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When Merle Chambers established Chambers Family Fund, one of her priorities was to build something permanent in the states where her family’s oil business operated. In 1999, Chambers Family Fund launched an initiative to increase philanthropic support of organizations serving women and girls in Wyoming, Montana and Oklahoma. We partnered with community foundations to create new state-wide women’s funds, the Wyoming Women’s Foundation and the Women’s Foundation of Montana. In 2003, we initiated a partnership with the Communities Foundation of Oklahoma to create the Women’s Foundation of Oklahoma. With the fundraising and grantmaking expertise of the existing community foundations and an advisory board made up of women from across the state, each women’s foundation is growing its endowment and making grants to organizations supporting women and girls. With support from Chambers Family Fund, the Wyoming Women's Foundation and the Women's Foundation of Montana have each reached their initial $1 million endowment goal. In 2005, we continue to provide operating support to ensure the growth and success of these new foundations. Following the successful model used in Wyoming and Montana, we made a challenge grant to the Women's Foundation of Oklahoma that matches up to $500,000, thereby providing an incentive for others to give. While the endowment grows, we provide $50,000 annually for their grantmaking to not-for-profits focusing on women’s economic self-sufficiency and girls’ futures. Additionally, we are contributing $125,000 over five years for research, staffing and materials. We also provided funding to create videos for the women’s foundations to share with women throughout the state, illustrating the need and promise of each women’s foundation. The women’s foundations in these three states are building women’s philanthropy in geographic areas where few philanthropic dollars are dedicated to programs serving women and girls. Women in philanthropy have historically given their time more than their money. In recent years, women’s and girls’ funds have created social change through philanthropy by supporting forward-looking programs, bridging the gap between grantee and donor and investing in long-term organizational growth. For more information about women in philanthropy, please visit our resources. |
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