100+ Women Who Care of Washington County

Fuzz Martin 0:08

Hey, how 'bout ya, Washington County. Thanks for tuning in to Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz. I'm Fuzz. And you're about to spend 15 minutes with me... and a couple other people, but we'll talk about that in a second.

Fuzz Martin 0:21

First, I want to thank Justin Reichert for being the first ever person in the history of the world. To purchase a Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz t-shirt from me. I just put together a little drop ship store on square and you can find it by going to fuzz.cc/merch. I make like a buck off a t shirt sale. fuzz.cc slash merch. This week. I have two guests joining me in the studio. Ruth Henkle the executive director at Albrecht Free Clinic, and Jillian Clark, the CEO and founder of Chix 4 a Cause. Both joining me today to talk about a wonderful organization called 100+ Women Who Care of Washington County. The organization helps raise 10s of 1000s of dollars for Washington County nonprofits. And it's a super cool concept. With that here are 15 minutes on 100+ Women Who Care of Washington County with Ruth Henkle, and Jillian Clark on Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.

Fuzz Martin 1:36

Ruth and Jillian, thank you so much for coming in today to Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz. I appreciate it. Can you please start with providing a little bit of an overview of what 100 Plus women have washed out of what 100 Plus Women Who Care of Washington County is all about?

Jillian Clark 1:50

Well, actually, we did not actually start this organization in 2007, a woman in Michigan actually started and she had over 100 Women her first meeting and continued to do that, and then grew from there. So there's chapters all over the United States, I think their third or fourth meeting, I was reading that they had $300,000. And that's where we want to be sure, yes, some point. But it's a small intro of what we what we all have started to do, because it's very simple.

Fuzz Martin 2:22

So this, the concept of this is you've got a group of women 100 plus women, and then they each make a donation is it four times a year,

Jillian Clark 2:31

Four times, once a quarter, they come together and give $100. And they be prior to that they nominate all these nonprofits within our county. And they have to be established for over a year. So we've had some that weren't, and now are and are eligible to receive funds. If, if so, the night of the event three of they will pick three of the nonprofits, and then they will come up and speak and then the group will vote on that. And if somebody is wanting to come in and doesn't want can afford the $100 you can bring two people in and do $50 each, and then they get one vote so they have to decide which one that would be

Fuzz Martin 3:12

okay. And then the winning. Nonprofit gets all of the funds. Is that how that were correct. And you guys do that four times here or times a year. So you both started at different chapters before Washington County existed, right? Where did you guys begin?

Ruth Henkle 3:27

I was a member of the Ozaukee County 100+ Women. And actually when I came to Washington County and as the executive director at the Albrecht Free Clinic, it was like we need to have this in our county. I mean, just knowing as a nonprofit leaders, same with Jillian, how difficult it is to raise funds and and tell your story. I kind of pulled together a couple of my friends Jillian, Wendy Heather and Terry Otis, we all work together at at one we were previous bankers and decided to form this this nonprofit in Washington County.

Fuzz Martin 4:00

So how long has that been in Washington County.

Ruth Henkle 4:03

We started our first meeting in February of 2019. And I actually pulled the data. Elevate was our first recipient and we had a great turnout on our first meeting, where we raised $4,300 In our first meeting, oh, great, for Elevate.

Fuzz Martin 4:19

Great, and now are you up over 100 Women yet or are you around that number?

Jillian Clark 4:24

Oh, yeah. 115 to be exact. 115 Okay, great. Um, just to go back to where I started. I actually started the help with the starting the 100+ Women in Milwaukee. I wasn't the founding member. I just came because it was sounded really cool. And we were actually the very first recipient of their chapter. Along with me being a member. I think it was a member for like two or three years. And they gave us $3,500 So we beat them.

Fuzz Martin 4:55

And that was with Chix 4 a Cause. Yes,

Jillian Clark 4:56

I was yes.

Fuzz Martin 4:57

So how did you both find out about This organization to start, where did you learn about it? And what got you interested?

Ruth Henkle 5:04

Well, in Ozaukee County, I just knew some friends that were in it. And so a lot of this is really friends bringing other friends together. There is a social component. I mean, when we meet once a quarter, we have like a half an hour time where women friends have have something to eat something to drink, and just catch up. And then we have our meeting time, which goes for one hour, and we're really proud of, of starting on time and ending on time. I mean, that's one of the beauties of this. So really just friends bringing friends together to combine their resources for the greater good. Is the

Fuzz Martin 5:41

meeting held at a different location every time or where did they go?

