WCCF Initiates Campaign with Annual Director’s Choice Award
As
part of its current marketing and development campaign, Philanthropy – The
Next Generation, and in recognition of the 10th anniversary in
2008 of the its executive director, Betsie Trew, the Washington County Community
Foundation (WCCF) is pleased to announce the creation of an annual Director’s
Choice Award. The award, to be presented each June at the WCCF’s Legacy
Gala, will include a $10,000 operational grant from the Foundation’s
Acorn Fund. Recipients of the award will be limited to smaller but
growing charitable organizations serving
Washington County.
“The Director’s Choice Award is the perfect way for our organization to honor our earliest donors who were willing to invest in us when we were a great idea waiting to happen, but had no history and no assets,” stated Carlyn Belczyk, Chairman of the Board. “Unlike many community foundations in the country which were created by multi-million dollar private foundations converting to community foundations, the WCCF literally started with nothing. It is our wish with the award to help smaller charities - the next generation of charities - the way we were helped by our earliest supporters. And the Director’s Choice Award is a way for us to recognize the hard work and dedication of our first and only full-time executive director, Betsie Trew.”
To apply for the Director’s Choice Award, interested charities should submit a letter of application on the charity’s letterhead to the WCCF by May 1. The letter, which must be limited to three pages, should provide an overview of the organization and the intended use of the $10,000 grant. Audited financial statements for the past five years, or since inception for newer charities, should also be submitted. Eligible charities will have an operating budget of less than $250,000, have been in existence for at least three years, and provide a program in at least one of the six funding areas supported by the Acorn Fund which include arts & humanities, education, environment & animal welfare, health, human needs, and religion. Applications will be evaluated on (1) quality of programming (2) community impact as gauged by the number of people served, programs offered, or other measurable evaluation and (3) improvement in the balance sheet since inception or over the last five years. Charities should address each of these criteria in the letter of application.
Chosen
to recognize in-coming Chairman of the Board, Thomas P. Northrop, and his
father, John L.S. Northrop, who previously served as WCCF Chairman, the Next
Generation Campaign seeks to educate the community about the importance of
developing an unrestricted grant-making fund to support emerging quality of life
issues in the community. The development goal of the campaign is to raise
$225,000 for the Acorn Fund which will help provide the annual
Director’s Choice Award. Other activities planned for the campaign include
a county-wide planting of oak trees and the initiation of a gift annuity program
designed to benefit many individuals and not-for-profits in the community.
To learn more, please contact the WCCF at 724-222-6330 or
info@wccf.net.
For a list of Directors Choice Recipients click here