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WWF Pooled Fund Award Guidelines

Guiding Principles of the Pooled Fund
Description of Pooled Fund Process
Funding Priorities
Eligibility
Important Dates
Frequently Asked Questions about WWF's Grant Process

Washington Women’s Foundation awards large grants (ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 disbursed over two- to three-years) from its pooled fund to selected organizations every year. In 2007, $450,000 was granted to organizations in our five funding areas: arts & culture, education, environment, health and social services (see pooled fund awards for a list of past grant recipients.)

Guiding Principles of the Pooled Fund
The core values of impact, collaboration and education guide the work of the WWF Grant Committee.

The Grant Committee selects programs or projects that will achieve significant impact and reflect the breadth of member interest. We do this by:

• Involving all interested WWF members as committee members
• Reviewing projects suggested by members
• Researching community needs
• Evaluating proposals in a coordinated and consistent manner
• Nominating finalists that will make significant impact
• Participating in an eveluation of the year's process, forwarding best practices and suggestions for the next grant cycle

Description of Pooled Fund Process
The WWF Grant Committee, made up of approximately 50 foundation members, researches community needs in five pre-determined issue areas, or work groups. The work groups are:

Arts & Culture
Education
Environment
Health
Social Services

Beginning in January of each year, work groups convene to identify giving priorities, compile data, and analyze information on organizations of interest. (Organizations interested in making the Grant Committee aware of its work are invited to submit a letter of inquiry form, for possible review by the work groups.) The work groups then select a total of 25 organizations to receive a formal request for proposal, or RFP. No unsolicited grant proposals are accepted. Of the 25 grant requests received, 15 proposals (three in each work group area) are selected for a site visit. After the site visits are conducted, 10 proposals are chosen by the Grant Committee for a ballot that is sent to the entire WWF membership for a vote. Based on the results, five organizations (one from each work group area) receive pooled fund awards each June. Award amounts depend on the size of the pooled fund and the voting results.

Funding Priorities
Washington Women’s Foundation funds projects that address at least one of the following criteria:

• Responses to urgent and critical need;
• Bold new ventures; and/or
• New approaches to time-worn problems.

The foundation funds broadly – it does not limit funding to women’s causes. It funds organizations that, in the opinion of WWF members, are able to make the best use of $100,000.

WWF funds five organizations each year, one in each of the following funding areas: arts & culture, education, environment, health and social services.

Eligibility

• Only organizations that qualify as 501(c)(3) entities under the Internal Revenue Service code will be considered for funding.
• Funding for special projects, capital campaigns and operating expenses will be considered.
• Funding requests for endowments and projects outside the boundaries of the United States will not be considered.
• Organizations that discriminate on the basis of age, race, national origin, ethnicity, gender, physical ability, sexual orientation, political affiliation or religious belief and organizations that serve an exclusively sectarian purpose will not be considered for funding.
• Organizations that have previously received a WWF pooled fund award are again eligible for consideration it if has been a minimum of five years since the initial grant award (i.e., awarded in 2003 or before for the 2008 grant cycle).

Though the Washington Women’s Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals, organizations that consider themselves eligible are welcome to submit a letter of inquiry form.

Guiding Criteria

• Proposals that offer opportunities to leverage other funds and forge partnershpis that will increase the impact of WWF funds are of special interest.
• Management of the organization and project should be in the hands of reliable, ethical and experiences personnel.
• Project Plans should demonstrate the ability to achieve results or should supply sufficient rationale to warrant the given amount of risk.

Important Dates for Organizations

Still have questions? Click here for frequently asked questions about the WWF grant process.

WWF reserves the right to change its funding guidelines before the beginning of the grant cycle in January 2008.