Member Sponsorship Fund

Guidelines and Selection Criteria

Anne Arundel Women Giving Together, a women’s giving circle (“AAWGT”), is a Fund of the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County. The purpose of AAWGT is to support initiatives that improve the quality of life for women and families in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

Membership in AAWGT requires an annual contribution of $550 for members (ages 36 and above) and $275 for associate members (ages 35 and under). The mission of AAWGT is accomplished, in part, by engaging and educating women about philanthropy, grant making and community issues. To support this goal, AAWGT has established a fund to assist prospective and current members with the partial or full payment of the annual membership contribution (the “Sponsorship Fund”).

Sponsorship Committee

The Bylaws provide that the amount and recipients of Sponsorship Fund awards will be determined by the Officers of AAWGT, together with the Chair of the Membership and Outreach Committee, and the Chair of the Leadership Development Committee (collectively, the “Sponsorship Committee”), unless the recipient is designated by an award donor.

Eligibility

To be considered for a partial or full award of Sponsorship Funds, the applicant must be:

1. A woman and a resident of Anne Arundel County; and

     2. Interested in pursuing the stated mission of AAWGT.

Fund Support and Awards

The Sponsorship Fund is supported through the donations of members and others. The need for donations and the invitation to interested women to submit an application for an award will be announced at AAWGT meetings, in AAWGT emails and in the AAWGT newsletter. As Sponsorship Funds become available, the Sponsorship Committee will, within 4 weeks, review the applications received and inform the selected recipients of its decisions. Recipients are not eligible to receive an award more than once in every two-year cycle, unless designated by an award donor.

Selection Guidelines

In its review of each application, the Sponsorship Committee will consider the many impacts recipients of Sponsorship Funds may have on the goals of AAWGT, including the following:

1. Sustaining and increasing AAWGT membership and diversity in all respects, including age, ethnicity, occupation, experience, socioeconomics, location within the County, and other demographic factors;

2. Providing opportunities for women to learn about the needs of women and children in Anne Arundel County, philanthropy, grant making, and the power of collective giving; and

3. Facilitating and supporting involvement in the committees and leadership of AAWGT.

Application Process

Interested women should fill out and submit the AAWGT Sponsorship Application Form to Bess Langbein, Executive Director, Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County. Questions can be directed to giving@givingtogether.org