I can’t get over the elegant simplicity of the 100 Who Care model, where 100 or more people donating $100 each three times a year results in sizeable donations to worthy local charities.

It was a revelation last month at my first 100 Men Who Care Salt Spring meeting to see how in an hour’s time a local registered charity can come away with at least $10,000. In this case, it was the Salt Spring Food Bank, and earlier this week,100 Women Who Care Salt Spring chose GIFTS (Gulf Island Families Together Society) as its fall recipient.

I had seen the 100 Who Care name, including here on the Exchange, but I wasn’t familiar with the concept until someone told me about it and said 100 Men was seeking new members. And I’ve found that most people I know on SSI who aren’t members also don’t know how it works.

It’s a simpler and much less time-consuming process than the typical ways registered charities raise money through bake sales, raffles, or grant applications. All it takes is being nominated by a 100 Who Care member, having the luck to be randomly drawn as one of three finalists, and delivering a winning five-minute presentation.

Of course, there needs to be enough people who commit to donating $100 three times a year, the only requirement for becoming a member. Fortunately, there is no shortage of people on SSI who want to do something good for the community. 100 Women Who Care Salt Spring has 160 members and has doled out almost $300,000 in donations since 2018. 100 Men Who Care Salt Spring, which started in 2019, has 105 members and so far has donated about $140,000.

“To be able to do a quick, small cash injection of $10,000 is really satisfying,” says Iain Pennington, chair of 100 Men Who Care Salt Spring. “There’s a tightness and efficiency that I really like about it. it’s super street level.”

He appreciates being chair of something that has a simple structure and is not even a formal organization. "100 Men Who Care Salt Spring is essentially just a bank account that members put money into in order to cut a big cheque,” Ian explains. The awarded charities send individual members tax receipts for their $100 donations.

Linda Adams, chair of 100 Women Who Care Salt Spring, also touts how the model is a “very direct kind of philanthropy.”

“None of the $100 from each woman is going to administration,” she says. “This a way to join forces with a bunch of people and be able to give a real shot in the arm to some of our local groups that need it.”

For both Iain and Linda, the social aspect is part of the reason they joined their respective 100 Who Care groups. They say it’s been a great way for them to meet people positive and caring people in the community. The women hold their meetings at ArtSpring while the men have started meeting at the Salt Spring Island Sailing Club, and before each meeting, there is time set aside for mingling.

The 100 Men and 100 Women groups on SSI do not generally interact with each other, but are based on the same model, which is evident from their very similar-looking websites. There is no national or international overseeing body, just a template and basic tenets for local groups to follow.

The 100 Who Cares movement is the brainchild of Karen Dunigan of Jackson, Michigan. In 2006, when she heard that $10,000 for portable cribs was urgently needed for new mothers in her community, she decided—she was the town’s former mayor—that while she probably knew 10 women who could donate $1,000 each, it would be better to have more people feel invested in it. So, she asked 100 women she knew to contribute $100 each, and ended up raising more than $10,000.

Dunigan subsequently founded the first 100 Women Who Care group, with a stipulation that the pooled donations go to a local cause with an immediate need. The idea has really caught on; in some places there are even 100 Kids Who Care groups. In 2012, the first 100 Who Care group in Canada started up in Toronto. In BC, there are now 26 Women Who Care and 10 Men Who Care local groups.

The way it works locally and elsewhere is that members nominate local registered charities, and then three of the nominees are randomly chosen to make presentations. For 100 Men, this happens in advance of their meeting, and the three charities drawn are invited to make a presentation at the next meeting. For 100 Women, all the charities that have been nominated are invited to be ready to give a presentation at the next meeting, during which three nominations are randomly drawn. Linda says this adds “a little extra drama.”

After the three presentations, the members in attendance cast their votes. The votes are quickly tallied and a winner is announced. At the 100 Women meeting, the winner is presented with an oversized cheque, while 100 Men does this at a later date. Members, including those who aren’t in attendance, are given a short time period to give their $100 donation. The reason why the total donation given to recipients varies is that sometimes members are away and don’t send their contribution in time, but for both groups it’s always at least a $10,000 donation to the recipients.

I felt bad for the two nominees not chosen last month at 100 Men. They had made compelling cases for the important work they could do with $10,000, and it must have been disappointing to be in the room to hear they didn’t get the most votes (the actual tallies are not announced, so it’s not known how close the vote was). Yet, it didn’t feel awkward and all the nominees seemed very appreciative of the opportunity to give it a shot—and who can complain about the food bank getting money, especially at this time of year. For Jennifer Oestreicher of Bandemonium, it was her second time in a row presenting to 100 Men, and she finished her presentation by saying if her charity didn’t get chosen she would be happy to keep coming back.

On October 29, Trish Hatfield of the Salt Spring Food Bank gave a winning presentation to 100 Men Who Care Salt Spring. The food bank was a last-minute substitution to present because that afternoon one of the three nominees randomly chosen to present had a health emergency and thus couldn't attend the meeting | Photo: Bernard Bureau

Although there is no limit to the number of times a charity can make a presentation, both 100 Men and 100 Women have a policy that after a charity wins, it is ineligible for consideration for the next three years. However, earlier this year both groups, within a couple weeks of each other, chose The Little Red Schoolhouse to be their recipient. Because of this, 100 Men decided to expand its three-year ineligibility to recipients of either the men’s or women’s groups. 100 Women has opted not to restrict groups that are also chosen by 100 Men.

Before the three nominated charities make their presentations, the most recent beneficiary gives an update and takes questions from members. Ian finds this very rewarding. “You know every penny is gong to the people you’re backing and then they’re coming back and telling you how they spent it.”

At the 100 Men meeting on October 29, Andria Scanlan of Transition Salt Spring’s Repair Cafe showed a sweet video of what they have done with some of the money, and shared a spreadsheet outlining their expenses and overall budget. The Salt Spring Therapeutic Riding Association reported to 100 Women earlier this week how it is spending the $15,000 it received from the group in May.

100 Men Who Care Salt Spring meet three times a year to select a local registered charity to receive a $10,000 donation | Photo: Bernard Bureau

According to Linda, in addition to recipients providing an update at the next meeting, it’s important that they are all registered charities and thus subject to CRA filing requirements. But she explains the recipients appreciate that the 100 Who Care donations don’t come with strings attached. She says it’s a good compromise between having some accountability and giving recipients freedom they don’t usually get with grant money.

“We’re trying to give them a bit more flexibility to use the money the way they see best” Linda says. She notes in many instances it’s quite apparent in the community that the money is being spend as intended. “It’s really rewarding to see that you’re making a difference in your own community.”

There is no cap on the number of people who can become members. If you are interested in joining 100 Men Who Care Salt Spring or 100 Women Who Care Salt Spring, visit their websites. https://www.100mensaltspring.org/ https://www.100womensaltspring.org/