Philanthropy Inspired by the Needs of our Community (PINC) Fresno

Philanthropy Inspired by the Needs of our Community (PINC) is a non-profit organization comprised of women who want to make a positive impact on our community. Together, they aspire to raise money for local organizations in Fresno and Madera counties, with a primary focus on those who serve women and children in need. Each year culminates with their annual PINC Party, which is held in late spring or early summer. Over $625,000 has been donated back to our community because of PINC, Fresno.

PINC was brought to Fresno in 2008 by Founder Annie Domingos, who recognized the need for a new generation of changemakers to become involved in our local community. “I had spent years attending and volunteering at numerous events throughout the Fresno area and continued to see the same donors across the board,” recalls Domingos. “I knew that my peers had time to give and love to spread, and I wanted to provide them with an opportunity to become involved and begin to learn how to give back in a meaningful way.”

It was important to Domingos that this chapter had opportunity to address the ever-changing needs of the community it serves, “so we decided that a different non-profit organization would be chosen as a financial beneficiary each year and we would build relationships with multiple NPOs in order to volunteer and donate on a smaller scale through various projects we’ve organized throughout the years outside of our annual event, the PINC Party.”

Membership has grown tremendously since Domingos held PINC’s first meeting in her parents’ living room, which “consisted of about 20 of my girlfriends, who all believed in me or the cause enough to show up.” As active membership grew through the years, PINC has been able to offer both associate and honorary memberships, available once members have met certain obligations. “Our current active membership is 44 ladies, with capacity for a total of 50,” explains Past President Amy Prince. “We have 13 associate members, 9 honorary members, and our one and only founder, Annie!” bringing the total number of members to 69.

Ideally, PINC members are committed to selfless service, free of political/social motivation, with significant volunteer/fundraising experience, and a drive to support their community through active service. For that reason, PINC membership requirements are not taken lightly. “PINC welcomes women over the age of 21 to apply for membership,” shares Prince. “We utilize an objective rubric that assesses prior non-profit and volunteer engagement, awareness of the mission of PINC, and the reason or reasons they are interested in membership. A new policy for the 2020-2021 application will be an interview for each applicant.” Applications for potential freshman memberships will be available beginning in July.

“We built this organization from the ground up and learned so many lessons along the way,” reflects Domingos. Not only has membership evolved, but so has the PINC Party—their primary fundraising event. “When we set out with our fundraising goals, we wanted to create a unique and memorable event that set us apart from other fundraisers in town,” she goes on. “Our first several events were cocktail style parties with a focus on music and heavy appetizers. We quickly learned the challenge there was not having a captive audience to share the mission and story of the organization we were benefiting. As we moved to a more traditional seated dinner event, we made sure to keep the fun flair we started with and leave people excited, engaged, and looking forward to coming back the following year.”

“The annual PINC Party is meant to be a stunning, impactful event that is tasteful and elegant, with a heavy dose of fun,” relishes Prince. “Each year, a new leadership team works diligently to create a theme that insures an amazing evening. We work to incorporate community vendors and organizations together for the final event. A large element of the evening is the opportunity to learn more about and develop a full understanding of our beneficiary. It is our desire that attendees leave with a lasting connection to the organization they have the opportunity to support.”

Each year, the beneficiary is selected using a rubric for nominees, all of whom are rated using a ranking of poor to excellent. Prince reveals, “We evaluate the following: 1) Value Alignment—the ideal candidate is exclusively serving women and children, diverse population, funds/services benefit the local community. 2) Cost/Program Efficiency—ideally, a high percentage of funds are used for direct services/programming: 70-85%. Define its mission and programs clearly. Have measurable goals. Use concrete criteria to describe its achievements. 3) Use of Funding—ideally, funds will be used quickly and effectively, within PINC calendar year. Sustainable operations from other funding sources. Underfunded. 4) Impact—the ideal value of these activities is high impact, exclusive to the local community. PINC donation would be instrumental for project completion. Low risk of project challenges.”

From the beneficiary pool, 4-5 prime contenders are selected—this is also where PINC draws for their community outreach projects. “One is ultimately voted as the primary beneficiary, while 2-3 others become the target of community outreach projects, like our holiday project and, most recently, PINC Takeover,” shares Prince. Funds raised directly benefit these causes, and people can also go online to support them, too. “Currently, the PINC Store offers raffle tickets for the Haron Range Rover Velar. These tickets are $100 and profits will go to our beneficiary. Additionally,” Prince adds, “PINC hats are available and it is our goal to increase offerings. Funds raised will benefit PINC’s community outreach opportunities.”

Being choosy about the organizations they serve allows them to always be aware of the lasting impact PINC makes. “Our beneficiary projects are evaluated for impact and longevity—it is our goal that funds raised and hours served will carry impact for an extended period of time.” They are leaving their mark “as polished, engaged volunteers—we bring talent and creativity to each service opportunity and are quick to go above and beyond for the organizations we support,” professes Prince.

The type of community needs that PINC, Fresno gravitates towards have a common thread running through them: “Making our Central Valley community a better place—impacting those who live and love here locally. We are driven to impact through action for the organizations that we can,” Prince states. “The main focus for PINC is the well-being, health, and support of women and children, as well as families as a whole,” the ladies emphasize. “That being said, we are open to any group working to improve the lives of those in the Central Valley.”

They are eager to support underserved organizations and bring community awareness to smaller philanthropic groups. “Our group actively steps up to support groups big and small—events with hundreds of attendees, and those with a small group,” recognizes Prince. “We are willing to step in for almost any task and are serving our community from within—we live here, we serve here.” PINC, Fresno uniquely serves our Central Valley community in its variety and true community involved impact.

PINC, Fresno
PO Box 27426
Fresno, CA 93729
www.pincfresno.org

Managing Editor Lauren Barisic
Photos Courtesy of PINC, Fresno