Jillian Clark 5:45

We actually started our very first one was cafe was a Café Sourette back in the day downstairs where Jodi was. And then she moved to The Precinct and then we moved with her. And then we had an the Norbert. Tony was very gracious to give us his space. And now we're starting to go to different places, because it's only fair, right? We want people in Washington County, to get advanced, you know, take advantage and other people to learn their business.

Ruth Henkle 6:13

Sure. And we want to really spread the meetings out throughout the counties. So we did have a couple of meetings at Foundry 45, in Kewaskum. And so we're trying to get something west now, like in Hartford or Slinger really to try to make it the entire county and collect women as members from those those areas as well.

Fuzz Martin 6:36

Sure. And I assume also supporting the nonprofits that are in areas throughout the county as well,

Jillian Clark 6:41

exactly. And the women that come as well, wherever they're coming in their radius. And now because we've gotten so big, the smaller places that we have held these meetings, just

Ruth Henkle 6:53

I think that's one of the beauties of this, as well as that women learn about nonprofits that they didn't even know existed. I mean, one of the criteria is that a nonprofit has to serve Washington County, so that our funds stay in Washington County. And so we're all learning something about a new nonprofit or a nonprofit that has a has a need, that we didn't know about. And and so that really is another really beautiful component of this group.

Jillian Clark 7:21

And if people are listening, we also will take founding nonprofits that were started in Washington County, and they may go outside of Washington County, but they have to designate those funds in Washington County as well, because of their service may be out outside.

Fuzz Martin 7:37

So they may have grown outside the borders. But as long as the funds are spent here, then exactly. You're helping out that scrape. So you've mentioned Elevate, and obviously Albrecht Free Clinic, Chix 4 a Cause. What are some other other of the nonprofits that you've supported in the past

Ruth Henkle 7:51

Family Promise, Friends of Washington County, the United Way the Humane Society, the Historical Society, which is now the Tower? The Tower right tower? Casa Guadalupe? I mean, it's the the,

Jillian Clark 8:08

the most recent was the trafficking nonprofit, right in Hartford,

Ruth Henkle 8:13

right. So there are a lot of new nonprofits that are popping up as well. And like Jillian said, they do have to wait until they have their IRS certificate. And we do make sure they're a 501 C three. And we do that because most of our members want the tax deduction. That's important to them. And we also want a nonprofit to have some experience and know that they're going to continue so that our donations are going to serve those.

Jillian Clark 8:42

Oh, we also did the Foster Closet. Oh, yeah,

Ruth Henkle 8:45

the foster closet. One other thing that we brought with us from the Ozaukee County Chapter is that the Schultze Family Foundation, which is the family that founded Best Buy, they specifically in their foundation match up to 50% or up to 5,000. So if we're over 10,000, the max they will do is a $5,000 per quarter grant. And not every nonprofit is eligible because they're pretty specific on health and human services agencies versus the arts. But every quarter, we submit an application to them, and then they let us know if the nonprofit is selected. So our membership makes the cheque payable directly to the nonprofit so that they receive the tax deduction letter from the nonprofit. But then we find out about a month after our meeting if the nonprofit will receive an additional 5,000.

Fuzz Martin 9:46

How does the nonprofit go about getting themselves nominated? Is that through the members

Jillian Clark 9:52

pretty much through the members, some of the nonprofits is have found out about us and they also like myself as a nonprofit. I've joined founding member But we get other nonprofits that will come first and join. And they will also not nominate their own nonprofit, or the member would

Fuzz Martin: 10:08

sure that typically, is it just for or how many, nominate nominated entities? Do you have to think? Or is it just as many?

Jillian Clark: 10:17

When When Terry Otis is one of the lead, ladies, that helps us with the back end of the admin, and she will send out all the emails to the founding members, and then they will send in their nominations. And from there, they will have somebody pick the three. So it could be 10-15, it could be two or three, and then she'll start sending another email and saying, Hey, we need some more nonprofits. Okay,

Ruth Henkle: 10:41

so nominations are by members only. Yes. So like, like Jillian said, I mean, we could I mean, every member could nominate each quarter. So they really take the time to find out nonprofits that they're passionate about, or the needs of the nonprofits that they're connected to. And then they'll put in the nomination, but then we randomly draw three, okay, each quarter, and then those three are presented at the meeting. And then only the people that are attending the meeting can vote. So even if a proxy or right,

Fuzz Martin: 11:15

and then if an organization has won in the past, are they allowed to be nominated again, two years, you have to wait two years or 20 years. Okay. Obviously, as this grows more and more, it becomes even more beneficial each quarter today. So how does somebody who may be listening and wants to get involved? Or maybe they've got a group of friends that are looking to get involved with some sort of nonprofit how, how do they get into the 100 Plus Women Who Care in Washington County?

