, we piloted a Letter of Intent (LOI) as a preliminary step in our grant review process before the full application (see timeline below). Our goal was to save non-profits' limited staff the time of completing a full application if our member reviewers believed the project was unlikely to be successful in the full application review. Including an LOI has had the added benefit of providing more opportunity for our members to engage in Impact100 Essex by offering another round of Review Teams to evaluate the LOIs earlier in the grant cycle. We frequently hear from members that the Grant Review experience is one of the top reasons for being an Impact100 Essex member.
LOI Review Teams met virtually June 22 - 26. We received 44 LOIs from Essex County non-profits and had 50 members participate in LOI Review Teams to evaluate them. Two-thirds of the applicants have been invited to advance and submit a full application for our grant this year. Applications are due in September.
All members are welcome to participate on an Application Review Team in the Fall, regardless of whether you participated in the LOI process. We encourage anyone who is interested to participate in the review process.
Membership
2020 Member Goals and Events
We began 2020 with the goal of 200 members and the hope of being able to give two $100k grants. New member recruitment was in full swing during the first few months before it was suspended in March. While the pandemic has made recruiting efforts challenging, we are grateful to report that we have a total of 150 members (including 42 new members) and we will continue to recruit through virtual information sessions, social media, our improved website, and relying on members like you to spread the word. We hope more current members will renew as life under Covid has normalized. Few organizations are as well positioned as we are to support nonprofits emerging from this crisis. The more members we have, the greater our impact.
Contact: Membership@impact100essex.org if you’d like to co-host a virtual session for your friends or invite friends to any of our events.
If you haven’t already, please renew your membership.
We hope for an outdoor in-person member event in September. Details to come.
Every Voice Community Leaders Scholarship
Impact100 Essex is excited about our new Every Voice Community Leaders Scholarship which invites and encourages the participation of Essex County women who may not currently have the means/funds to participate, but who would amplify voices from the organizations and communities we serve, particularly the voices of our Black/African American sisters. We ask that you reach out to Black/African American friends, family members, colleagues, and leaders in your neighborhood or at organizations in which you participate. Have a conversation about Impact100 Essex and encourage women to join us through our regular membership process or through our scholarship program.
Volunteer
Impact100 Essex is always looking for members to help support our work through volunteer efforts.
Grantee needs - Check out our grantee websites to see if there is something that interests you: MEND and Schools That Can.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) - The Steering Committee recently voted to create a stand-alone committee to accelerate and advance our goals for greater Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). Thanks to members who have already stepped up to join this committee. If interested, more members are welcome. We’ll be meeting later this month to chart specific next steps to integrate and improve DEI in all facets of Impact100 Essex.
Steering Committee - Ready to dig deeper? Nominate yourself or a fellow member (or get someone to nominate you) for two vacancies on the Steering Committee. We’re looking for women already engaged with Impact100 activities ready to look forward and voices from throughout the county. Send completed forms to governance@impact100essex.org.
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As editors of our first newsletter, we’d welcome your suggestions on what you liked about the newsletter and what more you’d like to see. Please send your feedback to communications@impact100essex.org. Sunita Chaudhuri and Jill Edinburg, Editors.
