Impact 100 SRQ

Focus Area Committees

Focus Area Committees (FAC)

Participating on a Focus Area Committee (FAC) is at the heart of our mission and what sets Impact100 SRQ apart from other philanthropic organizations. Our members donate and our members decide. Members who join one of our five Focus Area Committees find the process that starts with grant application review and ends with celebrating our grant recipients to be extremely rewarding. No previous experience is necessary. We encourage all interested members to be part of this rewarding experience.

There Are 5 Focus Areas

Arts, Culture & History

High impact initiatives that cultivate, develop, enhance, or preserve the artistic, cultural and historic character of Sarasota and/or Manatee Counties.

Education

High impact initiatives that further the educational process or improve access to education for children and/or adults in Sarasota and/or Manatee Counties.

Environment, Recreation & Animal Welfare

High impact initiatives that conserve, restore, or improve the natural environment, provide enhanced recreational opportunities, or promote the welfare of animals in Sarasota and/or Manatee Counties.

Family

High impact initiatives that strengthen and enhance the lives of children and families in Sarasota and/or Manatee Counties.

Health & Wellness

High impact initiatives that improve the physical and/or mental health and wellness of people living in Sarasota and/or Manatee Counties.

Focus Area Committee Meeting Schedule

While our Focus Area Committee (FAC) members will begin their online reviews of grant applications in August, our FAC meetings will begin in September and conclude in October.  Two of the committees will meet in-person, and three will meet virtually.  All meetings are scheduled to be 2 hours in duration. 


2025 FAC Schedule:

Monday: Education, 1:00-3:00 pm at Fruitville Library, 101 Apex Road, Sarasota

Tuesday: Health & Wellness, 11:00 am-1:00 pm at Selby Library, 1331 First Street, Sarasota

Wednesday: Environment, Recreation & Animal Welfare, 8:00-10:00 am on Zoom

Thursday: Arts, Culture & History, 5:45-7:45 pm on Zoom

Friday: Family, 9:00-11:00 am on Zoom 



Overview of the Grant Review Process


The grant application review process begins in August with an orientation meeting and training. Members gain access to the grant applications via our online system in late August. Each member then independently reviews the applications within her focus area online, carefully considering the Impact100 SRQ 5Qs.

Committee meetings begin once applications have been reviewed and scored. Members collaboratively decide which initiatives will move forward to a site visit and what questions the committee would like to have addressed during that visit. 

Site visit teams are then formed and visits, generally onsite but occasionally by Zoom, are conducted to gain a better understanding of the initiative and obtain answers to open questions. FAC members are strongly encouraged, but not required, to participate in site visits. Members who have served on site visit teams in the past will attest that they can be helpful, enlightening experiences. Site Visit Teams report their findings back to the FAC and a final vote is taken to decide which initiatives will be the committee’s finalists for the entire Impact 100 SRQ membership vote in January.  

The number of committee meetings depends on the number of applications assigned to the FAC.  This entire process takes place between September and October. 


Financial Review Committee (FRC)

Focus Area Committee (FAC) members with experience reviewing and understanding financial documents are encouraged to volunteer on the Financial Review Committee (FRC) for their FAC. FRC members receive training and attend meetings with the FRC team. While the FAC members independently review the applications, the FRC team, led by an FRC Chair, reviews the applicants' financial statements and initiative budgets. They report their findings to the Focus Area Committee (FAC), including questions for the Site Visit Teams for those organizations moving forward in the process. FRC members are welcome to work on Preliminary Reviews (ensuring all required documents are submitted) and/or the in-depth Financial Reviews.

FRC Important Dates:

  • FRC Social:  April 9, 2025
  • Training:
    • Preliminary Review (Zoom) - April 28 at 10:00 AM or May 22 at 4:00 PM
    • Financial Review (Zoom) - July 7 at 4:00 PM or July 14 at 11:00 AM
  • FRC Financial Reviews:  Late July to September
  • FRC Report Out in FAC Meetings - September 8 - September 26, 2025

Impact100 SRQ 5Qs

The Impact100 SRQ 5 Key Questions to consider when reviewing grant applications are:


1. How clearly defined is the initiative?

2. How impactful will the initiative be?

3. How viable is the initiative?

4. How sustainable will the initiative be?

5. How will funding this initiative ensure we will be good stewards of the dollars with which we have been entrusted?


5Q Definitions:

Clearly Defined: Impact100 SRQ funds initiatives that clearly describe the need, the target population, and the initiative itself.

