Impact Austin Women Making a Difference: Impact Beyond the Grant

Impact Austin
Jul 14
5 min read

Updated: Jul 15

Impact Austin women bring leadership, collaboration, and the inherent will to improve whatever nonprofit or program they become involved with. Impact Austin’s blog team is making it a project this year to share some of the impactful work our members do in addition to – and perhaps because of - their Impact Austin membership and involvement.

Often this work is with a Community Partner or an applicant for the Impact Austin grants that our members became aware of through their participation on a Grant Review Committee! This article tells the story of two Grant Review Committees (GRCs), one in 2025 and the other in 2004.

2025 Impact Beyond the Grant

Early 2025, Impact Austin received 150 applications for our Community, Education, and Health & Well-Being Grants. Twenty member-volunteers within the Education GRC reviewed their 37 applications.

As the grant cycle progressed, five exceptional education nonprofits rose to the top for deep-dive reviews. These included Boys & Girls Clubs of the Austin Area, Breakthrough Central Texas, Open Door Preschools, Seedling, and ZACH Theatre. As the Education GRC further narrowed the field, Breakthrough Central Texas, Open Door Preschools, and Seedling were named as semi-finalists chosen for in-person site reviews. At their final meeting, the GRC faced an agonizing choice of selecting only two of these to advance for member vote that would determine specific funding - an $80,000 primary grant or $18,000 secondary grant. In the end, Seedling was not selected for a 2025 grant.

As is often the case, GRC members wished they could offer an additional grant! While not officially possible, a few GRC members decided they could personally provide a grant-sized gift. And so they did!

Elaine Jensen and Connee Sullivan, both on the Grants team, reached out to Education GRC members.

"As you know, we can only have 2 finalists to present to membership for the primary and secondary grants. Every year we say 'trust the process' and the right 2 will become our finalists. And it’s always true. However, sometimes the third non-profit strikes a chord with some of us. It touches our hearts and we are moved to act individually. Seedling Mentors is one of those organizations this year... Connee and I were so inspired by this organization and their program that we have both decided to match any contributions up to $5,000 made to Seedling for a total match of $10,000. Any match, no matter big or small will qualify for the match and is a great way to double your impact.

"There is clearly no obligation here. As part of Impact Austin we all know the power of pooling financial resources, so we just wanted to share this opportunity with this core group of women who learned about this organization and perhaps were also moved."

In all, nine members contributed $15,916. "Our goal was to get to the $18k that they would have received had they won the secondary grant, so we came close," Elaine reported.

Seedling staff were thrilled with the members' personal generosity. These messages were shared with Education GRC members.

Thank you for your call today, Connee, and wow, I am still processing this amazing news and wrapping my head and my heart around this beautiful act of generous support. I shared the news with the team and everyone is equally surprised and grateful.

We thank you all for recognizing the impact of Seedling and trusting us to partner in this important work to lift up and support children who have incarcerated parents with life changing mentoring. I have been working in nonprofits for decades and I can honestly say this goes down as one of the most memorable days ever. That you chose to not only generously support individually, but that you also invited the larger group to join you is truly incredible. Thank you.

Thank you for sharing the names of those who have made commitments; we will keep an eye out for those gifts.

I look forward to connecting again soon.

Warm regards,

Julie Barschow, Chief Development and Communications Officer, Seedling Mentors

Hi Connee, Elaine, and friends at Impact Austin,

I, too, just wanted to send a big, heartfelt thank you to all of you. We have been so touched by the response from the Grants Committee—and honestly, hearing that Seedling moved you enough to want to support us personally means the world.

Connee, I really appreciate you putting the word out and rallying others. Elaine, thank you so much for your generosity, and please pass along our deep gratitude to everyone who’s already committed to giving. It’s amazing to see this kind of community come together.

We know it was a tough decision for the committee, and your kind words about wishing there could have been three finalists really hit home. Just knowing how much our mission resonated with you all is incredibly encouraging.

We’re excited to keep you posted on the difference your gifts will make—and to continue the conversation. Thank you for believing in Seedling and helping us keep showing up for kids who need someone in their corner.

With gratitude,

Melissa Neuman, Donor Relations Officer, Seedling Mentors

Thank you Connee, Elaine, to your families, and to the other members of Impact Austin who will be contributing through this very generous act of support for Seedling's resilient children.

Thank you for seeing and believing in the power of mentoring to make a change in the children's life trajectory and in their educational goals. When Julie conveyed this message to me, I was completely blown away by your kindness, generosity and engagement of other members of Impact Austin. We are very grateful and also hopeful that Seedling will continue to have the community's support for us to make life changing and generational differences in lives of children impacted by parental incarceration for our next 20 years of mentoring.

Dan Leal, Chief Executive Officer, Seedling Mentors

2004 Impact Beyond the Grant

This was not the first time that Impact Austin members pooled their funds unofficially to make impact personally on a grant applicant. During the 2004 inaugural grant cycle, Impact Austin members officially contributed $126,000 for the first and only grant. We received 87 applications across four focus areas, with 75+ members volunteering as grant reviewers. Member vote at the first Annual Meeting selected LifeWorks for the sole 2004 grant. But, as happened this year, there became more to the story. Founding member Nancy Word shared this memory:

"Yes, our FAC [Health & Wellness Focus Area Committee, now called a Grant Review Committee] ... recommended Family Eldercare to the larger membership for the grant. We were heartbroken when they didn’t received it - so we just funded their wish list and eventually their grant request! The main grant request was for an activities coordinator for Lyons Gardens, a senior living facility for low income seniors. One of our committee members, Kay Creath, volunteered for this position for several years. Other FAC members donated specific items in their wish list. I remember one of the requests was for raised [garden] beds so residents in wheel chairs could still work in the garden. Kay and I donated a pretty teak bench, dedicating it to our mothers, that was placed in the garden area. I can’t remember all of the things that were funded but I think we went down their list and for the most part funded all of it. The best part was that most of us got involved there, as it was a new facility funded by Family Eldercare and HUD. That was a new model at the time."

Impact Austin's founder Rebecca Powers foresaw Impact Austin's potential in creating an "army of informed philanthropists" among our members. She and other founding members knew that exposure to Central Texas nonprofits, awareness of community needs, and training in the best practices of grantmaking would empower this "army" to make a philanthropic difference - officially and personally.