What we do

We pool our resources to make a positive impact through meaningful grants and collaborative learning.

Ninety-nine girlfriends engages women* of Portland Metro/SW Washington (Clackamas, Clark, Multnomah, and Washington counties) to invest in the community through collective action. We learn about the needs in our community and come together, pooling our funds and resources to make significant gifts that can help address local issues in a big way.

* We welcome cisgender women, transgender women, and anyone who defines their gender experience by their alignment with womanhood.

Our mission

To build a community of diverse women who give collectively and learn collaboratively to become more informed and engaged philanthropists.

Only by embracing equity and inclusion can we truly achieve our mission. You can read our equity statement here.

OUR VISION  

An inclusive, connected community of philanthropists who are actively learning and partnering with local nonprofits to create a more equitable future for all.

How we do it

How do we turn our individual contributions into large, meaningful grants? We do it by pooling our resources.

We each choose the contribution amount that is meaningful to us for that year and those contributions are pooled and awarded to local nonprofits as grants. The more money we have in the pool, the larger the grants. We keep our administrative costs low by leveraging our volunteers and their talents (we have no paid staff).

We learn about our community's needs, review opportunities, and select nonprofits serving Clackamas, Clark, Multnomah and Washington Counties to receive large, meaningful grants in each of our areas of focus. We use trust-based philanthropy in our grant-making to give nonprofits the freedom to use the funding in the way that allows them to best further their missions.

By learning collaboratively throughout this process and through our member education programming, our grant-making helps our region while enhancing our individual philanthropy. 

What makes this important

Ninety-nine girlfriends is a unique opportunity for Portland Metro/SW Washington women to make a difference by learning about and funding activities to address community needs. This is a local initiative of women with diverse perspectives united by a shared passion for improving the world. We each contribute financially and make substantial investments together in community organizations. This allows us to be strategic in our giving and make a difference while learning.

Key organizational values

STRENGTH IN DIVERSITY

Diversity and Inclusivity: We believe our all-volunteer organization and grant-making are stronger when diverse voices participate. To this end, we welcome all women* inspired by collective giving and collaborative learning.

COLLECTIVE ACTION

Collective Giving: We believe in the power of collective giving. By bringing our members together for collective philanthropy, we can profoundly impact our community.

Generosity: We approach issues, needs, and collaboration with a spirit of generosity and assumption of positive intent.

Parity: Each member has one vote for grant-making decisions each year.

Volunteerism: Members have opportunities to participate at the level they choose.

COMMUNITY IMPACT

Learning: By learning about community needs and dynamics, we move from being donors to strategic investors and partners. We embrace opportunities to learn from mistakes, successes, and others. 

Responsiveness: We value the ability to change focus, direction, structure, or priorities in response to community needs.

Trust: We trust each other to lead and make decisions with the organization's core values in mind. We provide transparency in our process, our decision-making, and our finances.

Who is involved?

We are a group of women* who are smart, open, and thoughtful. Members represent people of various ages, cultural backgrounds, and personal experiences who live in or share a strong affiliation with the four-county area of Portland Metro/SW Washington.

We seek women* who want to be part of something big, are curious about how to create change, are open to sharing perspectives and learning, are philanthropic, and want to be more strategic in spending their charitable dollars.

Is this you? If so, join us.