Newsletter
February, 2024
Letter from Our Board Chair
Ladies,
Grant cycle is in full swing and we are coming down the home stretch to invest our highest amount ever into our community! I hope you are signed up for Site Visits and will get to experience this special membership opportunity.
After careful deliberation, the Grant Committee moved 17 strong organizations, with a total ask of $712,005, to the Site Visit stage.
We are going to have a hard time choosing who to fund this year. If you are able to participate in the Above & Beyond Campaign, we would be so grateful for the capacity to help as many of these impressive programs as possible. All donations received by April 1st will be donated in this grant cycle.
Our April 18th Finalist Presentation meeting will be held at the RSF Golf Club at 9:30 AM. Come hear the moving presentations and cast your vote for who is most deserving of our funding and what our focus areas should be for next year.
Our Annual Bubbles Membership Party was a smashing success. A Big THANK YOU to Kristin Helms for opening up her gorgeous home, to Kelly Stroud for curating such a lovely evening and to Sabrina Applegate & Sheryl Lester for contributing some special libations to make the evening sparkle. We are also grateful to our wonderful silent auction donor and fund supporter Susan Hoehn for getting us so close to our 20th Grant Fund goal.
Make sure you mark your calendar for Monday, May 13th to bring your significant other to a fabulous cocktail celebration at Steak 48 from 5:30-7:30. We will be celebrating the many volunteer hours and the over $5.7 million we will have invested in our community, we will pay tribute to our Founder, Gayle Gillies and will have a HUGE announcement about our future that you won’t want to miss.
Thank you for all you do as Women’s Fund members, we have so much to celebrate!
Gratefully,
Nikki
New Members
Our impact is growing! Since November 1st of last year, we have had 10 new members join us and several prior members have renewed their memberships. Please look out for these wonderful women, introduce yourselves and make them feel welcome. Show them how we build friendships through philanthropy.
Diana Andrus — Member since January 17th
Kathie Davis — Member since December 6th
Leslie Evans — Member since December 26th
Amber Greene — Member since December 15th
Alla Kesser — Member since November 16th
Cheryl McArthur — Member since January 11th
Pilar Meza — Member since February 8th
Amy Myers — Member since January 19th
Robin Nordhoff — Member since January 2nd
Heidi Stevens — Member since December 7th
A Moment for Philanthropy
On February 6th, a small group of members gathered at Nikki Carmody Ream’s home for a Moment for Philanthropy. Volunteer Co-Chair,Ellie Cunningham, curated Galentine’s Bags filled with practical and pampering items and, along with Co-Chair Amy Hobart, guided the group to compile 70 bags and craft inspirational notes for the women at Rachel’s Women’s Center. It truly was Philanthropy Through Friendship at its best!
Galentine’s Meeting Recap
Last week at our Site Visit Sign-Up and Galentine’s Celebration, we had the opportunity to honor some of our Charters & Starters who were in attendance. Over 20 years ago, these women were true visionaries who gathered friends to give back to the North County and San Diego communities using pooled resources.
Founder Gayle Gillies Mize and approximately 75 women came together to create the Rancho Santa Fe Women’s Fund. During their first year of giving, the organization granted 4 organizations a total of $100,000. This generous tradition of building friendships through philanthropy has continued and, to date, we have granted over $5.2 Mil to support 154 projects in 20 years!
Fifteen of those original members are still active members today. We applaud them for their generosity and are grateful for their guidance and vision.
Sheryl Durkin
Franci Free
Vivian Hardage
Nancy Hillgren
Susan Hoehn
Candise Holmlund
Gail Kendall
Sue Major
Maureen McMahon
Judy Oliphant
Connie Pittard
Ann Ribble
Sue Sanderson
Gretchen Simpson
Kathy Yash
Site Visit Sign-up Guidelines
Site Visits will run from Monday, February 26th to Friday, March 15th. Both the Monday and the Tuesday Work Groups have worked hard to evaluate and cull the original 106 organizations which applied back in September down to the 16 organizations which our membership will visit in person to evalute their potential as finalists for our 2024 Grants.
Cathy Burch and Kathy Sage, Grant Co-Chairs, offered the following guidelines as you consider registering for Site Visits this year:
- You MUST register online. This is so we can not only keep an accurate headcount for each Site Visit, but also so that the Site Visit Leaders will know who is attending and can communicate with their groups. To register for a Site Visit, either click on the name of the organization below or go to the Events tab on the website and click on the event there.
