A. Unfortunately, it would be too challenging for someone listening on a speaker phone to hear and participate in the GRC discussion. If you know you are going to miss one or more of your in-person GRC meetings, we suggest you consider signing up for a GRC that meets virtually.

 

A. Although we do have several members who live in the western and northern suburbs of Chicago who have expressed interest in forming suburban GRCs, the Board has discussed the logistics and has decided it is not feasible. We think it would be difficult to find 20+ suburban members from the same area, all willing to sign up for a GRC meeting on the same day at the same time. Additionally, we would need to find two GRC Chairs and FRC Leaders from the same area.

 

A. We ask the nonprofit applicants to self-select one of our five focus areas (Culture, Health, Education, Family & Sustainability), but we receive uneven numbers of applicants for each focus area. We believe it would be inequitable for some committees to review most of the applications, leaving other committees with too few to review. When we allocate the applications to the GRCs, we consider the size of the organization and their focus area before we divide them equally among the GRCs. If the applicant has applied the year before, we ensure it goes to a different GRC for review, so that the women who join the same committee each year can review new applicants.

 

A. No. Our GRC schedule is set in December before members sign-up. Some of the GRC chairs and members may be out of town during a scheduled virtual meeting so they would be unavailable for an in-person meeting.

 

A. After the sign-up deadline, there are many steps required before the GRC meetings can begin. First, members’ preferences and conflicts of interest are checked before they are assigned to a committee. Then, GRC Co-Chairs must set up their email rosters and send out welcome letters. Additionally, access to our grant application software needs to be assigned to each GRC member so they can review the applications a week before the meetings begin.

 

A. The FRC is tasked with performing financial due diligence on the nonprofit applicants to ensure that only financially stable organizations advance in the grant review process. The Financial Review Committee, which works in conjunction with the GRCs, is composed of FRC Members who are responsible for the document review and reporting for 1-2 nonprofit organizations. Women who are new to the process will be assigned a “buddy” to answer questions and provide support throughout the process. If desired, new members can choose to be a Reviewer, and simply observe and learn our financial review process their first year.

 

A. FRC members should be comfortable reviewing financial statements and analyzing general financial performance. They should also be proficient in using Excel spreadsheets. While experience in accounting and finance is helpful, a solid general business background will also provide the necessary skills.

 

A. Overall FRC Members put in 16-20 hours between February and early May. The process starts in February with a virtual training session and a review of the applications to make sure all of the required financial documents have been submitted. The heart of the financial review process starts in March when each FRC member performs their financial review of applicants. This review includes a simple spreadsheet, an informational outline (with short bullet point responses) highlighting key findings from the documents provided, and a 2-4 sentence summary of the basic findings. In April, the full committee has one virtual meeting to discuss the reports as a group. Members also attend virtual Insightful Visits and participate in the final GRC meeting to select the grant finalists. FRC Members are only required to attend the last GRC meeting, but are invited to all of the GRC meetings, and encouraged to participate if their schedule permits.