A FUND FOR WOMEN, a component fund of The Madison Community Foundation was established in 1993 to improve the lives of girls and women in our community. Since that first year, when a group of original visionary donors put together an endowment fund of $100,000, the fund has grown to over $1,000,000. Even more importantly, A FUND FOR WOMEN has given over $450,563 back to our community in less than 13 years.
AFFW looks at areas of challenge and opportunity and then steps in to help fund innovative solutions where previously there were problems, deficits or simply nothing at all. In the process, lives are changed for the better and not just for the recipients of our grants.
GRANT-MAKING is the heart and soul of A Fund For Women, providing support for worthy programs and projects that benefit women and girls in the Madison area. Since 1993, when a visionary group of original donors raised $100,000 to create an endowment fund, AFFW has given close to half a million dollars in grants back to the community.
A Fund For Women
We know that when philanthropists lend financial support to A Fund For Women, they expect us to make grant decisions wisely, and we take that charge very seriously. To achieve this end, every other year the Grantmaking Committee undertakes a process of identifying and studying issues in the community which have a high impact on women and girls, and then matching grant applications against these concerns.
Guided by community needs and influenced by members’ interests and input, the study process is rigorous, exciting and dynamic, and it provides us with a flexible, effective way of focusing our energy and the resources provided by our membership.
All grants are driven by the overall goal of helping women and children learn self-reliance and reach self-sufficiency. Under that umbrella, we focus on the following four key areas of need:
* Keeping elderly or disabled women in their homes, or in community settings * Providing services to victims of domestic abuse * Helping women achieve economic self sufficiency and increase their earning potential * Reducing homelessness for women and girls