Ruth Henkle: 11:43

Well, we have our next meeting on October 10. But I am not sure the location. But

Jillian Clark: 11:50

they can even Skinny Vic's. Okay. Oh, you're right. You're right.

Ruth Henkle: 11:53

So, we always meet the first month of each quarter, the second Tuesday. Okay. So second Tuesday, the first month of the quarter at 530. We do have a website. We are on Facebook.

Jillian Clark: 12:08

It's more Facebook, no website. Okay. Sorry. Okay. So we are looking for social media people. So we don't have a big presence we have.

Ruth Henkle: 12:18

But I would I would encourage anybody interested to reach out to me, I'm at the Albert Free clinic,

Jillian Clark: 12:24

Myself at Chix 4 a Cause, Jillian Clark,

Ruth Henkle: 12:28

Right and the other two members, Terry Otis, or Wendy Heather, are currently retired. So it's probably easier to meet, reach out to Julian or I, but really come to a meeting, find out if they know somebody that goes to a meeting and just come we have a lot of members that come to the meeting before they're a member. Sure. And then they hear the stories. And I think the last meeting, we had over 10 new members join that night, they came as a guest, and they just filled out the paperwork. And that's another thing if they fill out the paperwork that night, and they're committing to that financial amount Quarterly, we let them vote that night, okay, they become a member instantly. Great.

Jillian Clark: 13:09

And once that once that nonprofit has received was the recipient, the next quarter that we meet that nonprofit comes back and actually explains what they did with the money. Or at least some there was one that said, Well, we just put it in the savings account because we'll need it for rent and, and, and, and such. That's okay. Because it's really hard to get capacity grants around as a nonprofit for so if that's what you're doing. At least the members kind of know what they are planning on doing. They don't have to spend the money within the quarter, but at least they get a really good idea where that money is going to. And I think that's really a beneficial thing that you know, you given your $100 and making all this money, and then they come back and tell you what they did with it.

Fuzz Martin: 13:51

Yeah, certainly. I think I know the answer this, but do the members have to live in Washington County or, like if they work in Washington County? Can they are door just are interested in Yeah.

Ruth Henkle: 14:00

I live in Ozaukee County work in Washington County. So it's not it's more about supporting the nonprofits that are in Washington County. We have some that may live in Florida, but they're here for the summer and so Arizona, right, right? So so it's really not where you live. It's more are you passionate about the nonprofits and the work that needs to be done in Washington County, and if you're willing to support it financially, once a quarter is really what our requirements are

Fuzz Martin: 14:31

Perfect. Well, it's really an awesome concept. And it I think it lowers the barrier of entry of supporting things like this. And it's also obviously has the big social component and really brings together women in Washington County. I think it's great. So thank you to both of you for coming in. Thanks to the organization. I'll put your contact information through the show notes if that's okay. And then let people know how to get to the Facebook page as well.

Ruth Henkle: 14:55

I would just like to say one more thing. We looked at our notes and since our First meeting in February of 2019, we have contributed as a group close to $200,000 in profits of Washington County

Fuzz Martin: 15:09

Since 2019? That's February of 2019. Yeah, that's fantastic. So again, I mean, this is an amazing impact on our community. And we appreciate you being here. And thanks for coming on the show.

Jillian Clark: 15:18

Thank you for having us.

Fuzz Martin: 15:20

You're welcome. Thank you again to Jillian Clark and Ruth Henkle for joining me on this week's episode of Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz. After the interview, Jillian wanted me to mention that these 100+ groups can be formed by others as well not just women, you can have 100 plus men who care 100 Plus businesses who care 100 Plus friends or kids or pets who care. You get the idea, again, such a super cool concept and a great way to get involved and help local nonprofits. Thank you for listening to the show. If you ever have a suggestion for guests for the show, please be sure to reach out. Go to fifteenwithfuzz@gmail.com that is 15 spelled out with fuzz at gmail.com. Or you can go to fuzz.cc/guest and fill out the form that's fuzz.cc slash guest New episodes come out on Tuesdays. Next week, we talk to The Bend Theatre. Like your favorite Wisconsin-based gas station. I'll see you next time right here on Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.