Organizer Michelle Markgraf confirmed the decision, saying “We have about 140 women who belong. Getting people to participate by sending money was getting harder and harder. We don’t want to force people to give if they don’t want to, so we kind of listen to what they’re saying through their giving or not giving, and decided to at least put a pause on it. We’ll reevaluate later on.”

Since its founding, the group has worked to direct around $10,000 to to nonprofits serving New Ulm residents every six months. Past recipients include Oak Hills Living Center, Tea for Cancer, B the Light, and the food shelf. These gifts have supported elder care, cancer support, food access and community enrichment.

The chapter’s giving model was designed to be simple and accessible: gather 100 women, each contributing $100 twice a year — a total of $200 annually — and vote on a local nonprofit to receive the pooled $10,000 gift. Organizers emphasized that the structure allowed members to budget their giving while making a collective impact.

In some cases, nonprofits received additional funding through a matching grant.

The New Ulm Chapter of 100 Women Who Care has awarded several worthy nonprofits with $10,000. In Oct. 2023,a nonprofit 24/7 crisis nursery Ivy House was the recipients of the funds. In photo (L to R) Trisha Homan, Anna Friese, Melanie Mohror and Amber Collins celebrated upon learning Ivy House would receive $10,000 from 100 Women Who Care during the Oct. 2023 meeting.

“There is a foundation that gives money to 100 Women Who Care circles,” Markgraf said. “Once we gather the money and have the total, I make an application to that foundation and they match 50 cents on the dollar, up to $10,000. So if we raise $10,000, the nonprofit will get $15,000.”

Markgraf said the declining numbers were not tied to a single factor.

“It could have been a number of things. You can’t just pinpoint what it is.”

Contributor Lorie Jewell confirmed the pause and said organizers hope community members will continue supporting local nonprofits. Although no formal plans have been announced, she said past contributors are proud of the group’s impact and would consider participating again if the initiative resumes.

“If somebody else wants to take on the planning, maybe something different would work better,” Markgraf said. “They’re welcome to contact me and I can give them all the information so they can continue it.”