Donations
What your money actually pays for
Membership investment pays for the club. Donations pay for the parts of it that a membership fee cannot — and that a membership fee should never have to pay for.
How to give
Write to info@gardensexecutiveclub.com with the subject line “Donation” and we will send a secure payment link and confirm the tier you would like.
We never take card details through a web form. If you would rather speak to someone first, call (877) 326-6964.
Why donations exist
The club charges for membership. It should not charge for access.
A private club that only serves women who can afford it is a very different organisation from the one described in our mission. The pay gap is the reason our members exist; it would be absurd to respond to it by making the club itself pay-to-enter.
So the model is deliberate. Membership investment covers the club — the rooms, the food, the facilitation, the calendar. A portion of what we raise from members is set aside to fund subsidised places for women who could not otherwise afford them.
Donations also fund the parts of the club that serve people who are not members at all: the candidacy dinners that prospective members attend before they commit to anything, and the research, which is free to read and independent of any donor.
Giving
Four ways to support the club
Give what you can, in whatever form is useful. We would rather have an honest conversation than a large anonymous cheque.
- Supporter
- Named on our annual supporters page, acknowledged in the annual review, and told exactly what your gift paid for.
- Patron
- Everything a Supporter receives, plus two facilitated luncheons a year and a place at the Annual Dinner.
- Founding Patron
- A named position in the club's history. Acknowledged in the annual review, at the Annual Dinner, and on the supporters page for as long as the club exists.
- In-kind
- Venue, catering, printing, professional services or coaching hours. We are genuinely interested — the club runs on donated expertise as much as on money.
Allocation
Where it goes
Published, so you can hold us to it.
- Coaching places
- The single largest thing donations fund. A subsidised place lets a member see a professional coach, which most of our members could not otherwise afford to do twice a year.
- Candidacy dinners
- Prospective members come to a quarterly dinner and decide whether the club is for them. We pay for the room, the food and the travel for anyone who needs it.
- The clubhouse
- A permanent home in downtown Stone Mountain. Building work, maintenance and the unglamorous work of keeping a building that people want to be in.
- Published research
- The five work threads are produced and kept current. Free to read, and independent of any donor's interests.
Our position on sponsorship
Corporate sponsorship is welcome, with one condition: it buys acknowledgement and access, never editorial influence. Our published research exists because the club is willing to publish things companies do not want published. That only means something if it is true, and it stops being true the moment a sponsor objects.
Sponsors may attend, may meet members, and may be named. Sponsors may not review, approve, delay or withdraw anything we publish.
What we will not do with a donation
- Buy a member a seat she did not earn on merit.
- Pay a membership investment on someone's behalf without saying so.
- Influence who is admitted to the club.
- Supersede published research, ever.
On receiving help
A subsidised place is a private arrangement between the club and the member receiving it, and it is not announced. We do not display who was funded. If you are offered a subsidised place, you do not owe the club anything beyond turning up.
Questions first
Most people want to know what a gift actually does before they give one. Ask us and we will tell you the specific thing it paid for.
Read the FAQsGive, and we will tell you exactly what it bought.
Start the conversation