Cross Blog

Category: Tiffany Circle

Tiffany Circle women gather for reception

Friday, November 20, 2009

Women from the Tiffany Circle Society of Women Leaders gathered on Nov. 17 for a reception at the Levine Museum of the New South. Joining Tiffany Circle members were Red Cross volunteers, board members and staff.

Iris Horton, Greater Carolinas Tiffany Circle member and vice chair of the board, welcomed the women after some time for drinks and mingling. Pamela Jefsen, regional executive officer of the Carolina Piedmont Region of the American Red Cross, introduced Pam Brynarsky, who spoke to guests about her experiences volunteering with the Red Cross.

“Thank you for doing what you do as donors, so I can do what I do as a volunteer,” Brynarsky said.

Julia Bianchi was the keynote speaker of the evening. Bianchi serves as a national co-chair of the Tiffany Circle, alongside Elaine Lyerly, a co-founder of the Tiffany group in Charlotte.

Bianchi spoke about her commitment to the Tiffany Circle - which started when she was a Red Cross representative in elementary school.

“The Tiffany Circle is an important initiative because women today are an incredibly powerful philanthropic resource,” Bianchi said, noting that female firms are growing at twice the rate of all U.S. businesses and faster than male owned firms. She added that women control 72 percent of the dollars spent in the United States. “Isn’t this wonderful news, ladies? As women we know we have a choice of where to invest our philanthropic dollars, and we choose carefully.”

Bianchi announced that in the Carolinas Peidmont Region, Tiffany Circle women have an amazing Challenge Grant opportunity with six matches of $5,000 each available to new Tiffany Circle members. In other words, each gift of $5,000 will be matched by the Challenge Grant, and that woman will become a Tiffany Circle member

Renee Brown, co-chair of the Greater Carolinas Chapter Tiffany Circle, closed the evening by noting her experience as both a Tiffany Circle member and a Greater Carolinas Chapter Board of Directors member.

“All of us have people in our lives who are always there for you when you need them, when you are losing hope and when we are in need,” Brown said. “Having lived in New Orleans, I saw how Katrina affected my friends. For my family, it was the hurricane a month later - Rita - that affected my folks. In both instances, when the cameras were long gone, the Red Cross was still there to help when no one else remained.”

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More information on the Tiffany Circle

Tiffany Circle women enjoy reception

Monday, November 09, 2009

About 30 Tiffany Circle members and prospects – including some spouses – were welcomed at the home of Martha Allen (Bonnie McElveen-Hunter Lifetime Tiffany Circle member) in Matthews, NC. 

Smiles and introductions, laughter, music and hugs filled the evening. Kathy Bragg, Union County Chapter executive, reiterated the importance of our Red Cross providing significant help for clients and ourselves being vigilant on preparedness.  Elaine Lyerly, National Co-Chair of the Tiffany Circle Council, previewed some of the international work she and our Tiffany Circle Council are pursuing in conjunction with next year’s national Summit and developing Tiffany Circle societies outside the U.S. 

Cece, a Red Cross volunteer instructor, highlighted and demonstrated the importance and simplicity of providing First Aid and CPR on a child manikin.  Everyone was delighted when Cece reminded us to remember the tempo of The Bee Gees’ hit, “Stayin’ Alive,” if/when administering CPR.  And everyone smiled and appreciated Kathy Bragg’s and Sheila Crunkleton’s contemporary versions of greeting friends during these precautionary times of the current H1N1 virus.  Don’t be surprised if you see Kathy and Sheila demonstrating their moves on YouTube! 

Following the reception, one of the attendees was moved to join our Carolina Piedmont Region Tiffany Circle.  We look forward to welcoming all members and prospects to our next Tiffany Circle reception with Julia Bianchi, National Co-Chair of the Tiffany Circle Council on Nov. 17 in Charlotte, NC.

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It’s About Community

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

From Red Cross Chat
By Wendy Harman, American Red Cross.

I’ve been reading with interest Sarah Hall’s recent guest posts on Sean Stannard-Stockton’s Tactical Philanthropy blog. Her analysis centers around how women become effective philanthropists and what makes them engaged.

I mention these posts here because this week we’re hosting our Tiffany Circle Summit for women donors. These are women from all over the country who have invested $10,000 in the American Red Cross. The women have a packed schedule of events this week, and their impact over time has been felt throughout the organization.

With the Tiffany Circle, we are engaging women in many of the ways Sarah Hall is discussing.

Sarah Hall mentions 6 principles of Women’s high-engagement philanthropy. If you’re a woman and a budding or established donor/philanthropist, do you identify with these principles?

1. Women are passionate about their cause and they often come to it through an intense and meaningful personal experience.

2. Women act as connectors as well as grantmakers, linking partners, allies, advocates, and grantees. Building relationships and networks is a key component of women’s philanthropy.

3. Women are willing to start at the beginning, allowing their energy for the mission to propel them through the earliest learning stages. They become deeply engaged in the process of learning, are willing to be perceived as novices, and tend to be open not only to ideas, but to getting things done in unconventional ways.

4. Women’s philanthropy combines rigor with intuition. At an Association of Small Foundations lunch workshop in Los Angeles last week the attendees, all women, talked about how they balance due diligence with intuition, especially intuition about a grantee’s leadership qualities. “You can’t use metrics alone,” they said. “You have to use your judgment about people.”

5. Women are not only willing to mentor and share, they seek opportunities to do so. They engage the community of other philanthropists, grantees, and partners, and share their stories to inspire and guide others.

6. Finally, women use their philanthropy to enrich family life and promote connection—within the family, with the larger community, with the world. So their family philanthropy is not only a means to pay a debt to society and reinforce a family’s personal values and culture, but also a way for their children to have a direct experience of giving to the larger community, an experience that helps them become more fulfilled adults.

To find out more about our local Tiffany Circle, visit http://redcrosshelps.org/index.php/tiffany-circle/.