Anne Arundel Women Giving Together, Volunteer Project, 2012.
Photo by Bronwyn Belling.

By Sharon Stewart, Anne Arundel Women Giving Together

Anne Arundel Women Giving Together (AAWGT), a women’s giving circle based in the Annapolis, Maryland area, provides annual grants for local programs supporting women and families. By far the most popular activity for our members is their involvement in the grantmaking process.

AAWGT has built a strong, professionally-run grantmaking process that provides hands-on involvement for our members and grantees. We are grateful to our host organization, the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County, and some of our members with extensive grantmaking experience and/or who have family foundations, for helping to refine our grantmaking.

Unique about our processes are the many opportunities for personal interaction between grantee and grantor. These include:

• The proposal process – we encourage interaction with potential grantees by providing information sessions that include proposal writing and budget development training, conduct site visits with the most promising groups, and make phone calls to get additional information.
• The grant awards process – we communicate immediately after our grant award decisions are made – with both those who will be receiving grants and those who won’t – by making personal phone calls and quickly sending out letters with appropriate details.
• Showcasing our grantees – each June, we host an event that is open to the public, where we showcase the programs of grantees receiving grants for that year, applauding the work that these nonprofits do in the community. This also provides an opportunity for our members to learn more about our grantees.
• We started a training and networking program for our grantees and all the other nonprofits in our county called Grantee Connect. This annual event is done in conjunction with our local community foundation and other partners and provides opportunities for local groups to receive in-depth training on specific issues from local and national experts as well as to connect with one another.
• Post-grants evaluation – we have developed a follow-up process of working with grantees once they receive funding by setting up teams of 2-3 women who are matched with each of our grantees. These teams interact regularly with the grantees, conduct site visits, and are able to provide intervention early on when there are issues to be resolved. We also collect data about our grants so that we have a comprehensive history of groups funded.

Our grantees often tell us that they appreciate and enjoy the close interaction. We believe that the result of building these close working relationships helps to generate the spirit of “we’re all in this together” that is so important to building stronger communities.

For more on giving circles, see Sharon’s previous article: Growing Philanthropic Leaders Through Giving Circles. Additional resources are available at the Association of Baltimore Grantmakers and the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers. 

Sharon Stewart is the founder and past president of Anne Arundel Women Giving Together. She has spent the past 12 years as an independent consultant, working with foundations and nonprofit organizations to help them develop their governance, marketing, and business strategies. She previously worked at the Council on Foundations, Independent Sector, and a small family foundation in Washington, DC.