100+ Women Who Care Greater Bluffton is a new organization in Bluffton, SC. This local chapter, part of a national organization, was founded by Carolyn Day, Darice Ahrnsbrak, Mary Blake, Barbara Hege and Pat Roth in February 2015.

In order to be considered at a meeting, the organization must be located in the Bluffton area. It must be a non-profit organization recognized as a 501(c)(3) that serves Bluffton and the surrounding area.

A member who has signed the Membership Commitment Form may may nominate a local organization for a random drawing on the meeting day. The organizers of the meeting will collect the nomination forms from the participants. At random, three organizations will be selected for consideration. The 3 members who nominated these 3 selected charities will be asked to give a short 5 minute presentation as to why their nominated organization should receive the donation. A 3 min. question and answer period follows. Ballots are distributed and votes tallied. The charity receiving the majority of the votes receives the entire donation.

Every member in good standing can nominate one charity at each meeting.  Having more than one member nominate the same charity simply increases that charity’s chance of being picked, but note that any member who nominates at the meeting must be prepared to present if her name is selected.  If more than one member’s name gets chosen for the same charity, they can select which person will give the presentation, but it can only be given by one of the members whose names were selected from the box.  Also, three unique charities will be presented at each meeting so names will be chosen until there are three charities.

501(c)(3) is defined as “exemptions apply to corporations, and any community chest, fund or foundation, organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, testing for public safety, literary, educational purposes, to foster national or international amateur sports competition, promote the arts, or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals.” However, for the purposes of 100+ Women Who Care Greater Bluffton, all groups up for consideration must be local. For more information please visit the IRS Web site.

Each member is committed to make her $100 donation whether or not she is present at the meeting. If you would like the opportunity to vote by proxy, you would send a blank signed check to the meeting with a trusted friend. They will vote on your behalf and complete your check with the name of the charity.

The goal of 100+ Women Who Care Greater Bluffton is to make a large donation on behalf of the entire group. We want to be able to achieve this objective and give $10,000+ dollars at a time to make a large impact in our community, with each member’s donation being part of the larger donation.

Meetings are intended to be very short, generally lasting no longer than 60 minutes. New members are asked will be asked to arrive early in order to complete paperwork and gather commitment forms, nomination forms and ballots. This also will be a good time for members to get acquainted with other women involved in this charitable giving circle.

Yes, your contribution is tax deductible unless a cause that is not a 501(c)(3)  is voted on by the majority. Checks are written directly to the local organization NOT to 100+ Women Who Care. Your tax forms will be sent to you directly from the charity that receives your contribution. PLEASE NOTE: Any sponsored non-profit charity is not allowed to create, sell or distribute a list with your contact information. They are not allowed to solicit you for further contributions. If this were to happen, the organization would no longer be considered for future donations.

We encourage friends to attend the meeting if they are considering joining the group or just want to learn more. However, in order to vote, they will have to provide a signed Membership Commitment Form prior to voting.