The RMA Grant Process!
- Emily Strahley
- Apr 4, 2018
- 6 min read
For 10 years now, RMA has been fundraising in order to give grants to different children organizations and charities in the Denver Metro area. It’s the absolute best part of all that we do each year, choosing and then granting money to each charity that we decide on, as a group. It’s a unique part of RMA, our vetting process, and our ability to donate to different needs. It is why so many of us have chosen to commit time and energy to this organization, the ability to do so much good for so multiple organizations, all in Colorado. We thought it might be helpful to explain exactly why donating to Rocky Mountain Alliance Children’s Foundation is a little more special than donating to any other children foundations out there, who we donate to, and how we choose who were donating to.
Who we contributed to in 2017:
Environmental Learning for Kids (ELK): Program that supports urban youth in the Denver metro area and encourages children to pursue science and cultivate leadership skills to better themselves, their community, and the natural world.
Girls Inc. of Metro Denver: Inspires all girls to be strong, smart, and bold through life changing programs and experiences that help girls navigate barriers and reach their full potential.
Hope House: Metro-Denver's only resource providing free self-sufficiency programs to teen moms, including Residential, GED, and College & Career Support programs. Additional supportive services include parenting and life skills classes, healthy relationship classes, and certified counseling;, all designed to prepare them for long-term independence.
Judi's House: The only free-standing organization in the Metro Denver area devoted solely to providing research-based care to grieving children and their families.
Kids in Need of Dentistry (KIND): Provides high-quality, affordable dental care to children in need throughout Colorado.
Listen Foundation: Provides for and assists children who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families, with access to a proven speech, language, and listening therapy method to help them achieve a life of independence.
Maria Droste Services of Colorado, DBA Maria Droste Counseling Center: Improves lives by helping individuals and families overcome obstacles, find solutions, heal from emotional trauma and distress, and achieve personal growth and satisfaction in their lives.
Minds Matter of Denver, Inc: Transforming the lives of accomplished high school students from low-income families by broadening their dreams and preparing them for success in college and beyond.
Mount Saint Vincent:Treatment center for children with behavioral and emotional challenges due to mental illness, trauma, abuse, or neglect.
National Sports Center for the Disabled (DBA NSCD): provides therapeutic recreation, competition, and adaptive sports for children and adults with disabilities.
PlatteForum: Supports contemporary artists and under-served youth in metro Denver through innovative, long-term arts programs that allow the youth to work side-by-side with artists in residence.
Rocky Mountain Children's Law Center: Transforms the lives of abused, neglected, and at-risk children through compassionate legal advocacy, clinical services, education, and public policy reform.
Trips for Kids-Denver, DBA Trips for Kids Denver Metro: Uses bikes to empower at-risk and disadvantaged youth by providing life skills, development, and a sense of fun and adventure.
How we choose who we contribute to:
Towards the middle of each year we begin our ‘vetting,’, process to choose the organizations we’ll support for the year. It’s obviously the best part of being a part of RMA and what we all look forward to after a year of fundraising. Here is a glimpse into our process, let the fun begin!
We accept Grant applications through the year until June 15th.
Our grant committee will review every single application that is submitted, if the application meets all of our criteria, it will then move on to the next step of site visits!
We have speakers and members of different organizations present at our monthly meetings as well as watching videos and presentations to do our very best to get to know the details of the work the charity does. We do a site visit for every single new applicant and any charity that hasn’t been visited in over three years. During the site visit there is a detailed questionnaire completed.
Each member of RMA performs one or more site visits throughout the year. It’s a fun way for us to get insight into the organization and what they’re all about as well as getting as much information as we can to see if it’s a charity that aligns with our mission! RMA would love to contribute to each and every charity that meets our criteria. That is our goal and we are continually striving to achieve it.
After site visits are all completed, our Grants Committee prepares the results for the consideration and review by all the the members.
In November we have our biggest, most important, and exciting meeting of the year. We sit together, share our opinions and insights, and vote as group on each grant we’ll give. It’s a wonderful way for us to get to know every charity. How much money and to how many different charities we’re able to contribute to is largely dependent on how much money we’re able to raise during the year. We couldn’t be more grateful for our donors and that continuously support our efforts in any way they can!
In December, the magic happens. We present our grants to each individual program we’re able to support. Our hearts are never the same and all the fundraising efforts from the year are proven well worth it. We’re reminded once again why we are so incredibly lucky to have joined this strong group of women to be able to contribute to so many wonderful organizations in Colorado and change lives!
The Different Ways to Support RMA:
Rocky Mountain Alliance Children’s Foundation is a fundraising organization. Our members sole responsibility throughout the year is to raise money for our grantees. There are many ways to contribute to our efforts and they’re each valuable and appreciated.
Cash donations go directly to our grantees. Cash donations are great to build the funds we can contribute and the number of charities we’re able to impact. Go to our website to donate now!
In Kind donations are a way to support our efforts! In kind donations are what make our events possible, they’re the donations of goods, services, and expertise. If you would like to donate in this way, reach out to the member you know or email RMAChildrensFoundation@gmail.com.
Attend our events! We work very hard to put on amazing events full of community, music, great food, and the best dance party you’ll ever join. And all of the money raised during our events help us reach our fundraising goals. If you are interested in attending our events, check out our website, or find us on social media @ RMAChildrensFoundation.
Auction Items are donations made to us that can be auctioned off at our Gala in October. During our last meeting we discussed auction items and as a group, we all love a variety of auction items ourselves. Among our favorite items we’ve all tried to win are:
Experiences like vacations, spa services, and hotel stays
Jewelry, clothing items, and boutique gift cards
Restaurant gift cards
Wine
And many more, there is something for everyone and if we can use an auction item to grow our grant fund, then it’s a wonderful contribution to RMA. If you would like to donate an auction item or service, reach out to the member you know or our email us at RMAChildrensFoundation@gmail.com.
Corporate Sponsorships are so incredibly important to RMA. We love gaining these relationships with like-minded companies. As an organization we try to shine a lot of light on the companies that support us. We use our social media, events, and community involvement to give exposure to the companies and what they’re doing for our community by partnering with us. Corporate sponsorships also include tickets to all of our events. If we seem like an organization that your company would like to support, reach out to us at RMAChildrensFoundation@gmail.com.
We would love to have you on our side! Whether you’re a part of a charity and looking to submit a grant application, interested in becoming a member of RMA, donating to us in any number of ways, coming to our events or partnering with us through a corporate sponsorship we would love to hear from you! You can find additional information at www.rmacf.org.
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