The Women's Fund of Santa Barbara is administered through the Santa Barbara Foundation, but remains autonomous in choosing the recipients of the awards granted annually. The Women's Fund does not accept proposals or requests for funding, nor are we a short-horizon funder. Rather, we use a three-step process:

• Each year between April and June, all current WF members are asked to vote for what they think are the critical areas of community need in our local area.  The intent is to focus our research on organizations and programs that are relevant to the changing needs of our community and best fit the mission of the Women's Fund, namely to support critical needs of women, children and families of South Santa Barbara County.

• The Research Committee then evaluates every 501(c)3 qualified non-profit agency or sponsored program in Santa Barbara, Goleta and Carpinteria that fit within the focus areas for the year. This is a lengthy and vigorous process, not taken lightly by anyone involved. The organizations that are selected by a vote of the committee are then listed on a ballot in December.

• In January, all current members of the Women's Fund then vote for the grantees whose mission and organizational values best resonate with their own charitable objectives as well as with the stated goals of the Women's Fund. Once the votes are tallied, the lucky recipients are revealed at the Annual Presentation Luncheon in February.

This has been an outstanding model used since the Women's Fund began in 2004 and one that continues to attract new supporting members.

For a list of the programs that have been funded through this process, see "Gifts We've Given" at http://www.womensfundsb.org/gifts.html

©2007 Women's Fund of Santa Barbara | All Rights Reserved | 805.963.1873 | info@womensfundsb.org | Tax ID 95-1866094