16 Things for New Members to Know
1) How often and where do you meet?
We meet two times a year in April/May and October/November. Members are expected to commit $250 each meeting or $500/year.
2) Can I invite other people?
Definitely! We are always happy to have new members and have found that word of mouth from our existing members is the best way to find new members. Our membership and meetings are open to anyone who wants to support Tecate regardless of where they live. Your friends and family don’t need to be members to observe a meeting, but only members can vote or nominate a charity for presentation, Members can come from within or outside of RRLP, and because we always Zoom the meetings, your Ranch friends from anywhere can still join and
support our efforts.
3) How do the charities get on the list so they can be considered for an award?
Since most of us are new to Tecate and don’t have a lot of familiarity with nonprofits here, the steering committee, with the help and guidance of Toñe Beguerisse (from the RLP Fundación) and ICF, has put together and vetted a list of local charities that all have the nonprofit designation of the Mexican government, and some additionally have tax deductible status in Mexico that is equivalent to a US 501c3. For those without tax deductible status, ICF will do a financial audit to ensure their accountability and solvency. For the first few meetings, those are the nonprofits we will be choosing from. Over time as our members become more familiar with Tecate, they are encouraged to nominate
charities as well. We will vet them and if they qualify, they can also then be considered for an award.
4) How can I submit a favorite local Tecate charity for nomination?
Submitting a charity is easy!
5) Are there rules for what kind of charities can and can’t be presented?
Yes, there are a few rules:
6) How and when do you actually choose the three charities for each meeting?
We literally put all of the vetted charities (minus those that have been awarded within the past three years) into a bowl at the end of a meeting, and the first three chosen are presented at the following meeting.
7) When a charity is chosen to be presented that was nominated by a member, does the person who submitted it have to be the presenter?
Yes, but they have the choice of doing the presentation by themselves or enlisting the help of a representative from the charity or a recipient of the charity’s services.
8) Why should a member put their name in if the charity they want to present is already going to be in the hat to be presented by someone from the charity?
It is often the personal passion of a friend or neighbor, or the personal story of someone affected by a charity that win’s peoples’ hearts and results in being chosen for the award. When a nonprofit is randomly pulled from the hat for presentation, someone most likely unknown by our members from that nonprofit will present it. If a member of our group is pulled from the hat for that same presentation, it may have a different impact on the members.
9) Can you tell me which charities are presenting ahead of time?
No, we don’t announce the charities or presenters ahead of time to either the members or the other presenters. We believe that keeping the presentations a surprise has the following advantages:
10) What happens at the meeting?
11) How does voting work?
You have the right to vote at the meeting where you sign (or have signed) a commitment form. The only exception to this is the very first meeting where everyone will be invited to vote (and encouraged to sign the commitment form).
12) How is the donation money allocated?
The charity that gets the most votes gets all of the funds collected, less a $500 award ($1000 total) that goes to
each of the other two charities presented.
13) Do I have to make a donation to the charity that’s chosen by the group if it’s not my first choice?
Yes. The rationale for our collective giving model is that together we can do more, so by combining our dollars, we can make a more substantial and impactful contribution. When you join our group, you agree to support the charity that is chosen by the will of the group even if it’s not your first choice.
14) How do I make the donation?
You can make your donation online via credit card, Paypal, Googlepay or bank transfer via our partner ICF (International
Community Foundation). We do NOT accept cash or check donations.
15) Is my donation tax deductible in the US?
Thanks to our partner, ICF, your donation will be tax deductible. ICF is a 501c3 nonprofit operating out of San Diego with the unique benefit for us that they can direct our donation to nonprofits in Mexico while still giving you the full tax benefits of the US. Your donations will be 100% tax deductible.
16) Does it cost anything to belong to 100 Who Care Tecate?
There is no charge to the members to belong. The 100 Who Care model is very simple and efficient and operates with volunteer labor. The only costs to you are when you make your donation, there will be a standard credit card or bank transfer processing fee, a 6% management fee for ICF, and. 2% fee for Fundraise Up which is the actual platform that accepts the donation.. We could not operate without a Foundation that can accept and disburse the funds on our behalf. ICF’s fee covers vetting of local charities, the accepting and disbursal of our donations, and the knowledge of and connections with the local nonprofits among other things. In addition, their 501c3 tax status is what allows your donation to be tax deductible. It is our hope that in the spirit of community connection, members who plan to come in-person will donate food and drink so we can celebrate at each and every meeting.
We meet two times a year in April/May and October/November. Members are expected to commit $250 each meeting or $500/year.
