Spirit of St. Louis Women’s Fund Kicks off Fifth Annual Girls Giving Grant Cycle

The Spirit of St. Louis Women’s Fund (SOS), a component Fund of the St. Louis Community Foundation, will be kicking off their fifth Girls Giving Season with an ice cream social on Sunday, August 5 at 3:00 PM at the St. Louis Community Foundation offices. At the social, attendees will have an opportunity to learn about collective giving and the impact Girls Giving Grants has had during its previous four years of giving in St. Louis.

Girls Giving is a youth initiative of SOS and was developed with the mission of educating the next generation of young women on the value and impact of collective giving. More than 50 young girls have participated in Girls Giving since 2014 from 11 area public and private high schools.

“We are giving these young women the tools and experience of collective giving so they may use this in their lives as they venture forth into college and beyond,” said Kathryn Frost, SOS member.

Since 2015 and through 2017, SOS has granted funding for six organizations totaling $12,700. This year’s the Girls Giving grantmaking cycle will begin on August 5 and August 26.The kickoff events will be followed by a formal grantmaking schedule, which will include learning the basics of thoughtful grantmaking, as well as taking an in-depth look into organizations working with youth in entrepreneurial programs.

Girls Giving Grant members can receive up to 18 hours of community service credit if she attends all meetings and site visits. The fall Giving Girls meeting schedule meets on the following dates from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM:

• August 5 – Introduction to collective giving, ice cream social at the St. Louis Community Foundation
• August 26 – Continued introduction to collective giving featuring Jane Tracy, Spirit of St. Louis Women’s Fund member. Tracy will reflect on how collective giving has influenced the grantmaking of her family’s Tracy Family Foundation. Light refreshments will be provided.
• September 23 – Guest Speaker Nancy Cambria from Washington University will present findings from For the Sake of All and their most recent research, Segregation in St. Louis: Dismantling the Divide. Grant proposals will be reviewed and the group will be divided into three teams for site visits in November.
• October 28 – Guest Speaker, Mary Jane Pieroni, Managing Director of Non-profit Services at DBO. Mary Jane is a nonprofit specialist with broad experience in all aspects of nonprofit accounting, consulting, and governance. Mary Jane will guide the group through grant proposals submitted to Girls Giving.
• November 17 – Morning site visits at St. Louis area non-profits with a return to the St. Louis Community Foundation for a noon gathering, team presentations and vote. Time to be determined at a later date.

For more information about the Spirit of St. Louis Women’s Fund’s Girls Giving, please contact Kathy Frost for any further information at 314.302.0758 or at kathrynfrost@me.com.

The Spirit of St. Louis Women’s Fund strengthens the St. Louis community through informed, focused grantmaking by educating and inspiring women to engage in significant giving. Since 2007, SOS members have invested more than $2.2 million in the St. Louis community. For more information about SOS visit spiritstlwomensfund.org.