OUR GRANT PROCESS

 The 2023 Grant Nomination Deadline is 11:59 pm on January 31, 2023. Only current members may submit nominations by email to Grants@WomenUnitedCville.Org.  CLICK HERE to become a WUP member today!

Women United in Philanthropy (WUP) awards grants every year to local non-profits serving women and children in our community through its Grant Award program. The amount of the grant and the number of grants awarded each year are determined based on the amount available in the WUP Collective Fund. The Collective Fund is grown through WUP membership. The Grant Award program is unique and the process can change based on direction set by the Grant and Steering Committees, community needs, available funds, and other factors.

The Process, in general:

  1. WUP members send nominations to the grant committee.
  2. Eligible organizations are invited to submit a proposal for consideration.
  3. The grant committee, made up of current WUP members, reviews all proposals for eligibility (see below), sustainability, community benefit, and other factors and selects which applicants will advance to the site visit stage.
  4. Grant Committee members conduct site visits with key staff/volunteers from each non-profit selected for this stage.
  5. After site visits, the grant committee selects finalist organizations and invites them to give a presentation directly to the full membership (the number of finalists can vary).
  6. All members are given the opportunity to vote during a brief period following the finalists’ grant presentations.
  7. Grant award recipients are announced to the full membership at the WUP Annual Fall Luncheon.

If you are a Women United in Philanthropy member interested in volunteering on the Grant Committee go here.

Nominated Organizations

To be eligible for nomination by a WUP member, an organization must:

  • Be a 501(c)3 human services organization
  • Serve women and/or children in Planning District 10, which includes the City of Charlottesville and the Counties of Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, and Nelson. Organizations that serve men are not excluded.
  • Not have been awarded Women United in Philanthropy grants in the previous two grant cycles (click here to review our grant history)

Nominating Members

In order for a WUP member to nominate an organization for a Grant, the member must:

  1. Be a current member of Women United in Philanthropy. Members must join or renew by December 31 in order to nominate a non-profit for the next grant cycle.
  2. Email the name of the non-profit organization (If known, please include the name of a contact person, their title, and their contact information) to Grants@WomenUnitedCville.org
  3. Email before the nomination deadline of 11:59 pm on January 31.
  4. Members can nominate more than one organization and do not have to have a personal connection to the non-profit (though it’s fine if they do). Last year, members nominated a total of 24 organizations.
  5. In 2023, in addition to two larger grants, WUP will be awarding a smaller grant that was created especially with smaller non-profit organizations in mind.
  6. A nominated non-profit is not obligated to participate in the grant process if they are not interested. 
  7. All nominations are confidential.

Grant Cycle

The grant cycle timing may change due to factors within Women United in Philanthropy or community issues. A new grant cycle is typically announced within one month of a completed grant cycle.