Nominate

As a Member of 100 Women Who Care~ Greater Westford, you are eligible to nominate a charity.  Simply complete the Nomination Form. Nominations must be submitted at least two weeks prior to the quarterly giving event to be eligible for selection. 

Nomination Criteria

• Charities must be local and based in the Greater Westford surrounding communities.
• No national charities will be considered, however, local branches of national charities are eligible for consideration. The purpose is for 100% of the contribution to stay in Massachusetts.
• Charities must be actively engaged in the community and executing their mission statement.
• Charities must have 501 (3)(C )status in Massachusetts for a minimum of one year under the same name. 
• Charities must have one year of 990 tax returns on file and be willing to share that information with us if not readily available on their website or GuideStar. In the case of smaller non-profits (annual gross receipts up to $50,000) who file an e-Postcard (Form 990-N), those organizations must be willing to share at least one year of year-end financial statements with us.
• GuideStar https://www.guidestar.org/ and CharityNavigator https://www.charitynavigator.org/  are helpful websites to verify information on charities in addition to the charity itself. Reach out to your leadership team to support you as well. 

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Other Charity Nomination Details:​

• Members of 100 Women Who Care~Greater Westford may only have one charitable organization nominated at a time.
• The nominating member must attend the Giving Event if their charity has been selected to present. Otherwise another charity will be drawn from the pool.  That charity will be eligible to enter the pool for the next event, with no guarantee they will be selected. 
• Charities can only be nominated once during each giving cycle.  
• The Chosen Organization will receive an Impact Award of $10,000.  If donations exceed $10,000, the other two nominated nonprofits will split the remainder of the donations. 
• Organizations awarded the Impact Award donation have a three-year waiting period before they are eligible to receive our donation again.  A member must  renominate them to be put into the pool.  
• When donations exceed $10,000, the other two charities will have a one year waiting period before they are eligible to enter the charity pool, and  a member must renominate them. 
• Once a charity has presented twice and has not been awarded the Impact Award, they must wait two years before entering the pool again.
• At each Giving Event, a maximum of one presenting charity will be a prior presenting charity. 
• The selected non-profit must agree not to give out member information to any third parties or add them to their mailing list for future solicitation.
• 100 Women Who Care ~Greater Westford reserves the right to amend its policies and guidelines upon the request of its members and at the discretion of its Leadership Team. It also reserves the right to remove charity nominations that do not meet eligibility criteria. 

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• Merrimack Valley Food Bank
• PACH Outreach
• Nature Connection
• Nashoba Neighbors
• Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence
• Westford Remembers
• Westford Rotary

How to Present!

Congratulations!  Your charity has been selected for consideration of our impact award!   

Either you, the Executive Director of the charity, or another charity representative must present at the next meeting. If a charity representative is presenting, the nominating member must be in attendance to introduce the organization. Presentations should be simple and informal lasting only 5-7 minutes.  Do not include power points or videos. Here is a list of topics that you should be prepared to discuss:
 

• Start with an engaging opening line. (“Every month, 75 women in our community are involved in a domestic violence dispute.”)
• State your name and the name of the organization you would like to receive funding.
• Where is the organization located?
• What is the mission of the organization?
• What purpose does the organization serve? (Who? What do they do? How do they do it?)
• Describe the program that may be funded.  Provide some background information for the program.
• Who will it impact?  How many will it impact? How will it affect change?
• What is the organization's operating budget?
• Choose a compelling story to illustrate the outcome, mission, and impact of the organization. 
• What other needs do you have?  Opportunities to volunteer, board members, donations?
• Be passionate and credible.
• End with a heartfelt ask and a thank you.
  

*Presenters are each given 5-7 minutes, 

followed by a 5 minute Q&A. 

Once all three nominations have been presented and questions have been answered, members will vote to select the organization to receive the quarterly award. 

A member from the chosen charity will share an update on how the funds have been used  at the following event.

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