A Little History
Chicks with Checks (CWC) was originally birthed in 2005 in response to completing treatment for breast cancer. Yay!
It happened like this....
My hair fell out thanks to chemo so I bought a really cute wig. Then the weirdest thing happened - strangers began asking who did my hair. No one had ever asked about my real hair! After the third or fourth incident, I wrote in my journal," Dear god, if you wanted me to change my hairdo, you could have just said so." Then sat staring at that sentence wondering what really needed changing.
What bubbled up was the need to up my game when it came to my core belief that giving is a lifestyle.
Even though giving had always been a part of my lifestyle, it had admittedly been more haphazard than thoughtful. Conquering cancer created a new urgency for making my giving more focused, systematic, and personal. I truly, firmly believe that giving is a lifestyle, not just a donation: If you want better relationships, give more loving actions. If you want a healthier body, give it healthier habits. If you want more personal or financial success, give yourself the habits, hangouts, and friendships that nurture your desired outcomes. If you want better communities, give time or money or both to the organizations working to make it happen. The Giver becomes the Receiver...
So I started by looking for causes in my own backyard that tugged at my heartstrings. Now I’m a good researcher and was already plugged into to the local fundraising community, but finding local NPOs - those unsung heroes on the front lines every day - turned out to be challenging. If I was having trouble, how on earth did anyone else find them unless they were directly connected to a founder or some other key person?
Then the idea struck. Create a venue similar to book club, only instead of reading a new book every month, we would learn about a new NPO each month. I met a friend for conversation and appetizers at a local restaurant and had barely described the idea when Fate caused an introduction to the Executive Directive of a local NPO I’d never heard of. She loved the concept, asked to go first, and so it began.
It started in my living room, inviting local nonprofits to come tell my friends who they are, what they do, why it is important to the community, and what we could do to help beyond just writing a check. Word of mouth kicked in and the problem of finding local NPOs evaporated.
Within a couple of months, calls began coming in from nearby towns wanting their own chapters and soon new groups began springing up with each chapter choosing its own community-based beneficiaries.
The initial group outgrew my living room and began meeting in boutiques, restaurants, art galleries, and occasionally on-site with the NPO. As the local chapters flourished, they became a combined social and business network for women, a lovely added benefit.
In 2007, I introduced CWC at CEO Space, and in 2008, we received an unsolicited mention in Time Magazine. In addition to increased requests to form chapters, we were flooded with requests from NPOs wanting to know how they could become a beneficiary. Because of the local chapter model, the only answer we had available was to first form a chapter in their area. It felt like the wrong answer.
It happened like this....
My hair fell out thanks to chemo so I bought a really cute wig. Then the weirdest thing happened - strangers began asking who did my hair. No one had ever asked about my real hair! After the third or fourth incident, I wrote in my journal," Dear god, if you wanted me to change my hairdo, you could have just said so." Then sat staring at that sentence wondering what really needed changing.
What bubbled up was the need to up my game when it came to my core belief that giving is a lifestyle.
Even though giving had always been a part of my lifestyle, it had admittedly been more haphazard than thoughtful. Conquering cancer created a new urgency for making my giving more focused, systematic, and personal. I truly, firmly believe that giving is a lifestyle, not just a donation: If you want better relationships, give more loving actions. If you want a healthier body, give it healthier habits. If you want more personal or financial success, give yourself the habits, hangouts, and friendships that nurture your desired outcomes. If you want better communities, give time or money or both to the organizations working to make it happen. The Giver becomes the Receiver...
So I started by looking for causes in my own backyard that tugged at my heartstrings. Now I’m a good researcher and was already plugged into to the local fundraising community, but finding local NPOs - those unsung heroes on the front lines every day - turned out to be challenging. If I was having trouble, how on earth did anyone else find them unless they were directly connected to a founder or some other key person?
Then the idea struck. Create a venue similar to book club, only instead of reading a new book every month, we would learn about a new NPO each month. I met a friend for conversation and appetizers at a local restaurant and had barely described the idea when Fate caused an introduction to the Executive Directive of a local NPO I’d never heard of. She loved the concept, asked to go first, and so it began.
It started in my living room, inviting local nonprofits to come tell my friends who they are, what they do, why it is important to the community, and what we could do to help beyond just writing a check. Word of mouth kicked in and the problem of finding local NPOs evaporated.
Within a couple of months, calls began coming in from nearby towns wanting their own chapters and soon new groups began springing up with each chapter choosing its own community-based beneficiaries.
The initial group outgrew my living room and began meeting in boutiques, restaurants, art galleries, and occasionally on-site with the NPO. As the local chapters flourished, they became a combined social and business network for women, a lovely added benefit.
In 2007, I introduced CWC at CEO Space, and in 2008, we received an unsolicited mention in Time Magazine. In addition to increased requests to form chapters, we were flooded with requests from NPOs wanting to know how they could become a beneficiary. Because of the local chapter model, the only answer we had available was to first form a chapter in their area. It felt like the wrong answer.
Back to the Drawing Board....
The original idea practically created itself and invited me along for the ride, but creating a version that stayed true to the mission and expanded beyond local chapters has been challenging, partly because I had to take a personal break to help care for my aging parents. The goal is to create an online entity with no geographic barriers so we can serve any local nonprofit anywhere in the US. We're working on it.
The Future
As soon as we figure out the details, Chicks with Checks will be back able to serve more great causes than we ever dreamed possible and YOU can help.
Watch this space and our Facebook page for details.
The Giver becomes the Receiver.
Watch this space and our Facebook page for details.
The Giver becomes the Receiver.