All members of the Spirit of St. Louis Women's Fund commit to making the same annual contribution to a common fund and cast their vote for the final grant distributions. There are no other obligations - we do no fundraising and have no obligatory meetings.
Do a Lot
Join a Committee
Members who wish to participate more are encouraged to serve
on one of the these committees:
Membership – Develops activities for attracting new members while serving the needs of current members. Coffees, cocktails, holiday event, Annual Meeting in June are planned and organized by this committee. Meets monthly.
Chair: Gwen Wesley
GrantMaking – Makes recommendations based on the grant process and criteria:
Letter of Inquiry Teams are active during October and November reviewing over 100 Letters of Inquiry received from the St. Louis Community for SOS’s consideration. The LOI Teams narrow the field of Grantees according to SOS’s guidelines for funding to a group of approximately 30 Grantees to be included in the RFP process.
The Site Visit Committee does its work during January – April. This group visits potential Grantees and studies the RFPs in detail, presenting a slate of Grantees for voting by the General Membership in April. Participation in one or both of these efforts has been found to be very rewarding to the many SOS members who participate in the process.
Felice Joyce
Linda Grayson
Laura Friedman
Grant Review Finance Committee: This committee reviews financial reports provided by potential Grantees. Active January – March.
Chair: Ann Sutter
Marketing/PR – Promotes the organization through targeted marketing
and communications. Publishes quarterly newsletter.
Chair: Marie Casey
Education - Plans educational programs and events for members to learn about our community, it’s needs, and how we can become more effective philanthropists. Some programs planned may simply be of general educational interest to our members.
Chair: Linda Finerty
Nominating - With a focus on attracting new and diverse members, identifies and recruits SOS members with skills and talents needed to assume leadership positions within the organization.
Chair: Ilene Ordower
Impact/Evaluation - Carefully evaluates how well our grantee organizations make use of the money they are awarded and reports this information to Membership and Grantmaking Committees to make future decisions regarding how our resources can be most effectively utilized in the community.
Chair: Mary Schoolman
Join the Board
As you know, the Spirit of St. Louis Women's Fund (SOS) strengthens the St. Louis community through informed, focused grant making by educating and inspiring women to engage in significant giving. The success of SOS has been directly related to the efforts of our members in an array of activities…from researching agencies to providing for the effective administration of the organization. If you are interested in serving as a board member on our exciting and meaningful journey, please contact Shelby Schagrin at shelbyschagrin@yahoo.com. We welcome your expertise and passion and will discuss potential areas for your participation.
