Impact 100 Scholarship Program

Impact 100 has always been about making a difference – both for the nonprofits to whom they offer grants, and among the Indianapolis community at large. Since 2013 Impact 100 has been making a difference in shaping the philanthropic perspectives of women through its scholarship program, which covers the cost of membership for promising philanthropists.

The scholarship process started with an invitation to one student from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy to participate in the Impact 100 granting process, with her membership paid by a generous Impact 100 member. It was immediately apparent that these scholarship members were a benefit to the Focus Area Committees (FACs) they joined

In 2015 the Impact 100 Board decided to expand the scholarship program to ten recipients as a way to celebrate our tenth anniversary, and generous donors stepped up to donate the additional $10,000 needed to pay for their membership. The program was so successful the Board decided to make it an annual endeavor with the number of scholarship members determined by the amount of donations into a special Philanthropic Scholarship Fund created for that purpose, one scholarship for each $1250 in the fund on December 31 each year ($1000 for a Full Membership and $250 to cover the Operational costs of managing each scholarship).

Says Impact 100 co-founder Donna Oklak, “One woman a year in the program was good, but ten plus women allows our organization and members to really feel the presence of these budding philanthropists as full participants in our committee work.”

Do you know a woman interested or just getting started in a career in philanthropy?

Please encourage her to apply to Impact 100’s Scholarship Program. This program covers the cost of membership for those working to become tomorrow’s philanthropists. Scholarship recipients are encouraged to participate in all aspects of the Impact 100 process, including serving on a Focus Area Committee and voting at our Annual Dinner.

To be considered eligible, the applicant must:

• Identify as female.
• Live in Marion County or one of its donut counties (Hamilton, Hancock, Shelby, Johnson, Morgan, Hendricks, or Boone).
• Be between the ages of 23-36 OR within the first 10 years of a public service career.
• Pledge to do ALL of the following:
  • Serve on a Focus Area Committee, abiding by the organization’s grant-making procedures and conflict of interest policy.
  • Attend and volunteer at the Annual Dinner.
  • Attend at least four more Impact events during the calendar year, volunteering for at least one of them.
  • Make two social media posts about the experience of being a scholarship member.
• Have not received an Impact 100 Scholarship Membership previously.

Applications for the Scholarship Program are accepted during the last quarter of each year for a membership the following year. It is recommended that interested candidates review our website and blog postings to learn more about us our processes before filling out the Scholarship Application Form. Current applications are available on our home page as soon as they are released each fall until the application period ends. The form contains the deadline and other important information to ensure the applicant meets our requirements. Because receiving this scholarship requires a time commitment from the recipient, it is necessary for the applicant to complete and send in the form herself.

Would you like to help us provide Scholarships to budding philanthropists?

Donations to the Scholarship Program are accepted year-round. If you would like to make a donation of any size help these women participate in our programs, please click here.