Impact: Impact100 SRQ funds transformational initiatives that address a need,
demonstrate measurable results, and broadly and/or deeply benefit the community or population it serves.

Viability: Impact 100 SRQ funds initiatives that demonstrate the organization's ability to deliver the expected results.

Sustainability: Impact100 SRQ funds initiatives that demonstrate the organizational commitment to fund and support the initiative after the Impact100 SRQ funds are used.

Stewardship: Impact100 SRQ funds initiatives that ensure we will be good stewards of the dollars with which we have been entrusted by our members.


Grant Review Timeline - Important Dates

The 2025 Grants Phase will begin when the Application Eligibility Form becomes available for nonprofits to complete.  This first step in our process serves to confirm the nonprofit's eligibility to receive our grant application.  After April 16th, those eligible nonprofits will receive a link to the application.  Throughout this process, there are many Impact100 SRQ members working behind the scenes to confirm eligibility, validate applications, review our policies and procedures, and prepare and train our Financial Review Committee (FRC) and Focus Area Committee (FAC) members for their important work during the Grant Review Phase.  


2025 Grant Review Phase Dates:

  • Focus Area Committee (FAC) Sign-ups:  April 16 - June 20th
  • FAC Information Session (in person and Zoom):  May 29th
  • FAC Social:  June 5th
  • FAC 5Q Coffee Chat (in person):  June 17th
  • FAC 5Q Coffee Chat (Zoom):  June 18th
  • Last Day to sign up for an FAC:  June 20th
  • Applications Due:  June 30, 2025 by 12 noon ET
  • FAC Site Visits and COI Coffee Chat (in person):  July 8th
  • FAC Site Visits and COI Coffee Chat (Zoom):  July 9th
  • FAC New Member Orientation (Zoom):  July 29th
  • FAC New Member Orientation (Zoom):  July 30th
  • Applications Ready for FAC Review:  August 11th
  • FAC Kickoff Meetings:  August 18 - August 22nd
  • FAC Procedural Meetings:  September 8 - October 31, 2025
  • Site Visits:  September 15 - October 10, 2025
  • Annual Celebration and Awards Ceremony:  January 2026

Conflict Of Interest And Confidentiality Policy

Impact100 SRQ Members are committed to acting with integrity in all of our relationships and to selecting grant finalists and recipients through an honest and fair process. In support of this, every Impact100 SRQ Focus Area Committee Member is required to read our Grant Application Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality Policy and sign the Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality Agreement prior to review of grant applications. 


The Policy states the following key points:


  • Each FAC member is responsible for identifying conflicts of interest she may have with applicants within her committee and has a duty to disclose a conflict
  • Each FAC member has a responsibility to avoid conflicts of interest during the application review process
  • Each FAC member agrees to abide by the guidance of the FAC Director to resolve a conflict of interest
  • Each FAC member shall refrain from attempting to impose unfair advantage or disadvantage for any applicant or from disclosing confidential or unsubstantiated information about an applicant during the application review process
  • Each FAC member agrees to hold confidential all proceedings and discussions of her FAC
  • Each FAC member will report potential conflicts to an FAC Director via email without delay once discovering one

Focus Area FAQs

The work of reviewing the applications for grant initiatives is at the heart of our mission and what sets Impact100 SRQ apart from other philanthropic organizations. Our members donate and our members decide. This is our opportunity to collectively come together, learn about the nonprofits and the needs in our community and select the finalists that will be in the running to receive one of the transformational grants we award. It‘s also a great way to get to know fellow members in a smaller group, sharing a meaningful experience.

FAC members review and evaluate the grant applications that are submitted by our local nonprofit organizations. The FAC members discuss the applications, conduct site visits, share their evaluations, and then ultimately vote to select the FAC finalists that will be presented to the entire Impact100 SRQ membership for the vote to determine the grant recipients.

Committee members attend meetings beginning in September through mid-November.  Each committee meeting has a designated day and time. Some committees will meet in person and some will be on Zoom. Generally, meetings do not occur each week.  The number of meetings depend on the number of applications.  Attendance at the meetings is encouraged, but not required. Outside of the meetings, beginning late August, committee members read, review, and score the grant applications.  Also, members may choose to participate on Site Visit teams to visit a nonprofit applicant to better understand the organization and its initiative and report back to the committee.  The site visits take place in mid-September through mid-October.

