This is a combined summer edition of the Chapter Leader Menu. The next issue will come out in mid-August. Featured Grantee materials for both July and August are available below.
We know that some chapters forego meeting in the summer, but please remind your members to continue donating to support our Featured Grantees. (Recurring donations are a great way to support Rise all year long. You can set it and forget it!)
We hope you enjoy your summer and be sure to save the dates for some exciting events later this summer and fall. Watch your email or check out our Upcoming Events page for more details.
July 22 at 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT -- Advocacy Webinar on HIV/AIDS and Maternal Child Health. Register here.
August 12 at 12 pm ET / 9 am PT-- Special webinar in recognition of the 5th anniversary of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, including panel discussion with several Rise grantees. Registration coming soon.
September 9 at 12 pm ET/ 9 am PT -- Virtual Volunteer Fair. Register here.
September 16 (Time TBD) -- "Women's Philanthropy as a Global Movement" webinar. Speakers and more details coming soon.
October 17 from 2 to 4 pm PT in San Jose, CA -- In-person event to celebrate International Day of the Girl Child. Registration opening soon.
Chapter Leader Need to Know
1. Upcoming Member Survey-- To support our new strategic plan, we will be conducting an anonymous member survey in August to better understand what motivates you to give, engage with Rise, and value most about your membership. Your responses will guide our future member engagement initiatives, and inform our first-ever Impact Report. Read more about the survey in the upcoming issue of The Dish, and please encourage your members to participate in the survey when it comes out.
2. Cash Donations-- As a reminder, if your members give cash at a meeting, please write a personal check for the cash amount and label it as “Consolidated Cash” in the memo line. If you are sending your own contribution by check, please write a separate check. This is important so that we can credit you with the donation and provide a tax receipt.
While we appreciate all gifts, please note that we cannot issue donation credits or tax receipts for consolidated cash checks. In order for a member to receive a tax receipt, please encourage them to give by check or online. We have so many options to give online, including Venmo and Zelle. All of these giving options are accessible by clicking on the DONATE button on our website, or by using this direct link. Questions? Email donations@togetherwomenrise.org.
Your July and August Chapter Meetings
July Featured Grantee: Building Capacity of Girls' Schools
In July, we are featuring our grant to the Kibera Girls Soccer Academy Foundation (KGSA), which provides free, holistic high school education and boarding to 150 girls in Kibera, Kenya, one of Africa's largest informal settlements.
August Featured Grantee: Advancing Maternal Health
in Afghanistan
Our August Featured Grant will fund One Day's Wages to improve maternal health outcomes in Afghanistan by strengthening the professional capacity of midwives and expanding access to midwife-led care.
This Month's Proven Platter: Kenyan-Style Chicken Briyani
By Kristina Skepton and Terri Tucker, Together Women Rise Recipe
Co-Curators
“But isn’t Chicken Biryani an Indian dish?” Yes, but Indian flavors and dishes feature prominently in the Kenyan diet due, in large part, to trade and migration, especially during the period of British colonial rule.
Please share these important updates with your chapter members:
1. Leave a Legacy with Together Women Rise--Over the past few weeks, we have been sending out communications about legacy giving (also called planned giving) and how Rise members can continue supporting gender equality beyond their lifetimes. As chapter leaders, you can help reinforce that message by sharing our Legacy Giving Fact Sheet at your upcoming meetings — you can either print it off or share it digitally. For additional questions or support, contact Kaitlyn Grigsby-Hall at kaitlyn@togetherwomenrise.org.
On June 22nd at 12 pm ET / 9 am PT, we are holding an informational session on legacy giving, with financial advisor Anne Marie Ashworth of Abacus Planning Group as our featured speaker. Learn more and register here.
2. Recurring Donations by Bank Draft -- We've made it easier to set up a monthly recurring donation through your bank account. Members can now set up monthly bank drafts online -- no more paper forms and voided checks to mail in to us! Just select the option to give monthly and you will be prompted to enter your bank information. See our FAQs on recurring donations or email donations@togetherwomenrise.org.
Rising Tide
One of our goals for this Chapter Leader newsletter is to create a forum for chapter leaders to learn from each other and about each other. We're calling this feature "A Rising Tide" because when one of our chapters succeeds, we all succeed - and we should share those strategies and successes with each other to lift all our boats, metaphorically speaking.
This month, we are featuring Susan McGee of the FL, Gainesville-2 chapter. Susan is a retired special education teacher, and her husband is former military, so they moved around a lot over the years. When they settled in Florida, Susan learned about Together Women Rise and helped form the FL, Gainesville–1 chapter. She is now a chapter leader of the spin-off, FL, Gainesville–2 chapter. Learn more about spin-off chapters and how they stay connected!
