Focus on Improving Our Community 

Impact 100 Greater Indianapolis was established to bring together philanthropic women to fund high impact grants of $100,000 or more to improve our community.

Our Grant Funding Works to Improve Our Community 

Our grant philosophy directs us to improve our community in two ways: 

• We seek to fund critical needs, new ventures, and innovative ways to solve social problems and to create a more civil and respectful climate in our community. Our Change Maker Grant ($100,000) is designed to address this goal. Our high-impact $100,000 grants are awarded to fund a specific program proposed to us by a nonprofit agency to address a critical problem in our community. Nonprofits receiving a Change Maker Grant must use the full grant to fund the proposed program.  
• Each year, we raise funds over and above the $100,000 for those Change Maker Grants. Those additional funds are distributed as Community Support Grants, equally divided among the finalists not selected for the Change Maker Grant. We believe that every member of our community should have access to a clean, safe environment, cultural enrichment, family services, quality education, and healthcare. Community Support Grants are unrestricted, allowing the finalist agencies to meet those needs. Note: Community Support Grants were formerly referred to as “Residual Grants” to indicate they were funded with the residual grant pool.

Our Membership Options Give Us a Broad Base of Support in Our Community 

At our 2022 Annual Awards Celebration, 158 votes were cast to select our 2022 Change Maker. Those votes came from: 

• 122 Members who each made a $1000 donation 
• 81 Members comprising 27 Shared Membership groups who made donations of $250, $334, or $500 per member
• 9 members who participated through our Leaders of the Future Scholarship Program.

By providing membership options at different contribution levels and through our scholarship program, Impact 100 seeks to reach women throughout the community. We believe that this broad base of support helps us make better decisions in our grant making. Impact 100 plans to continue to grow its membership in each of these categories. To achieve that growth, we hope that our members and supporters will spread the word about these membership opportunities.