The grant applicants choose the FAC that best defines their initiative. The choices are Arts, Culture & History, Education, Environment, Recreation & Animal Welfare, Family, and Health & Wellness. FAC members choose the FAC on which they would like to participate. Members make their choice based on their interest and/or schedule.

The five FACs are defined as follows:

  • Arts, Culture, & History:  Cultivate, develop, preserve the artistic, cultural, and historic character of our community 

  • Education: Further education opportunities or improve access to education for children and/or adults

  • Environment, Recreation & Animal Welfare: Conserve, restore, or improve the natural environment, provide enhanced recreational opportunities, or promote the welfare of animals

  • Family: Strengthen and enhance the lives of children and families

  • Health & Wellness: Improve the physical and/or mental health and wellness of the people in our community


Once applications are independently read and scored by committee members, FACs will meet regularly to hear the FRC Financial Reports and Site Visit Reports, and to discuss and vote.  These meetings will occur September through October. We use information from the FAC member survey along with venue availability to determine when and where FAC meetings will occur.  We rotate which committees will meet during each day from year to year, and we aim to provide a variety of times to accommodate our member's schedules.  If you have suggestions for venues with excellent WiFi capability that will accommodate 60+ women for regular meetings, please contact your Focus Area Directors.  Click to see each committee and their meeting times.


Yes. Some of our Focus Area Committees will meet virtually on Zoom for the convenience and accessibility of members not able to meet in person.


Each meeting is scheduled for 2 hours. The number of meetings depends upon the number of applications under consideration in each committee, which varies each year.  


You do not have to attend every meeting.  But participation is more rewarding if you can attend most of the meetings.


FAC members have the opportunity to learn about many of the nonprofits in our local community.  The members gain an understanding of the needs in our community and the contributions that the nonprofits are making to address these needs.  Some of the nonprofits are well-known and some are not.  


Yes.  FAC members find the experience extremely rewarding.  They love learning about our local nonprofits and their contribution to our community.  With this knowledge, many members decide to individually contribute to a nonprofit in some way. The members also enjoy the opportunity to get to know and work with other Impact100 SRQ members.  Representative feedback comments are: "This entire process was most rewarding." "Proud to be part of the process." "Absolutely wonderful experience."


No previous experience!  Just a willingness to participate with other members


Yes, we would like to know if you have experience evaluating financial statements of any type of organization.  This background is not necessary to be an FAC member, but a financial assessment is part of the grant application evaluation process.  Since most of our members do not have this experience, we ask the members with financial statement experience to be the primary FAC members to conduct the financial assessment.   This group is called FRC, or Financial Review Committee.


While the FAC members independently review the applications, the FRC team reviews the financial statements and initiative budgets. They report their findings, including questions for the Site Visit Teams, to the FAC.


Yes.  We will have FAC, Site Visit, and FRC training available to all members. Check back for updates and schedule. 


Members joining an FAC must review and agree to our Confidentiality Policy and agree to disclose significant relationships that could be conflicts of interest with applicants in their Committee.  


 Please check back for 2025 sign-ups.


Yes, you may switch to a different FAC prior to the grant applications being available for FAC member review. Please email Your FAC Team to inquire about switching.


Our Members Find the FAC Process Extremely Rewarding


"This is a feel good experience at every level. I look forward to bringing more women into the fold so we can fund all five grants."

"As a new FAC and CIRC member, I gained significant insight into the Impact100 model.  Having been a member of numerous nonprofit boards, I'm thrilled to be a part of this organization.  Great work, dedicated volunteers, and just a great group of women!"

"The experience is tremendously rewarding knowing I’m playing a small part in making a difference in our community and making new friends at the same time."

"Impressed with the professionalism of the process, the leadership and the committee members.  Felt tremendous engagement."

"Love being a site team lead!!! Visiting the nonprofits in person is by far my favorite part of the IMPACT100 experience."

"It gives me the opportunity to see the needs within our community and the impact we make to address these needs."

"As a new member I was very impressed with the process from training to submitting our votes."

For more information about FACs please email Your FAC Team