• Each member must commit to donating $100 per meeting ($400 per year).

• The donations will be given to non-profit organizations or causes serving the Tri-Cities and/or surrounding communities.

• No national charities will be considered. The purpose is for most of our contributions to stay in our community and surrounding areas.

• Any member wishing to request donations for a non-profit must have provided proof of their non-profit status prior to the meeting.

• Upon arrival the member will place in a box, her name, and the name of the organization she is pitching.

• Three names will be drawn from the box. • Each of the three members will be given 5 minutes to present information on the non-profit she is promoting. There will be five minutes provided after each presentation for members to ask questions.

• Only the presenter is allowed to answer questions. The presenter may not defer questions to another member of the group.

• If there is an immediate/emergency need at the time of the meeting, the emergency can be added to the hat, even if it is not for a non-profit, and if selected, can be presented as one of the three choices.

• By ballot, the group will vote, with the understanding that the majority rules. Each member agrees to donate to the chosen cause regardless of her personal views.

• If a non-profit is drawn but not chosen to receive the funds, the non-profit will be eligible to put their name in the drawing at a future meeting. A non-profit is allowed to present only twice in one calendar year.

• Lobbying for a favorite organization prior to the meeting is not allowed.

• The non-profit may NOT use the names of members for future solicitations or give membership information out to the public. If the non-profit does not adhere to this condition, they will be removed from any future consideration. The recipients are encouraged to share information about their selection on social media or through email to their supporters.

• After an organization is selected, it is not eligible to pitch again for 12 meetings.

• The meetings will be held at the Spring Lake Country Club as they have a large gathering space and do not charge us for its use.

• Membership to Tri-Cities Women Who Care is open to ALL women. The more women we gather, the greater our impact within our community.

Any member of the Tri-Cities Woman Who Care chapter.

Any 501(c) organization or nonprofit that serves the population within and around the Grand Haven, Spring Lake and Ferrysburg area.

Each agency that presents must have their tax ID information filed with us.

If you are planning on presenting, you can submit your documents by email prior to the meeting or bring them with you to the meeting.

Once your documents have been submitted, we keep them on file so you do not have to file them again.

Exceptions to the requirement are:

Programs with funds held at the Grand Haven Area Community Foundation

Programs associated with Schools

Programs associated with Churches, such as food pantries. We do not support specific church budgets.

• Upon arrival at the meeting, any member of Tri-Cities Women Who Care who has a local, not-for–profit organization or charitythey are interested in representing, puts her name and the name of the organization on a card that is placed in a box.

• During the meeting, three cards are pulled from the box.

• The person selected has five minutes to plead her case for her organization—followed by five minutes of questions from the large group.

• At the end of the three presentations, the large group votes by secret ballot. The ballots are tallied and the members write their checks to the organization with the most votes.

• The checks are collected and delivered to the selected organization.

Quarterly on the third Thursday of March, June, September and November from 5:30pm-6:30pm.

The Spring Lake Country Club graciously donates a meeting room for our chapter’s use.

Address: 17496 N Fruitport Rd, Spring Lake, MI 49456

At each meeting, donations by checks, cash or Venmo are collected by the chapter leadership and delivered to the selected agency at a later date.

Each member agrees to donate to the chosen cause regardless of her personal views. Lobbying for a favorite organization prior to the meeting is prohibited.

If your charity is chosen, congratulations! The charity will be presented with the donation at a later agreed upon date.

Our chapter also offers hybrid meetings! You have the option to join by Zoom if you can’t make it in person.

You can send your donation with a friend who can vote by proxy for you or you can mail your check to the chapter leadership.