Get the room after the room.
Events are free to attend. Sustaining Members get the follow-through: attendee lists at every event you check into, early access to hot events, and the full members directory.
What Sustaining Members get.
Every event you check in to unlocks its full attendee list for you. Real names, real LinkedIns, and an email address wherever that member has chosen to share one. Nothing is shown unless they turned it on themselves.
Popular events fill fast. Sustaining Members RSVP first, before public invitations go out.
Search other Sustaining Members by industry, company, city. See who's active in professional Charlotte.
A gold ring on your member card at events. Signals to the room that you're a repeat player.
Public profiles are eligible to be picked by event hosts for Member Spotlight. Free visibility on the Network Charlotte homepage.
Two ways in.
Pay directly, or apply for a Foundation hardship-relief grant that you can put toward Sustaining Member dues (or anything else that helps your career move). Same Sustaining benefits either way.
Sustaining Member
Direct membership in Network Charlotte. Full access to every Sustaining Member benefit at every event. Your dues fund venue rentals, staffing, and the platform that keeps events running.
Join for $99/yrHardship-Relief Grant
The Network Charlotte Foundation is a separate 501(c)(3) that awards hardship-relief grants to Charlotte residents facing unemployment, underemployment, or career transitions. Grants are flexible — recipients can invest in Sustaining Member dues, professional certifications, career coaching, or whatever moves them forward fastest.
Ask about eligibilityHow grants work: Grants go directly to individual recipients, not to Network Charlotte. Every award is documented as a Foundation program expense with objective eligibility criteria (income tier, employment status, career transition) reviewed by a grant committee. Recipients apply once per year, receive funds within 30 days of approval, and choose how to use them.
How it works.
- 1. RSVP for any event on the calendar. Free to attend for everyone; Sustaining is not a paywall.
- 2. Check in at the kiosk when you arrive. This is what unlocks the attendee list for that event.
- 3. After the event, the attendee list appears in your member dashboard. Reach out to whoever caught your attention.
No mystery on the money.
Sustaining dues fund venue rentals, ambassador honoraria, the kiosk and event tech, event photography, and the platform you're on. Everything else, from the newsletter to the directory to the attendee lists, runs on that base.
Two separate entities, separate books. Network Charlotte is the for-profit that operates the platform and events. The Foundation is a separate nonprofit (pursuing 501(c)(3) status) that runs its own jobseeker programming and awards hardship-relief grants. The Foundation uses the Network Charlotte platform under a standard software-vendor service agreement. Once 501(c)(3) status is granted, Foundation Form 990 filings become public record.
Free vs Sustaining.
Foundation Member vs Sustaining Member vs Both.
Two separate organizations, two different memberships. Pick the one that fits — or hold both for the full spectrum.
| Benefit | Foundation Member | Sustaining Member | Both |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | $33/yr | $99/yr | $132/yr |
| Tax-deductible | Pending 501(c)(3) determination* | Yes, as a marketing expense* | $99 marketing now, $33 pending* |
| Which entity | Network Charlotte Foundation | Network Charlotte (for-profit) | Both |
| Attendee lists at Foundation events | ✓ | — | ✓ |
| Attendee lists at NC events | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Member directory | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Early RSVP access | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Digital business card | Free basic (community feature) | Premium features unlocked | Premium features |
| Foundation jobseeker programming | ✓ | Open to community | ✓ |
* Two different deductions, and they are not in the same state today. The Sustaining Membership is a for-profit product, so it is never a charitable gift; a business deducts it as an ordinary marketing expense. The Foundation Member fee is charitable in intent, but Network Charlotte Foundation is still pursuing IRS 501(c)(3) determination, so it cannot be claimed as a charitable deduction yet. Whether a later determination changes that for dues paid now is a question for your accountant, as is how any of this applies to your own situation.
Ready to join?
Reply and we'll set you up. If you're on the Foundation track, we'll walk you through eligibility.