100+ Women Who Care DSM (100+) is a giving circle of women from the Des Moines metro. We meet 4 times a year and hear presentations from unique nonprofits. We vote to select one organization and pool our contributions to make a large financial impact. Funding from 100+ is unrestricted. Our goal is to raise $10,000+ for each selected nonprofit. 

Joining is easy! Simply attend a meeting and fill out a member information card. Members pledge to donate 4x a year to the selected nonprofit. Not able to make a meeting? No worries - we understand that life gets busy. Members must make a good faith effort to donate to the chosen organization regardless of meeting attendance. Details on how to donate are sent after the meeting via email. 

Historically our group started with a $100/quarter donation requirement. To be more inclusive of all budgets, we’ve removed the $100 requirement. While most members still donate the traditional $100, donations from $10-$1,000+ are welcome! Our only request is that you make a good faith effort to donate 4x a year to each selected nonprofit. 

We track donations to keep an accurate count of our financial impact on the community. We also have a matching gift donor who will match 50% of our donations. If we don’t have a full count of our member’s contributions, we are essentially leaving money on the table for the selected nonprofit!

The Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation has generously pledged to match the gifts of 100+ Women Alliance groups. All donations up to $10,000 are matched at 50%. This means our selected nonprofits may receive up to $5,000 in a matching gift from the foundation. The foundation does have a few restrictions on the nonprofits they will fund. More details can be found here.

Organizations must be recognized as a 501(c)3 under the Internal Revenue Code and serve the Des Moines metro. Nonprofits must have a way of accepting financial contributions either via check or online (preferably both).

For regular meetings, members have the opportunity to nominate a nonprofit. Members must have attended at least one meeting prior before being eligible to nominate. During the meeting, three nonprofits (two nonprofits for annual joint meeting) will be selected at random. The member who nominated the selected nonprofit will have 5 minutes to present and 5 minutes for Q&A.

For select meetings, members have the option to nominate a nonprofit in advance and invite a representative from the organization to present. For these meetings, a special nomination form and timeline will be rolled out prior to the meeting. 

A nonprofit may only present once per meeting. If a nonprofit is nominated and drawn more than once at a meeting, an additional organization name will be drawn. Only one member (the first member drawn) may present. Awarded nonprofits are ineligible to present again for one calendar year. Nonprofits who presented but were not awarded are eligible to present at the following meeting. For example, member Susy Q. presented on behalf of Nonprofit XYZ at the February 2023 meeting but was not awarded. She decided to try again in May 2023 and this time Nonprofit XYZ was selected as the awarded nonprofit! Susy Q can nominate other nonprofits at future meetings but won’t be eligible to nominate Nonprofit XYZ (nor will any other member be eligible to nominate) again till May 2024.The 100+ volunteer committee may update this policy in the event of insufficient nonprofit nominations.

Presentations are 5 minutes long. Presentations should include some combination of the following: organization history, organization mission, summary of program(s) and population served. We encourage presenters to have an idea of how funds from 100+ members would be used and share their personal connection if applicable. Members may serve in an official role with the organization (staff, board member, etc.) or have a personal connection (volunteer, donor, supporter, etc.). Presenters will not have access to an overhead projector nor be permitted to distribute marketing materials. Presenters may not receive help from the audience in making the presentation or answering questions.

Following the presentation, there are five minutes reserved for Q&A from the audience. Common question themes during Q&A include:

Population served and impact (how many, what communities, etc.).

Budget (high level - we don’t expect you to have all the answers)

Organization details (staff size, founding date,

Program details (how the organization functions)

Impact of $10,000

Volunteer opportunities

At the end of the meeting, members cast their vote anonymously for the organization they would like to award. The organization receiving the most votes is awarded as our selected nonprofit. Members are asked to donate to the selected nonprofit, regardless of their personal vote.

The awarded nonprofit is expected to communicate with the 100+ volunteer committee on details including ways to donate, organization contact information and gift verification for the matching gift award. The awarded nonprofit contact is expected to deposit 100+ contributions within one week of receipt and is responsible for any applicable gift acknowledgement. The awarded nonprofit will be invited to speak at the next meeting to say a few words (3 minutes) of gratitude and give a brief overview of the organization.

No. We currently ask that selected nonprofits refrain from adding 100+ members to their mailing or email lists. Exceptions are made for standard gift acknowledgment communication and for members who were existing supporters of the organization.

100+ is organized by an all volunteer committee. To learn more about volunteer opportunities, contact us today!