For Immediate Release
May 1, 2010

Contact: Jan Gietzel, Executive Director • A Fund For Women • 608-441-0630

A FUND FOR WOMEN ISSUES REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Madison, WI...A Fund For Women (AFFW), a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation (MCF), is now accepting grant applications for its 2010 grant cycle. The Fund expects to be distributing approximately $100,000 in this grant cycle. Grant winners will be announced on October 21, 2010 at the annual AFFW fundraising event. The deadline for grant applications is July 1, 2010.

For this second year of its biannual grant-giving cycle, AFFW is seeking proposals for programs or projects that proactively address the needs of women who are caregivers, primarily of elderly or handicapped family members. Because of the risks and hazards to caregivers without support systems, it is expected that these programs will result in community and workplace involvement that addresses the understandings of caregiver physical and psychological needs as well as job security and strategies for stress relief.

AFFW is particularly interested in both innovative and ongoing programs and services that will reach women from diverse backgrounds. Proposals should address evidence-based improvements and solutions for caregivers while also reducing associated costs—to employers, families, and the urban, suburban or rural Dane County communities in which the programs exist.

AFFW will hold a workshop at the Madison Community Foundation from 10:30–12:00 noon on May 21 for interested non-profit organizations that would like to know more about the grant-writing process. Workshop leaders will concentrate on questions about the 2010–2011 focus on caregivers, and share their criteria for evaluating proposals.

Interested non-profit organizations can go to the AFFW website at www.affw.org to obtain the entire Request For Proposal, or contact Jan Gietzel at 608-441-0630, affw@madisoncommunityfoundation.org to receive a copy. Workshop registrations are due by phone or email by May 14.