Impact100 Sonoma

Impact100 Sonoma is a women's philanthropic giving circle serving Sonoma Valley in California. It is part of the broader Impact100 model, a nonprofit-oriented approach in which local women combine individual contributions into larger grants for community organizations. The model was originated by Wendy Steele in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 2001: participating women contributed a standard amount and collectively determined which local nonprofit would receive the resulting grant. Impact100 subsequently developed into a network of local chapters in the United States and in several other countries, with Impact100 Global established in 2015 to support chapter development and coordination. Impact100 Sonoma was founded in 2009 by Christine Dohrmann and Annette Lomont. The two organizers introduced the concept to women in the Sonoma Valley and held an open meeting in August of that year. More than 50 women attended the initial gathering, and membership exceeded 100 women by December 2009. The chapter's structure emphasizes collective decision-making: members pool their donations and participate in selecting nonprofit beneficiaries, allowing individual contributions to support grants of a scale that would generally be difficult for one donor to provide alone. The chapter's activity is focused on Sonoma Valley rather than on a national or commercial market. Its role is therefore best understood as a local philanthropic platform rather than a conventional consumer brand. It connects women donors with community organizations and directs pooled charitable resources toward local needs. The chapter's identity is built around participation, shared governance, local knowledge, and visible community impact. By 2019, Impact100 Sonoma had 319 members and had awarded more than $2.3 million in grants to Sonoma Valley nonprofits. The available reference material does not identify a current executive team, a separate legal owner, a current website, or more recent membership and grant totals. It also does not establish whether the chapter remains active at the time of this entry. Accordingly, current operational status and present leadership require verification.

Impact100 Sonoma emerged from the wider Impact100 giving-circle movement, which began in Cincinnati in 2001 when Wendy Steele organized women to combine donations and award a substantial local grant through a collective vote. The model treated philanthropy as both a funding mechanism and a form of participatory community decision-making. Instead of relying on a single benefactor, the giving circle aggregated many individual contributions and allowed members to determine the recipient organization. The Sonoma chapter was established in 2009 by Christine Dohrmann and Annette Lomont. They promoted the giving-circle idea among women in Sonoma Valley and arranged an open meeting in August 2009. The meeting drew more than 50 attendees, indicating early interest in a structured, collaborative approach to local giving. By December of the same year, membership had grown beyond 100 women. As a local chapter, Impact100 Sonoma focused its charitable activity on nonprofit organizations in Sonoma Valley. Its operating concept was to collect member donations, organize members around the grant-selection process, and distribute the pooled funds through awards to local community organizations. This chapter-based design connected a broader philanthropic framework with local knowledge: members could identify organizations and needs in their own area while benefiting from the larger grant pool created by collective participation. The wider Impact100 network continued to expand. Impact100 Global was formed in 2015 to support local chapters, and by 2021 the network included dozens of chapters in the United States as well as chapters in Australia, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand. Impact100 Sonoma remained one of the California chapters associated with this model. The available historical record reports that Impact100 Sonoma had 319 members in 2019 and had awarded more than $2.3 million in grants to Sonoma Valley nonprofits. These figures indicate substantial growth from the chapter's first year and show that its role extended beyond membership activity to significant cumulative local grantmaking. The supplied sources do not provide a complete list of grant recipients, annual grant amounts, current officers, later milestones, or a confirmed current operating status. Those details should be researched before treating the chapter as currently active or assigning present-day leadership.

• 2019

  Reported membership and grantmaking scale

  [1]Impact100en.wikipedia.org

  Impact100 Sonoma was reported to have 319 members and more than $2.3 million in cumulative grants to Sonoma Valley nonprofits.

• 2015

  Impact100 Global formed

  [1]Impact100en.wikipedia.org

  A global support organization was created to assist local Impact100 chapters as the network expanded.

• 2009

  Impact100 Sonoma co-founded

  [1]Impact100en.wikipedia.org

  Christine Dohrmann and Annette Lomont co-founded the Sonoma chapter and began introducing the giving-circle concept to women in Sonoma Valley.

• 2009

  First Sonoma Valley information meeting

  [1]Impact100en.wikipedia.org

  An open meeting held in August attracted more than 50 women interested in forming a local Impact100 chapter.

• 2009

  Membership surpassed 100

  [1]Impact100en.wikipedia.org

  By December 2009, the new Sonoma chapter had grown to more than 100 members.

• 2001

  Impact100 model founded in Cincinnati

  [1]Impact100en.wikipedia.org

  Wendy Steele established the original Impact100 giving circle in Cincinnati, creating the pooled-donation and member-voting model later adopted by local chapters.

A locally governed women's giving circle that turns pooled member donations into high-impact grants for Sonoma Valley nonprofit organizations.

• Giving-circle membership · 2009

  Impact100 Sonoma membership

  A participation-based philanthropic membership through which women in Sonoma Valley pool charitable contributions and take part in selecting nonprofit grant recipients. The membership is the chapter's core offering rather than a commercial product: it provides a structured way for individual donors to collaborate, evaluate local community needs, and direct collective resources toward Sonoma Valley organizations.

• Philanthropic grantmaking · 2009

  Community nonprofit grants

  Collective grants funded through member donations and awarded to nonprofit organizations serving Sonoma Valley. The available source describes the grantmaking function and cumulative results but does not provide a complete grant-recipient list, annual award schedule, or current grant categories.

1. 1Impact100en.wikipedia.org