- The meetings last one hour from 7-8PM Tecate (PST) time
- Our meetings are in-person and we invite members to bring a potluck dish and/or drinks, and arrive early to dine and socialize. In-person meetings are also streamed live on Zoom and members may observe, ask questions through chat, and vote.
- Location and timing for the in-person meetings will typically be at RRLP and will be announced at least a month before each meeting
2) Can I invite other people?
Definitely! We are always happy to have new members and have found that word of mouth from our existing members is the best way to find new members. Our membership and meetings are open to anyone who wants to support Tecate regardless of where they live. Your friends and family don’t need to be members to observe a meeting, but only members can vote or nominate a charity for presentation, Members can come from within or outside of RRLP, and because we always Zoom the meetings, your Ranch friends from anywhere can still join and
support our efforts.
3) How do the charities get on the list so they can be considered for an award?
Since most of us are new to Tecate and don’t have a lot of familiarity with nonprofits here, the steering committee, with the help and guidance of Toñe Beguerisse (from the RLP Fundación) and ICF, has put together and vetted a list of local charities that all have the nonprofit designation of the Mexican government, and some additionally have tax deductible status in Mexico that is equivalent to a US 501c3. For those without tax deductible status, ICF will do a financial audit to ensure their accountability and solvency. For the first few meetings, those are the nonprofits we will be choosing from. Over time as our members become more familiar with Tecate, they are encouraged to nominate
charities as well. We will vet them and if they qualify, they can also then be considered for an award.
4) How can I submit a favorite local Tecate charity for nomination?
Submitting a charity is easy!
- First, check our pre-qualified list (click HERE) to see if it’s already been vetted.
- If it is NOT on that list, fill out THIS FORM and we’ll get it vetted for you.
- Once the charity is vetted and put on the pre-qualified list, you can submit it for presentation at the meeting prior to the one at which you want to present it. Note: you MUST BE PRESENT at the in-person meeting in Tecate to present a nonprofit.
- If you will be attending in-person, you can email Laurie ahead of time at 100whocaretecate.com OR submit the name of the charity at the meeting itself. If you will be attending by Zoom or you are not able to attend at all, you can still nominate by sending an email to the above email address
- If your name is picked as one of the three presenters or two alternates, you will know the next day and your charity will be presented at the next meeting (six months later). We will be choosing from among charities that our members have nominated as well as ones that we have vetted but our members are not familiar with.
5) Are there rules for what kind of charities can and can’t be presented?
Yes, there are a few rules:
- They must be registered with the Mexican government as a Donataria Autorizada for at least three years
- If they don't have tax deductible status, they must undergo a financial audit by ICF
- They must allocate the majority of funds in Tecate.
- They must agree to keep our members’ names off of future solicitations and not share them with third parties
- A representative from the charity must agree to attend our next meeting to talk about how our donation was or will be used
- Our Steering Committee reserves the right to reject any charities that are deemed inappropriate.
6) How and when do you actually choose the three charities for each meeting?
We literally put all of the vetted charities (minus those that have been awarded within the past three years) into a bowl at the end of a meeting, and the first three chosen are presented at the following meeting.
- In addition, any member who also wants to present a pre-vetted charity writes their name and their nominated charity on a piece of paper which goes into a bowl. The bowl will also contain the names of local charities that have been pre-vetted but our members are not familiar with. When the meeting is over, the pieces of paper are randomly and blindly pulled out of the bowl. A volunteer member from the group observes this process.
- Every name in the bowl is pulled out and recorded in the order in which it was revealed.
- The next day, we notify the three member/charities whose names were pulled out of the bowl first, second and third that they are presenting at the next meeting, and we also notify the members picked fourth and fifth that they are alternates in case one of the top three can’t present at the next meeting. We pick the charities at the prior meeting for three main reasons:
- This advance notice helps our members and nonprofits feel comfortable putting themselves out there to present;
- Giving our members and nonprofits time to prepare their presentations improves the quality and accuracy of the information they are able to share with the group, and
- It also allows our members the option of enlisting a representative from the charity or a recipient of it's services to help with the presentation.
7) When a charity is chosen to be presented that was nominated by a member, does the person who submitted it have to be the presenter?
Yes, but they have the choice of doing the presentation by themselves or enlisting the help of a representative from the charity or a recipient of the charity’s services.
- At a minimum, the member whose name was pulled out of the bowl has to introduce the charity and say a few words about why they nominated it. Beyond that, they can do the whole presentation themselves or they can have a representative from the charity or a recipient of the charity's services do part of the presentation.
- A member who has been chosen to present CANNOT hand over the responsibility of presenting to another member.
- A member who is chosen to present MUST appear in person at the meeting to present.
- If a chosen charity was not nominated by a member, they are still free to bring in someone who was a recipient of their services to help with the presentation
8) Why should a member put their name in if the charity they want to present is already going to be in the hat to be presented by someone from the charity?
