American Girl's Fund for Children


The Fund for Children (FFC) is a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation, advised by executives of American Girl, LLC, a subsidiary of Mattel, Inc.   FFC supports innovative programming for children ages 0-18 in Dane County.









To that end, the Fund will entertain proposals for programs that:
  • Expose children to excellence in arts, culture, entertainment, or hands-on education related to the arts or the environment.
  • Illustrate collaboration with other local organizations and/or schools in Dane County, Wisconsin.
  • Support or complement classroom curriculum.
  • Foster cooperation between children, parents and teachers.
  • Serve children in Dane County.
  • Indicate that a grant from the FFC can be leveraged to secure matching grants from other corporations and foundations, individuals, the county, state or other funding sources.

The Fund for Children does not provide support for the following:
  • Annual operations.
  • Endowments, individuals or scholarships.
  • Travel funds, benefit tickets, or courtesy advertising.
  • Organizations that might in any way pose a conflict with the Fund's goals, programs, products or employees.
  • Health and human services programs.
  • Capital projects or equipment.

Grant applications must be postmarked by August 1st.
  • The FFC entertains grant requests for a minimum of $10,000.
  • The grant application package must be complete prior to consideration.
  • Organizations are limited to one application per grant cycle.
  • All proposals and evaluations must be submitted in the requested format.
  • Generally, the FFC is not a sole-project funding source.
  • If an applicant organization is not a federally registered 501(c)(3), another organization must agree to serve as fiscal agent. A letter of agreement signed by both parties and a copy of the fiscal agent's 501(c)(3) must accompany the proposal.
  • All grant recipients are required to provide a Final Grant Evaluation including a detailed budget. Past grant recipients will be excluded from further grant consideration if an evaluation has not been completed for prior funding. Evaluation forms are mailed to grant recipients at the time payment is requested.
Grant seekers are strongly encouraged to contact Tom Linfield, Vice President, Grantmaking and Community Initiatives, at (608) 232-1763 prior to submitting a grant request.

The Fund for Children Grant Guidelines, Grant Application and Grant Evaluation are available here.
 

Altrusa International of Madison, Inc.


Altrusa International of Madison, Inc. is a women's service club that provides direct service and funding for community organizations, having done so since it was established in 1923.

Altrusa established a donor advised fund with the Madison Community Foundation in 1986 to further its aim of providing service to the community.


Grants from the Altrusa Fund are made in the area of literacy and education broadly defined including:
  • Projects to help children and youth meet their full educational potential.
  • Projects designed to expand opportunities for people returning to school or the workforce or for retraining.
  • Projects for people who need assistance to succeed in school so that they are able to be self-supporting.
  • Projects that foster parental involvement with their children's schooling.
  • Projects that focus on lifelong learning.
The Altrusa Fund will consider grant requests from $1,000 to $10,000.  The average grant is $1,200.

Two copies of the application, one electronic and one signed hard copy, must be submitted on or before the application deadline.  The electronic copy of the application should be emailed to Vice President, Grantmaking and Community Initiatives, Tom Linfield. Please include the name of your organization in the subject heading of your email submittal.

The signed hard copy of the application should be sent to: Madison Community Foundation, P.O. Box 5010, 2 Science Court, Madison, WI 53705

Grant announcements are made in writing by March 31 of each year. Grant recipients may be asked to make a brief presentation about the project to Altrusa International of Madison. 

The Grant application deadline is February 1.

The Altrusa International Grant Guidelines and Application can be obtained here.

Please contact Tom Linfield, Vice President, Grantmaking and Community Initiatives, at (608) 232-1763, for more information.

Information about the Altrusa International of Madison, Inc. scholarship can be obtained through this link.