- Initially, please only register for a maximum of three Site Visits. After initial registrations have been completed, an email will be sent out at the beginning of each week, letting members know if there are additional sign-up spots available for specific Site Visits. Registration for available spots will be closed the day prior to each site visit. If a conflict arises with your registration, please email Ruth at admin@rsfwomensfund.org so another member can attend.
- Come prepared to each Site Visit you attend. Summaries of each project were emailed to Membership prior to last week’s General Meeting. In addition, links to these same summaries can be found on the individual registration pages. Furthermore, if you would like to see the original Letters of Intent and Proposals which were submitted, these can be found on the website, in the Members’ Only section, under the Grant Information tab.
- Each Site Visit will include a “social component” allowing the opportunity to gather either before or after the Site Visit, most likely for a dutch treat coffee or lunch. This will allow the group to discuss and share their thoughts regarding the organization and/or socialize.
- If you are a New Member, please consider attending the New Member Orientation on February 22nd. During this orientation, not only will you learn about the RSFWF Grant Process, but also the history of the RSF Women’s Fund, who our leadership is, where to find things on the website, etc.
Site Visit Registration
Response to registration for Site Visits has been very positive! We are excited that so many members are choosing to take an active role in the process by signing up for these events. While some of the Site Visits listed below may currently indicate that we are at capacity, we encourage members to register for the Waitlist as conflicts frequently arise, opening up additional spots.
Tuesday, March 12th at 10:00 AM
Elementary Institute of Science (EIS)
Wednesday, March 6th at 10:00 AM
Monday, March 11th at 1:00 PM
Thursday, February 29th at 1:00 PM
Meals-on-Wheels Greater San Diego
Friday, March 15th at 10:00 AM
San Diego Volunteer Lawyers Program, Inc.
Tuesday, February 27th at 1:00 PM
St. Vincent de Paul Villages (Father Joe’s Villages)
Friday, March 8th at 10:00 AM
Thursday, March 7th at 10:00 AM
The San Marcos Promise (dba Project Next)
Thursday, March 14th at 10:00 AM
Monday, February 26th at 10:00 AM
Save the Date
You won’t want to miss this celebration where Members and Significant Others will enjoy a bountiful cocktail spread from our partners at Steak 48 to celebrate our 20th Anniversary of Giving! Ticket sales will grow our 2024-2025 grant pool and we will have a monumental announcement. More details to come.
Upcoming Events
Monday, February 26th – Friday, March 15th
Various Times
RSF Women’s Fund Site Visits
Thursday, April 18th
9:30 – 11:30 AM
Finalist Presentations and General Meeting. Come listen as our grantee finalists present their projects for funding. Members can vote immediately after the meeting.
Sunday, April 21st
12:00 PM
All Membership Ballots for 2023-24 Grantees must be submitted.
Tuesday, May 7th
12:15 – 1:45 PM
Grants Awards Ceremony. Join us as we celebrate the 2023-24 Grantees and invest in their future.
Monday, May 13th
5:30 – 7:30 PM
20th Anniversary Celebration at Steak 48
Scenes from Our 2024 Bubbles Celebration
2023-24 Board of Directors
2023-24 RSF Women’s Fund Board
President and Board Chair — Nikki Carmody Ream
Secretary — Mary Consalvi
Treasurer — Diane Solomon
Grant Committee Co-Chair — Cathy Burch
Grant Committee Co-Chair — Kathy Sage
Membership — Cheryl Solomon
Nominations and Governance — Susan Hoehn
Member-at-Large — Sandra Coufal, MD
Member-at-Large/Technology Chair — Mara Buchholz
Audit & Finance Committee Co-Chair — Cynthia Hudson
Investment Committee Chair — Candise Holmlund
Incoming Grant Committee Co-Chair — Maritia Walper
Incoming Grant Committee Co-Chair — Sara Bennett
Programs Co-Chair — Kirstjen Nielsen
Programs Co-Chair — Muffy Walker
Publicity Chair — Elia Surran
Social Chair — Kelly Stroud
Social Media Chair — Kathryn Brown
Volunteer Co-Chair — Amy Hobert
Volunteer Co-Chair — Ellie Cunningham
Member-at-Large — Donna Vance
Member-at-Large — Vivian Hardage