Welcome
Greenville Women Giving is a philanthropic organization serving Greenville County, SC and founded on the idea that women, informed about philanthropy and about needs in their community, collectively can make a real difference. We are committed to strengthening our community through the collective resources of our members by awarding high-impact grants in five areas: arts and culture, education, health, human services, and environment. Begun in 2006, we are modeled after successful similar organizations in other communities, including Seattle, Charlotte, Nashville, and Asheville.
GWG is a special initiative of the Community Foundation of Greenville, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2006. In recognition of that milestone, the Community Foundation agreed to match the contributions of the first 50 GWG members, increasing the impact of the group's grants during its own inaugural year. Appropriately, the matching monies came from the Jean Harris Knight Fund at the Foundation, a fund made possible by the generous bequest of this Greenville philanthropist whose generosity serves as an example to our group.
As we entered our second year, the Community Foundation agreed to contribute another $50,000, provided we were able to increase membership to a total of at least 200 women before the end of the 2007 calendar year, a goal that was exceeded.
Now in our third year, we are at 347 members as of July 2009!
For the third year, the Community Foundation of Greenville matched GWG's contributions with a grant of $50,000 from the bequest of Greenville philantrophist Jean Harris Knight.
Membership in the new organization is open to any woman who commits to donate $1,000 per year for 3 years to the collective fund. In addition, there is a $100 annual charge to cover GWG's administrative costs. Grants are made annually to local charities after GWG members research local needs and vote for their preferences. Your yearly $1,000 donation is awarded in its entirety to the local charities selected by our membership.
In addition, GWG offers educational opportunities throughout the year so that women can learn about community needs and the organizations attempting to address them. And while our goals are serious, we intend to have a lot of fun together while reaching them.
$382,000 in Grants Awarded at GWG's Third Annual Meeting
Greenville Women Giving presented grants totaling $382,000 to selected community non-profit organizations at its third annual meeting, held at Furman University's Younts Conference Center on May 21st. The event culminated a year of education about community needs, and a competitive grants process that ended with members voting on which organizations should receive funds pooled from members' contributions. With this year's grants, the organization has returned a total of $854,000 to the community in its three year existence.
The charities receiving grants were:
Camp Opportunity - $25,000 to fund a week of summer camp for children in DSS protective custody.
The Center for Developmental Services - $25,000 to replace their communications system.
Foothills Family Resources - $25,000 for co-located social services in Northern Greenville County.
Graduate Greenville - $50,000 for meeting its aim to increase the high school graduation percentage of Greenville County students.
Greater Greenville Interfaith Hospitality Network - $30,000 for funding transitional housing.
Greenville Literacy Association - $29,000 for their young adult job-readiness program.
Greenville Rape Crisis and Child Abuse Center - $25,305 to help their school education program.
Loaves & Fishes - $30,000 for a refrigerated truck.
Phillis Wheatley Association - $35,800 for a summer program devoted to at-risk children.
Safe Harbor - $25,000 for security equipment.
Speech, Hearing and Learning Center - $25,000 for developmental delay screening equipment.
Welvista - $30,000 to help fund their prescription assistance program.
Habitat for Humanity - $28,500 for their "Women Build" program.
For further details about each of this year's grant recipients, and to view all past grant recipients click here
To view all 212 photos taken at the event, please click here
Membership Update
Our group is now 347 strong, and, of course, we would like to encourage more women to join us.
Please think about who might be interested in joining us and tell them about GWG.
You may direct any prospective members to the Membership & Organization portion of our website, where they can download our Membership Commitment form.