Impact100 Traverse City marks 10 years with $360,000 in grants

A bigger member base is sending more money into Northern Michigan nonprofits: Impact100 Traverse City opened its 2026 grant cycle with a $360,000 pool that will go to organizations serving Grand Traverse, Antrim, Benzie, Kalkaska and Leelanau counties.

The chapter now has 360 members, and each woman gives $1,000 a year, a model that turns individual donations into large grants that can change how a local nonprofit operates. For 2026, the group will award three grants of $120,000 each, with two finalists that do not receive the top awards each getting $3,000. That money can help a nonprofit expand a program, hire staff, buy equipment or take on work that smaller grants rarely cover.

The milestone matters because the dollars have been growing alongside the membership. Impact100 Traverse City gave $339,000 in 2023, then $348,000 in 2024 and $348,000 again in 2025, when three nonprofits each received $116,000. In its 10th year, the chapter is pushing the annual total to $360,000, a sign that the local giving pool is deepening rather than flattening out.

Since its first grant year in 2017, the chapter says it has surpassed $3 million in cumulative grants to Northern Michigan nonprofits. That history helps explain why the announcement lands as more than a ceremonial anniversary marker. It is a continuing funding stream for organizations working on housing, food access, education, health and other needs that show up every day in Grand Traverse County and beyond.

The 2026 application window opened April 24 and runs through May 15. After that, applicants move through compliance review, financial review and site visits before finalists are selected. Those finalists will give 10-minute presentations at the annual meeting, where members will vote, in person or by absentee ballot, on Sept. 23 at Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City.

Last year’s grants show how that money can look on the ground. The Northwestern Michigan College Foundation, Thompsonville Area Revitalization Project and Friendship Community Center each received $116,000 in 2024. Those kinds of awards can ripple outward, from education and community space to local services that residents can actually see and use.

For Grand Traverse County, the immediate takeaway is simple: another year of large-scale philanthropic money is heading into the region, and the 10-year mark is bringing a larger checkbook with it.