Jan, 25

2016, Chapters, For chapters, For leaders, For members, Fundraising

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2016 Breaks All Records!

By Beth Ellen Holimon, Dining for Women President

For the past two years, we have been building our infrastructure so that we could launch our commitment to growing Dining for Women with even more chapters across the U.S. You have joined hands with us and answered the call!

We also broke all records for our 13th Month Annual Appeal this year!

  • 2,179 individual donors – 200 more than in 2015.
  • $61,000 more raised in 2016 than in 2015.
  • $46,000 raised in chapter fundraisers.
  • 150 more participants in our Giving Tuesday Challenge.

For 2016, we set the bar high for our 13th Month Annual Appeal with a goal of $360,000.   We are very pleased to have raised $345,000! Thank you to the 2,179 donors who made one more special gift, to our incredibly generous Founders’ Circle Donors, and to the many chapters who organized fundraisers!

2017 is the year that we will aggressively pursue the goals set in our 2020 Vision. This means that we are investing more in partnerships and grants and more in growing our chapters. We hope you will help spread the word about DFW — the important work we are doing for women and girls, and the sense of community that our chapters provide.

On March 8, International Women’s Day, we look forward to kicking off our growth strategy with the biggest chapter meeting ever! Please read more about our 8,000 Ambassadors Campaign in this issue of The Dish and join us by having your chapter meeting on March 8th.

Another upcoming event is our first annual Chapter Leader Appreciation Month in April. As I have visited chapters over the past few years, I have met so many amazing chapter leaders that pour their heart and soul into DFW and their chapters. Let’s show them our appreciation and make them feel extra special throughout the month of April.

While we enjoy a well-deserved sense of pride in our 2016 successes, we are already working on plans for 2017. Our fundraising goals are bigger this year, with plans to pursue corporate sponsorship for the 2018 DFW Summit, launch a major gifts program for donations over $10,000, and introduce a campaign to significantly increase the number of our members who give to DFW through monthly recurring donations.

I am more excited than ever to be on this journey with you. Without a doubt, 2017 has an energy behind it that cannot be ignored.