Sharing DC Committee Chair Renee Licht
Expanding Your Philanthropic Horizons
“I enjoy participating in Sharing DC because I’m continually learning – which I love!”
Renee Licht is a long-time DC resident and Chair of the Sharing DC Fund Committee. However, she wasn’t always super involved in philanthropy.
“Before I retired, my husband and I would write out checks to our favorite charities at the end of each year, and that was pretty much it. We didn’t think about what kind of impact we were making.”
It wasn’t until she was invited to join a local women’s giving circle, Giving Together, that Renee started to learn about the power of collective giving.
At the time, Giving Together was a relatively young group, made up of community members volunteering their time and resources to support a handful of local nonprofits. Within months, Renee was asked to co-chair the group’s grantmaking committee.
“In the giving circle, we learned as we went – especially when it came to the grantmaking process. There was no professional staff; we were all volunteers.”
Meanwhile, Renee and her husband decided to seek support for their personal philanthropy by opening a donor-advised fund at The Community Foundation. While chatting with their Donor Services Officer, Renee learned about Sharing DC and decided to become involved.
“I found it appealing that there were experts at The Community Foundation who could help inform our charitable giving and expand our thinking about philanthropy,” Renee explains.
While balancing involvement in two different philanthropic groups may seem like a daunting task, Renee says she quickly discovered there were benefits to it.
“I found I was able to bring my Giving Together experience in grant evaluating to the Sharing DC Committee. At the same time, I was able to bring the knowledge I gained from Sharing DC about local nonprofits, trust-based philanthropy, and advancing racial equity to the work we were doing at Giving Together.”
In particular, Renee says she has particularly enjoyed The Community Foundation’s new strategic vision of closing Washington’s racial wealth gap.
“It’s a fresh approach to philanthropy,” Renee says. “One that I find personally meaningful. It’s exciting to look at our grants (both in Sharing DC and Giving Together) with specific goals and objectives in mind.”
Currently, Renee is the Vice President and Co-Chair of the Grants Committee at Giving Together. She also serves as the Chair of the Sharing DC Fund Committee.
“It’s very important for anyone who is philanthropically minded to share the satisfaction of collaborative grantmaking,” Renee says. “If you care about the local community, being a member of Sharing DC will give you a window into the problems the community faces and connect you directly with the nonprofits that are doing the work to address those issues. And you will do so with a collegial group of like-minded people.”
“I really can’t say enough good things about being involved in Sharing DC.”
The Sharing Community Funds bring together donors who share our passion for building more equitable, just, and thriving communities. With expert facilitation by Community Foundation staff, donors join together to learn first-hand about the challenges facing our community. Thanks to the generosity of this growing community of givers, together we discover and invest in visionary nonprofits working on the frontlines of our region’s most pressing needs.
Want to get involved? The Sharing DC Fund Committee welcomes new members. Contact Gisela Shanfeld (gshanfeld@thecommunityfoundation.org) to find out more about how you can be a part of this impactful fund!