From grassroots beginnings, Impact100 SRQ has expanded to provide needed funding to a diverse array of nonprofits in Sarasota and Manatee counties. The women’s philanthropic organization is united by one vision: to build “a growing collective of women who foster a culture of giving and learning that enables positive, tangible and lasting impact” in their communities. Based on the Impact100 Global model, at least 100 women donate $1,000 a year to contribute to at least $100,000 in grants for nonprofit organizations. These grants are awarded in five focus areas in the community: Arts, Culture and History; Education; Environment, Recreation and Animal Welfare; Family; and Health and Wellness.
Impact100 SRQ was founded in 2018 and awarded its first grants in 2019 with 228 members. As of this year, membership has climbed to 888. “The organization grew from women getting together in their living rooms or around their pools or decks and just talking about the opportunity and what the organization was trying to do,” said co-president Pam Kandziora of the chapter’s local roots.
To preserve personal connections between members, Kandziora explained that many mission-focused events remain small and “appeal to the person who doesn't like to be in a room with 200 other people they don't know.” Instead of large galas, women can get together for more intimate outings such as meetings over coffee or walks in Centennial Park.
Kandziora noted that “collective giving has been the fastest-growing form of private philanthropy for the past 10 years,” and “a significant portion of that are women's giving collectives.” She found that one of Impact’s major draws is having the chance to work with and meet other women. “I do think that there is the piece about working collaboratively where every woman has one vote and every woman can have a voice in what goes on,” she continued, “I donate my $1,000, but at the end of this year, we will collectively award $888,000 … that's a pretty good return on my donation.”
The wide range of nonprofits Impact100 SRQ funds cover a variety of interests, allowing for a strong connection between members and the causes they care about. “Our five areas of focus are intentionally pretty broad, because we want to try to touch all areas of the community and allow our members to find an area that they perhaps feel passionate about to participate in,” said Kandziora.
The 2025 giving year contributed a total of $864,000 to eight organizations: WSLR + Fogartyville; Early Learning Coalition of Manatee County; Selah Freedom; Oyster River Ecology; Academy at Glengary, Inc.; Manatee Children's Services; Hand Up To Victory; and Loveland Center, Inc.—each of which received a transformative $108,000 grant in January 2026.
Kandziora expressed that Impact’s giving model is designed to help nonprofits “dream big and achieve something they don't normally get the funding to do.” Oyster River Ecology, for instance, was granted funds for work equipment that would further its mission to build a 10-acre oyster reef in the Manatee River—a project that aims to “create a natural, self-sustaining filtration system capable of filtering 250 million gallons of water every day,” according to the organization’s finalist summary.
Of the current Impact100 SRQ chapter’s legacy, Kandziora said, “we know we're leaving our communities in a better place than they were before,” and that members would be able to reflect on the ways they helped their community thrive, even—and especially—in difficult times: “We can look back and say, ‘remember when we funded a refrigerated food truck for Meals on Wheels when they didn't have one? And then COVID hit, and so many people were food-challenged, and they were able to get perishable foods’ … we'll be able to look back and say, ‘we made a difference for those families.’”
As Impact100 SRQ approaches its 10th giving year in 2028, Kandziora said it would be “wonderful if we could say we have 1,000 members” and, in turn, award one million dollars. “Even if we're not quite at that number,” she said, “we know this year we are going to give eight significant awards to eight deserving nonprofits that are going to be able to do something they wouldn't be able to do without it. And that keeps us going. That's what makes us sing.”