For five years, new donors who give to the Women’s Foundation of Southern Arizona will see their gift doubled, up to $1 million.
That’s because the nearly 25-year-old organization supporting women and girls in the region announced Thursday that it received a $1 million challenge gift from the Connie Hillman Family Foundation.
The Women’s Foundation has received matching challenges before, but this is the largest, said Dawne Bell, the foundation’s CEO.
“This is a statement about the importance of women and children in our region, and it’s recognition that when we invest in women, the whole community thrives,” Bell said.
The challenge, which started in October, matches every new donation and every dollar added to a recurring donation.
Bell estimated that the foundation has about 2,000 supporters in a year and more than “1,500 donors who give to us every year pretty steadily.”
The foundation’s current annual operating budget of $900,000 is funded by community donations. The challenge gift will “help us expand grant-making and leadership development programs,” Bell said, calling the investment in women and girls an investment in the region’s economy.
In 2016, the foundation will distribute $600,000 in grant money to about 20 organizations, according to press materials. Bell listed some of the women those programs help — women facing domestic abuse or looking for a way out of homelessness or seeking a college degree while juggling life as a single mom.
“This is a way to thank our donors by doubling their support,” Bell added.
