Changes to the 2020 Grant Year for Impact100 SA

Dear Impact100 SA members and friends,

Impact100 SA exists to create stronger, more connected communities and to promote a commitment to philanthropy and helping others in our society.

While the challenge of dealing with the spread of COVID-19 may have impacted upon our ability to hold events and meet face to face, it has not affected our commitment and, for this reason, our grant process will continue, as we saw recently with online voting to shortlist our four finalists.

Thank you to all members who voted and congratulations to our four finalists, Cottages 4 Country Care, Justicenet SA Inc, Lions Heart Learning Inc and Technology for Ageing and Disability who are now in the running for a $100,000 high impact grant. Now more than ever, organisations such as these need our support.

As members would be aware, our annual Grants Awards event was due to have taken place on 6 May. This was also the time when our friends at Grandparents For Grandchildren and United Way SA would have talked to us about how they had utilised our $100,000 grant from last year. We know how much these organisations value being able to meet with you and tell you their story.

We are committed to supporting our grant finalists, but we also recognise that these are challenging times for all of us, both for donors and our grant recipients, as we grapple with daily challenges, losses and uncertainty.  

In response, our Impact100 SA Management Committee has resolved that we need to allow our finalists and their mentors from EY, KPMG, Perks and PwC some respite and allow them to focus on their own organisations in the short term, rather than on preparing their presentations.

We have also decided to postpone our Grants Award’s night, which we now plan to hold in October each year in the future, with this year’s event now planned for Wednesday 28 October 2020.

We hope that delaying the process by almost six months will enable us to again host the event publicly. In the case of this not being possible, we will again provide a video presentation and an online voting facility.

The Management Committee is also concerned that many of our members may be struggling, both emotionally and financially in response to the fallout from COVID-19.

For this reason, membership donations for the 2021 grant year have now been deferred (which is the people whose memberships fall due after 6 May 2020) and will commence again in March 2021, with the proceeds being distributed at our Grants Event night in October 2021.

For those people whose membership is currently due (that is, those whose renewal anniversary date falls due before 6 May, the original date of our Grants Award night), your fully tax deductible donations will be gratefully received and will entitle you to vote at our October event.

These people received a renewal email from Geoff Day in mid-March and a final notice will go out late April.

All other members have no need to take action, until they receive their membership renewal letter from any one of our Impact100 SA volunteer membership committee members,  Phil Rundle, Natalie Fuller, Geoff Walsh, Geoff Day or Kathryn House in March 2021. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you would like further information in the meantime.

We will continue to share with you news of how our previous grant recipients and finalists are doing and to let you know ways you can to support their work in our communities.

In the meantime, stay safe and healthy, and where possible stay at home, so that together we can reduce the devastating spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Our sincere gratitude goes to all of those in our community who continue to work hard to support us all, be it the person stacking the supermarket shelves, the farmers and producers, truck drivers and transport workers, the healthcare workers, the police and other essential services, our leaders and all those who are trying to keep us healthy and safe.

With our best wishes

From the Impact100 SA board – Kathryn House (Chair), Geoff Day, Julia Steele Scott, Rachael McEvoy, Ailsa Young, Ellen Edmonds-Wilson, Justine Crawford, Jackie Newton, Geoff Walsh and Clare Randall.