As a professional membership organization with both a geographic heart and identity-based focus, it is critical that CWIP makes plain what and who our priorities are and how we intend to advance them while embracing our continued evolution. The information on this page describes and defines what CWIP sees as our purview and our process for engaging with issues affecting and impacting members of our community, broadly defined.
Definitions
CHICAGO
An issue is a CHICAGO issue if it directly impacts one or more of the following:
• people in the Chicago metro area and/or greater Chicagoland region, including the city, suburbs, and/or Illinoisans broadly
• places where CWIP members live and/or work
• people who live, work, study, fund, and/or support in the greater Chicagoland region
WOMEN
An issue is a WOMEN issue if it affects at least one of the following groups:
• Any and all women, including trans women
• Any and all girls
• Any and all non-binary people
PHILANTHROPY
An issue is a PHILANTHROPY issue if it relates to at least one of the following:
• Collective giving
• Corporate giving and sponsorship
• Corporate social responsibility
• Direct giving
• Fundraising
• Grantmaking
• Grantseeking
• Mutual aid
• Social entrepreneurship
• Volunteerism
Guidelines
The following guidelines speak to the criteria our CWIP leaders use to determine whether CWIP should use its organizational voice to either create, sign, and/or distribute our perspectives on an issue affecting the people, places, and professions detailed above. See the Process section below for the steps CWIP uses for efforts like these.
CWIP Organizational Statements
CWIP may choose to use its organizational voice to generate and share a CWIP statement when at least one of the following criteria is true:
• An issue is relevant to Chicago, Women, and Philanthropy, as defined above.
• A historic achievement or unprecedented milestone has occurred that directly impacts those we serve and/or the organizations that represent them.
Additionally, CWIP must use its organizational voice and make a statement if any of the following is true:
• A fundamental human right is under threat and/or has been taken away from our community members.
• An event or issue will infringe on the ability of those we serve and/or represent to live out their personal, academic, and/or professional lives.
• CWIP’s silence on an issue could be misunderstood as support for another position.
• It will be insufficient for CWIP to sign on to another organization’s statement.
CWIP Partners’ Statements
CWIP may choose to support, share, and/or sign on to another organization’s statement when both of the following is true:
• An issue is relevant to (at least one of) Chicago, Women, or Philanthropy, as defined above.
• The partner organization is among CWIP’s allied organizations and its purpose shares at least two shared attributes or focus areas to CWIP’s. These may include a shared geographic emphasis, aligned intersectional personal identity or affinity representation, and/or a focus on advancing the philanthropic or social sector.
Process
CWIP uses the following process, described by the key steps listed below, to choose whether or not to write, sign, and/or share a CWIP or partner organization statement.
CWIP Organizational Statements
1. Initiation: Any CWIP member or partner requests that CWIP make a statement. Requests are made via a web form or direct outreach to a member of the CWIP Executive Committee.
2. Decision: CWIP Board Co-Chairs decide, in consultation with other leaders as appropriate, whether or not CWIP will draft a statement for Board of Directors review and approval. Decision criteria include those listed above as well as considerations including organizational capacity and other items on CWIP’s leadership and editorial agenda.
3. Development: If CWIP Board Co-Chairs determine to proceed with developing a statement, they will inform the full Board and staff and ask one or more leaders with capacity to create the initial draft of a CWIP statement. The statement writer(s) will share their draft with a small group of relevant and interested leaders for review and editing.
4. Approval: The CWIP Board of Directors approves, amends, or rejects the CWIP organizational statement via discussion and vote.
5. Distribution: Once approved, CWIP will publish the CWIP statement to the CWIP website and share it via CWIP social media channels. CWIP will encourage leaders, members, and others to share the statement with their networks as appropriate.
CWIP Partners’ Statements
1. Initiation: Any CWIP member or partner requests that CWIP sign on to a statement. Requests are made via a web form or direct outreach to a member of the CWIP Executive Committee.
2. Decision: CWIP Board Co-Chairs decide, in consultation with other leaders as appropriate, whether or not CWIP to elevate a partner organization’s statement for discussion and decision by the CWIP Executive Committee. Decision criteria include those listed above as well as considerations including organizational capacity and other items on CWIP’s leadership and editorial agenda.
3. Development: If CWIP Board Co-Chairs determine to proceed with signing on to a statement, they will inform the full Board and staff that the statement is being considered for signature.
4. Approval: The CWIP Executive Committee approves or rejects CWIP signature via discussion and vote.
5. Distribution: If approved, once the CWIP signature is received and/or posted by the partner organization, CWIP will add that CWIP signed the partner statement to the CWIP website. CWIP may share it via CWIP social media channels and/or encourage leaders, members, and others to share their support for the statement with their networks as appropriate.
