FAIRHOPE, Ala. — In 2008, a group of 82 concerned women contributed $1,000 each and came together for one common goal:

To make a “impact” in the lives of the people of Baldwin County and reach out financially to the nonprofit organizations that transform those lives everyday.

The result: Impact 100 Baldwin County was established and able to present an $82,000 grant to Mary’s Shelter, a home for pregnant women in Elberta, to help with a transitional housing program after the mother gives birth.

In 2009, the membership had grown to 90 members and CARE House in Summerdale gained $90,000 for their work with abused children in Baldwin County.

And in Fall 2010, 150 women made it possible for Outward Bound Five Rivers in Bay Minette to receive $150,000 for their outdoor adventure program to help improve the graduation rate of BC students by giving them the encouragement and confidence to stay in school.

“The goal for this year is 500 women to join. We would love to be able to give $100,000 in each of the five grant categories, arts and culture, education, environment, preservation and recreation, family and health and wellness,” said Nancy Corte, Impact 100 President.

With their membership campaign that began in December and in full swing until March, the group had their first informational social meeting on Monday in Gulf Shores and is planning to have five more in February and March. Those dates, times and places are:

-February 15, Luke Edward and Company, 6-8 p.m. Spanish Fort

-February 22, The Village Peddler, 4-6 p.m., Fairhope

-February 24, Dizzy Bean Coffee Shop, 9-11 a.m., The Wharf, Orange Beach

-March 1, Aurora’s, 4-6 p.m., Fairhope

-March 10, Magnolia Court, 4-6 p.m., Foley

“The membership deadline is March 31 and we really want all the women who can to come to our meetings. We welcome anyone and encourage those who are already members to bring lots of friends. We are looking for diversity and different ideas from women all over Baldwin County. The more members we have, the more money we can give away,” said Ann Miller, membership co-chairwoman.

The only requirement for membership is to be a female and to contribute $1,000 a year, Corte said, but if she wants to join and doesn’t have $1,000, they can get a sponsor or can come to the meetings, but just not have a vote. An application also has to be completed and is available on the Impact website.

“We aren’t discriminating against men and it’s not that we don’t want them to join but it is just an organization for women. If a man wants to be involved, he can sponsor his wife or daughter or employee,” said Corte laughing.

Impact is divided into three areas, Eastern Shore, South Baldwin County and Central/North Baldwin County, has six board members, one focus group chairwoman and committee for each of the five categories and six committees (Communications, Publicity, Membership, Events, Hospitality and Grant Process Coordinator).

All the funds collected from members goes toward the grant, and since all the board members are volunteers, there is no overhead cost. All administrative and fundraising costs are paid for out of other funds, Corte said.

“The members can be as active or inactive as they want to be. We have lots of opportunity for involvement but if they only want to review the grants and vote, that is fine too,” Miller said.

All nonprofit groups are eligible for a grant in one of the five categories and awarded for ongoing programs, capital improvements, startups or research-oreinted projects. Applications can be submitted in April and the deadline is July 11, 2011.

The only nonprofits not eligible are ones dealing with operating expenses, partisan groups, individual churches, indigent care subsidy, travel expenses, loans or for individuals, Corte said.

Nonprofits groups will be informed about grant opportunities in February and in April, grant seminar workshops will be held in Robertsdale to facilitate the process of applying.

“We offer these grant workshops to help the smaller groups gain some familiarity with how to write a grant . We tell them what we are looking for and how to write to get results. It has been very helpful so far and very successful for those attending. They learn so much and so do we,” Corte said.

After all grant applications are submitted, an intensive review session is conducted where each grant is reviewed and studied by the focus group committees and visits are made to each of the five finalists in each category.

In the early Fall, the committees announce the five finalists and they are presented to the group at their annual meeting. Each of the finalists give an overview of their grant proposal and then all the members vote. The winner is announced in November.

“It’s amazing to see how all the women come together when we study these grants. There are so many good ideas and it’s nice to be with women who share the same ideas and have such respect for each other. Some may think this is a social club but it’s not. We do so much more than that,” said Miller.

Once the grant is awarded in December, the recipient has two years to use the money and they have to send in quarterly reports on how the money is being spent to the group. “We don’t just give them the money on a silver platter, they have to account for what they are doing with it and we want to make sure it is being used for what they proposed.,” Corte said.

If an applicant doesn’t get the grant, they can reapply each year. “Outward Bound applied all three years before they got it. So we encourage everyone to keep applying. We have even had two or three groups combine together and write a collaborative grant to be split between them,”Corte said.

“It is great to see when nonprofits come together for a common cause. They tend to get real creative when they do that and come up with some really great ideas,” said Anne Meyercord, Communications committee co-chairwoman.

There are 14 Impact 100 organizations across the nation and the premise for the group began in 2001 in Cincinnati when Wendy Steele came up with the idea of women pooling their resources for a common cause.

“The good thing about this group is each one is independent of each other and we don’t have to conform to national guidelines. We can set our own criteria that’s specific to our area. That’s really nice for us,” sid Corte.

Irene Meehan introduced the idea to Baldwin County in 2008 and Corte, Miller and Meyercord are all hoping it will continue to grow bigger every year. “We would love to be able to give as much as we could. There is such a need in this county, especially with the economy the way it is and we want to do all we can to help people throughout the county,” Corte said.

Board meeting are held once a month, Corte said, and invites all women to become involved in any way they can.

To get a membership application or find out more about the grant process, go to impact100baldwincounty.org or email impact100baldwincounty@gmail.com.