June/July 2017 Newsletter

Whew, We Were Busy!
Summer has finally arrived, bringing with it the close to another busy, successful year at TPC. As any in attendance at our Annual Meeting on June 1 could attest, each of your contributions during the year culminated in the election of an outstanding roster of Grantees. We could not be more excited or hopeful as we look ahead to what the coming year will bring.

 
Grant Review Teams

A massive thank you to TPC’s Diversity Task Force (Barbara Gaskin, Chris Letts, Pat McSweeney, Courtney Scrubbs, and Chrismaldi Vasquez) for giving their time and energy last summer to revamping our grant-making process.

This streamlining and revision of the documentation used was invaluable. The Grants Committee spent the fall recruiting and training TPC’s 17 Grant Review Teams comprising 138 members. Their hard work is summarized to the right.

Thank you, Grant Review Teams, for making us proud of our new Grantees. If you’d like to read more about the impact TPC’s funding had on last year’s Grantees, please visit the Members Only web page where each organization’s final report has been posted.

Member Impact: Returning Grantee Boston CASA

Charles Lerner, Executive Director of returning Grantee Boston CASA, would like to share some of his thoughts with you regarding his work at CASA and the sometimes profound, always tangible, impact of TPC’s support.

As Boston CASA’s ED and a previous foster youth who himself got lost in the shuffle, CASA’s volunteers have strengthened my faith in the kindness of others. Following are just two examples of the countless stories of CASA volunteers making a difference in the lives of our community’s most vulnerable children. Between CASA’s volunteers and the generosity of TPC and its members, we will almost double the number of children with volunteer advocates in Boston. (Read more)

Membership

We were delighted that Sacha Pfeiffer interviewed Susan Benford, TPC’s President, for The Boston Globe in May. Often we gain members through existing members, or because someone attends a TPC event. But Young Philanthropist (YP) Cynthia Andre joined after reading the interview with Susan. She says,

I read about TPC in The Boston Globe and decided to learn more, so I checked out the website. I saw the good work TPC enabled and supported among non-profits. One in particular was School on Wheels Massachusetts, where I had been tutoring children impacted by homelessness. Their grant made me so happy to see. (Read more)

What Did We Learn?

Many of you participated in one or more of our educational opportunities this past year. From a Connect the Dots gathering to learn about TPC, to a seminar hosted by Cambridge Trust to discuss effective giving techniques, to one of our Philanthropy Dialogues, there was a full slate of interesting, practical, and fun activity squeezed between September and May.

We’d like to highlight one of the Dialogues, which are held four times during the year and typically attended by 20 to 40 women. The topic for this past April gathering was “What Can Non-Profits and Their Allies Do to Advance Social and Economic Rights for Women?” A thoughtful, provocative discussion followed the presentation by our three panelists. TPC Co-Founder Marla Felcher tells us more… (Read more)