Since taking over at Royal Neighbors of America in January, President & CEO Zarifa Reynolds has been busy creating a strategic plan that includes expanding its already impressive philanthropic footprint. Her plan for the Rock Island-based women’s life insurance provider started 129 years ago by nine women who were unable to buy insurance also calls […]
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Since taking over at Royal Neighbors of America in January, President & CEO Zarifa Reynolds has been busy creating a strategic plan that includes expanding its already impressive philanthropic footprint.
Her plan for the Rock Island-based women’s life insurance provider started 129 years ago by nine women who were unable to buy insurance also calls for improving the quality and quantity of products Royal Neighbors provides its members.
It is focused on diversity and inclusivity and is organized around creating a bigger capacity for greater impact via more products that are more meaningful for customers, she said.
The organization takes seriously its responsibility for making calculated risks with the hard-earned dollars it members invest in Royal Neighbor’s flagship products, Ms. Reynolds stressed. That’s why it is working to increase the financial impact of its investments, to optimize the performance of its flagship products and to better align the organization’s distribution partnerships to ensure they and the organization are working to “collectively to grow together.”
At the same time, Ms. Reynolds said Royal Neighbors’ philanthropic arm is seeking a way to grow its annual impact which centers each year on giving $10,000 grants to 10 nonprofits, which it calls chapters, and awarding $10,000 scholarships annually to about 40 students who are the children of Royal Neighbors’ members.
Ms. Reynolds recently visited some of the organization’s 2023 Neighbor to Neighbor grant winners, including The Clothing Center at Minnie’s Maison in Davenport.
“Somebody was very creative,” she said. “They took a house and they turned it into a boutique. They take clothing and they create this curative shopping experience. So if you don’t have clothes to wear you don’t feel like you’re going to some place and getting hand-me-downs.”
Its impact was apparent during her September trip to the New York-style shop. “People are coming in and shopping but when they leave they don’t pay anything and they feel like they can find the things that they need.”
In addition to the service it provides, however, Ms. Reynolds said, “Minnies needs to make sure the roof gets repaired. They need to make sure they can pay their insurance costs. These grants really help with sustainability for organizations that are just doing so much good in the community.”
The overall goal is to multiply these volunteers’ acts exponentially. “We want to be able to do more of that type of work in communities because you’re doubling the impact that somebody else is already having in their community and allowing them to have sustainability.”
That means supporting more communities and more philanthropists and volunteers.
“We’re just giving dollars, but the real work is the sweat equity that people are putting into delivering this: opening the shop, making sure everything is cleaned and stacked and put in the right place and we’re just trying to be a small enabler of this type of work,” she said.
Other chapters doing other things are operating throughout the nation thanks to the ability of generous members (and their children) to piggyback on Royal Neighbors 501(c)3 status to create nonprofit entities of their own without working their way through a lengthy and complicated process. Royal Neighbors also provides expertise and funding to help make projects and goals a reality.
Ms. Reynolds and her husband also have an example of the ways chapters change the world close to home. Their 16-year-old son is starting a chapter in Southern Florida.
He’s a “science kid” who, Ms. Reynolds said, became concerned about food instability after conducting a science award-winning study about the impact on crops and people’s livelihoods because of salt-water intrusion in the everglades.
It led him to persuade his mother to allow him to pursue opening a food pantry that offers quality food to underprivileged families. In addition to finding a Royal Neighbors member to sponsor his chapter — his mom — he coaxed nine friends to join him to meet the organization’s 10-member requirement. He also created a matching fund to leverage more donations and he’s financing his half with money he made working another job the summer.
“I think it’s going to be really great for him and it will be really great for my daughter who is younger than him watching him do this,” she said. “I can’t wait for the first chapter meeting, the first event.”
