Kim Patterson has worked her entire career helping people, especially those with serious mental health issues, as a social worker.
So she knew how much assistance – for housing, employment, health care and much, much more – they and others need. And she knew how Western Pennsylvania’s nonprofit organizations work to help them lead better lives.
Ten years ago she and two other women started 100+ Women Who Care Pittsburgh, a giving circle that awards sizable quarterly donations through a competitive process to nonprofit organizations. As of this year, according to its website, that has resulted in $445,000 in grants, a total achieved with matching money from the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation, too, available to it because of its connection with a national organization.
It is part of the 100 Women Who Care, an alliance of giving circles that began in 2006 when the late Karen Dunigan discovered a need for baby cribs in Jackson, Michigan. After making calls to friends, she quickly raised $12,600 for new mothers to have safe beds for their infants. It happened because she had been so involved in her community, according to the website: “Karen saw people for their strengths and realized that when 100 or more people come together in a room, each person becomes a powerful force for doing good work while lifting up your community. We are each strong in our own right, but together we are stronger.”
Today the organization has 900 chapters either fully operational (650) or under development (more than 250), and they include women, men, people, kids and teens chapters, according to its website. And all still keep the process simple to quickly meet pressing community needs.
In 2024 and so far in 2025 Operation Better Block, Sojourner House, Treasure House Fashions and Hope Grows secured grants after presentations at 100 Women Who Care Pittsburgh meetings.
Patterson learned about the organization from a friend, and with Brandi Phillips, now chief operating officer of DVSport Inc., and Alice Green, who now lives in New York, they started the giving circle here. Kate Dewey, a fundraising expert who has worked with foundations and nonprofits in the region, helped them with contacts, she said.
Joining Patterson and Phillips as current leaders of the group are Diane Pearson and Jessica Lichvar.
Just like the national, they keep it simple: Members give $100 quarterly, if they are established in their careers, or $35 if they are under 35 and just getting started. That enables donations of up to $15,000, which are increased with an average $5,000 eligible matching donations from the Schulze foundation established in memory of the Best Buy founder. Lichvar said to date the 161 members have raised $381,108.
Patterson said the giving circle is not a 501c3 organization. Other giving circles exist in Pittsburgh and the region, but this group differs by focusing on smaller nonprofits, including new ones.
“Even though it’s not a million or $50,000 a quarter, it’s a lot of money that people can really use, particularly because it’s unrestricted,” she said. Often the giving circle awards can be leveraged for other grants.
Members nominate organizations prior to the quarterly meetings, and leaders determine the three to be considered. Nominees receive a template and tip sheet to develop their 5-minute presentations. After enjoying food and drinks in the cozy Cellar on Penn space in the Strip District, members vote. If they can’t attend, they make their choice online. The winner is announced that night.
When prompted, Patterson quickly recalled two memorable past grantees: The Center for Victims Dog Advocacy program needed money to care for and train the animals who help the children the organization works with and assists in court hearings. The Thomas Merton Center’s Book ‘Em project – now the Pittsburgh Prison Book Project – award brought the woman leading it to tears when a giving circle representative presented her with the check.
Patterson likes the fact that giving circles work by “cutting out the middleman.”
Cellar on Penn’s owner Kathy Russell provides the space and the food, accompanied by a cash bar, for each meeting. Other members help with technical meeting needs, including live streaming it, and marketing and public relations promotions. And sponsors have helped keep costs low, too, Patterson said.
Lichvar, who operates an interior remodeling business with her partner in the South Hills, has been a member for two years. She maintains the group’s LinkedIn page and social media, sharing information about grantees and new members.
“It’s always a feel-good night,” she said. “You get a personal high from being a part of it.”
At the April meeting, Hope Grows executive director Lisa Iadicicco made her second pitch to members, which is permitted. This time her nonprofit won a much-needed grant.
Iadicicco told members that winning it means so much because her organization, which helps caregivers in its Moon Iris Respite House and 12 therapeutic gardens, operates on a shoestring budget.
The $20,000 award will help it continue its new venture: satellite caregiver support groups. Iadicicco said Hope Grows piloted its first one this year in the city’s East End. The next one will take place in the South Hills, and in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh, the model will be replicated in the Hill District and Homewood.
She has become a member of 100 Women Who Care Pittsburgh, too, after her presentation last year as have a number of the successful grantees. “Kim does such a great job,” Iadicicco said. “I’ve been trying to recruit some of my highly motivated women in my network to join as well.”
That fits right into Lichvar’s plans. She wants membership to climb to 200.
She said, “It’s nice to know that people are taking on these challenges to do good.”
The next meeting of the giving circle will be on Tuesday, July 22. To learn more about 100 Women Who Care Pittsburgh, visit https://womenwhocarepittsburghpen.squarespace.com/-getinvolved.
Other giving circles affiliated with the national organization have formed or are in process of developing in Butler County and Cranberry. Those are listed on the national site: https://directory.100whocarealliance.org/Custom/100WCCircles/FindACircle.aspx
Helen is a copy editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but she's currently on strike. Contact her at hfallon@unionprogress.com.