EqualityQuilt

Fundraising in Tough Times

The Minnesota Women's Consortium hosted a wonderful training session today to help feminist groups and other small nonprofits prepare fundraising plans, reach out to individual donors, write socko grant proposals, and connect with each other.  Many thanks to wonderful presenters Mala Thao, a private development consultant;  Aretha Green-Ruppert of the Girl Scouts of Minnesota & Wisconsin River Valleys;  Amy Hellwich of the Women's Foundation of Minnesota;  Jody Williams of Community Shares Minnesota; Marilyn Bryant of the Consortium's Seneca Falls Council of Advisors;  and Consortium director of member services Bharti Wahi who organized the event.   

Left: Mala and Aretha talk about approaching individual donors.  Below:  Amy, Jody, and Marilyn discuss "do's and "don'ts" of fundraising.

Stay Connected - Contribute Today!

If we don't have your snail-mail address, you have not seen our spring fundraising letter (Download FRletter.pdf) - poor you!  It's a great quick review of the Minnesota Women's Consortium - who we are, what we do, what's coming up next, and why you want to be a part of it.  Our fiscal year ends June 30, and we need your help to carry on the feminist work so important now, on the cusp of history - with big budget deficits and new elected officials ahead for our state and our nation.   Do take this opportunity to let us know you care - contributions of all sizes are very welcome, and we are famous for pinching every penny. You can give anytime via "make a gift today" on our regular website.

A quick preview of the letter:  largest statewide network.. an award for organizational leadership... informative publications.. unique events.. education on issues & strategies ... resource materials ... nurturing services...But, we have not yet reached equality!  So coming up:  health care reform ... economic security for older women... Greater Minnesota women... electoral projects ... increased technical assistance.  Please consider making a tax deductible contribution!   

Thank you so much! 

Beijing Betrayed

The Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO) released it's fifth report, Beijing Betrayed: Women Worldwide Report that Governments Have Failed To Turn the Platform into Action, assessing governments’ progress in implementing the commitments made to the world’s women at the U.N.'s Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. It documents reports from women in 150 countries representing all regions in the world. The report shows that women's realities often contrast with the official reports of their governments concluding that "In this climate, which constrains resources and narrows views about acceptable women’s roles, few governments have mobilized the political will or high-level leadership to carry out the commitments made to women at Beijing. As a result, many women in all regions are actually worse off now than they were ten years ago." Download the report here.

Hi, We are the New Hamline University Interns.

Working at the Women's Consortium has been so far a great opportunity. The staff here are a joy to work with and are very empowered women who can influence the world around us.   We are very excited to see what else this organization can do in our lives as well as the community around St. Paul.

    

Sarah Ann                                                      Kelly

Two Days Left To Have Your Name in Lights!

If you would like to be a $2,000 Lucretia Mott Corporate Sponsor, a $1,000 Susan B. Anthony Corporate Sponsor, or otherwise listed in the invitation to Celebration 28 (gifts of $125 or more), you have only  2 days left! We need to hear from you by the end of the day on Thursday, December 20 to be listed in the beautiful invitation which will be seen by 8,000 leaders in the women's community.   Go to the Consortium website to give online (look for "make a gift today" on the left) and/or click here to read our Celebration letter and annual report - including more info on the categories.   - Bonnie

Co-Sponsor Our Party!

Note - To see this better, click on the page below - or print out from the link on back page.
There are only 13 days left to have your name in lights on our invitation...

Click below to continue with a brief annual report on Consortium activities and a form you may use to choose your level of financial support.   If you'd like to print out these materials as a three-page document, click here.

Women Artists Wow Us Again

Mary Lee Eischen (mixed media quilts) and Nancy Kahlow (paintings and prints) are the exhibitors through August 3 at the Minnesota Women's Building.  Come see up close!  (Monday - Friday except holidays, 9AM to 4:30PM).   Besides brightening our lives , this program supports the mission of the Women's Art Registry of Minnesota to increase exposure and sales of work by women.   Here are a few images from Mary Lee's work.  For more, including work displayed in previous months, visit previous blog posts or the blog's WARM photo album.  

On left is "Tags," commercial fabric & clothing tags, machine stitched 9.25" x 12" April 2007, $82.00

On right is "Springtime," hand painted and dyed fabrics, photo transfers, lutador, sticks, wooden eggs, machine quilting, 17" x 22.5," not for sale.

Batgirl & Pay Equity

Funny but sad that Batgirl still needs to work on "equal pay for equal work."  We need her for pay equity.   The Pay Equity Coalition had a bill at the state legislature this year, to check whether there is a wage gap in large businesses seeking state contracts (click here to read it).  The proposal passed 7 committees.  However, in the end the Coalition decided to spend another year on public education to build support for 2008.   Holy Minnesota Statutes, Batman!

Download a status report from PECOM president Patty Tanji, and write her to be on the email list for future plans.   Check our past Capitol Capers posts, surf to our website for the May 2 legislative update in the Capitol Bulletin newsletter, or write Erin to be on our list-serve for weekly action alerts from member organizations.   - Bonnie

Making Connections

That's what the Minnesota Women's Consortium is all about. Shown here are (L-R) businesswoman Mary Tjosvold of Mary T Inc. and staff of the Women's Initiative for Self-Empowerment (WISE) Mayalan Brown and Anusha Ramachandran. They attended an exploratory meeting to learn more about micro-credit and how it can benefit potential women entrepreneurs. Mary serves on the Consortium's Advisory Council, and WISE is a member organization. For more about micro-credit, subscribe to the Capitol Bulletin newsletter, which will feature this topic soon!