It is often the personal passion of a friend or neighbor, or the personal story of someone affected by a charity that win’s peoples’ hearts and results in being chosen for the award. When a nonprofit is randomly pulled from the hat for presentation, someone most likely unknown by our members from that nonprofit will present it. If a member of our group is pulled from the hat for that same presentation, it may have a different impact on the members.
9) Can you tell me which charities are presenting ahead of time?
No, we don’t announce the charities or presenters ahead of time to either the members or the other presenters. We believe that keeping the presentations a surprise has the following advantages:
- The presenters and nonprofits are less likely to become nervous or discouraged based upon their “competition”
- It’s more fun for the entire group to find out at the meeting
- Members won't choose whether to attend a particular meeting based on knowledge and pre-judgments about the charities being presented, and
- It honors our commitment to the non-presenting members that their involvement is limited to the one-hour meeting by requiring the presenters to provide all the essential information about the charities so the non-presenting members do not have to do any advance preparation.
10) What happens at the meeting?
- For in-person attendees, the gathering can start early to share food and drink and socialize.
- After greetings and housekeeping details are shared, the prior meeting’s award recipient speaks for 5 minutes or less about how they have spent or plan to spend the award dollars they received from us.
- Each presenter gives a 5-minute presentation about their charity, followed by a 5-minute Q&A.
- The in-person group votes by written or QR code ballot and Zoom attendees vote via a real-time Zoom poll. Votes are combined to determine the award recipient.
- Results are announced, and the meeting concludes within one hour of when it started.
11) How does voting work?
You have the right to vote at the meeting where you sign (or have signed) a commitment form. The only exception to this is the very first meeting where everyone will be invited to vote (and encouraged to sign the commitment form).
- In-person voting is done via written ballot or QR code ballot, or if you can’t attend the meeting, you can watch the presentations streamed live via Zoom and vote via a live Zoom poll in real time.
- Voting ballots aregiven out by individual, not household. If a couple joins but only makes one $250 donation, they will only receive one voting ballot and only one can nominate.
12) How is the donation money allocated?
The charity that gets the most votes gets all of the funds collected, less a $500 award ($1000 total) that goes to
each of the other two charities presented.
- The winning charity is ineligible for another award for three years.
- The other two charities cannot present at the following meeting, but are eligible to present at any subsequent meetings. Accordingly, none of the presenting charities can put their names in the hat on the night of their presentation.
13) Do I have to make a donation to the charity that’s chosen by the group if it’s not my first choice?
Yes. The rationale for our collective giving model is that together we can do more, so by combining our dollars, we can make a more substantial and impactful contribution. When you join our group, you agree to support the charity that is chosen by the will of the group even if it’s not your first choice.
14) How do I make the donation?
You can make your donation online via credit card, Paypal, Googlepay or bank transfer via our partner ICF (International
Community Foundation). We do NOT accept cash or check donations.
- You can make your donation on the ICF platform by going HERE.
- You have the choice of making a one-time payment after each meeting, or you can set up a recurring donation which will charge your commitment every six months when we have a meeting until you stop it. We prefer you use the recurring payment so we don't have to pester you to make your donation.
- ICF is a San Diego based 501(c)3 and will give you a US tax donation receipt regardless of the tax-deductible status of the nonprofit in Mexico. ICF is then able to donate to nonprofits outside of the US.
- You are always free to include a donation to either of the other two charities and we will make sure it gets to them.
- You are also free to donate more than the required $250 fee by filling in a custom amount on the ICF donation platform.
15) Is my donation tax deductible in the US?
Thanks to our partner, ICF, your donation will be tax deductible. ICF is a 501c3 nonprofit operating out of San Diego with the unique benefit for us that they can direct our donation to nonprofits in Mexico while still giving you the full tax benefits of the US. Your donations will be 100% tax deductible.
16) Does it cost anything to belong to 100 Who Care Tecate?
There is no charge to the members to belong. The 100 Who Care model is very simple and efficient and operates with volunteer labor. The only costs to you are when you make your donation, there will be a standard credit card or bank transfer processing fee, a 6% management fee for ICF, and. 2% fee for Fundraise Up which is the actual platform that accepts the donation.. We could not operate without a Foundation that can accept and disburse the funds on our behalf. ICF’s fee covers vetting of local charities, the accepting and disbursal of our donations, and the knowledge of and connections with the local nonprofits among other things. In addition, their 501c3 tax status is what allows your donation to be tax deductible. It is our hope that in the spirit of community connection, members who plan to come in-person will donate food and drink so we can celebrate at each and every meeting.