FAQ's

Nykesha Sales, Aurora Women & Girls Foundation Woman Philanthropist of the Year, 2009

What are women and girls funds?
Women and girls funds provide financial support to non profit groups working to improve the lives of women and girls. They focus exclusively on women’s and girls’ issues by working toward solutions to longstanding problems.

Many women are making important advancements in their own financial independence. These women are realizing that collectively, they can leverage their financial power, time, and energy to bring about social change, serve as role models, and use their leadership to create opportunities for other women and girls.

Why a specific focus on women?
Women reinvest 90% of their earnings in their families. That means when you give a woman or girl opportunity, you create a powerful agent of change for her entire community. Change to address these facts:

• The majority of the nation’s poor are women.
• In the U.S. alone, 800,000 more women live in poverty in 2009 than in 2008.
• In Hartford, 55% of female heads of household live in poverty. (source City of Hartford)
• Women make up to 75% of the elderly poor, and are less likely than men to receive a pension or other retirement benefits.
• Women are more likely than men to earn less money, have less education, and live at the poverty level than men.

How did Aurora Women & Girls Foundation come into existence?
Currently, there are more than 100 women and girls funds in the country. Amazingly, before Aurora Women & Girls Foundation was created in 2000, Hartford was the only major metropolitan city in our geographic area without one - Providence, Springfield, New Haven, Waterbury, Southeastern CT all have women and girls funds.

The Aurora Women & Girls Foundation was founded in 2000 by a team of forward minded business women in the Greater Hartford community. They determined that Aurora Women & Girls Foundation’s mission should be to engage women and girls in philanthropy and to provide grants to organizations that advance the leadership, well-being and growth potential of women and girls.

Ten years later, the current Board of Directors has reaffirmed that mission and is looking to accelerate its impact by increasing the annual giving program to substantially grow the amount of dollars granted back into the community and by building the endowment to ensure the ongoing sustainability of Aurora Women & Girls Foundation.

 

Can I really make a difference by supporting Aurora Women & Girls Foundation?
Yes, you can. Through annual donations and long-term philanthropy, by participating on Boards and committees, and by bringing other women into the circle, women philanthropists both impact their communities today and help develop the next generation of leaders. Working collectively and leveraging our giving power, we can make a bigger impact.

Philanthropy is an opportunity: to give back in recognition of what you have been given, to invest in another woman or girl as someone once invested in you, to right wrongs, or to create opportunities that you might have been denied. Organized philanthropy focused on understanding and responding to the unique needs of women and girls can be a powerful force in equalizing opportunities. Women’s funds encourage a philanthropic response from the broadest possible community.

Why Should I Support Aurora Women & Girls Foundation instead of area programs that serve women and girls directly?
In our ten years, we have learned a lot about the programs currently serving women and girls. We know which programs work and which programs we would like to help impact various issues in our community. For instance, in 2010, our grants are specifically addressing the issue of economic self-sufficiency for women and girls.

With greater funding, Aurora Women & Girls Foundation can make a bigger impact and be even more proactive in assessing the needs of programs which will give our community’s women and girls the skills they need.

Aurora Women & Girls Foundation is the ONLY foundation in this area that is focused exclusively on women and girls AND Hartford deserves a women and girls fund. With just 7% of all philanthropic dollars earmarked for women and girls, we must find a way to equalize the funding. Women’s funds, like Aurora Women & Girls Foundation, make the pie bigger for programs and organizations that directly support women and girls. We do not replace existing resources, we augment them. By giving directly to a program (i.e. an after school program for at-risk girls) you support that specific problem in that specific area and that support is very important. By giving to Aurora Women & Girls Foundation, you invest in an organization that works toward solving the vast array of issues affecting women and girls (i.e. self esteem in girls, women and leadership, economic self-sufficiency) by raising the profile on the need, by directing resources, and by bringing donors and grantees together. Aurora Women & Girls Foundation’s grant review process ensures that your investment will go toward programs that directly help women and girls, not overall operating support. Aurora Women & Girls Foundation’s convening events such as the Signature Event serve to tell the story about the specific needs of women and girls while illustrating the power that we all have to positively impact the lives of women and girls in our communities. Aurora Women & Girls Foundation also works collaboratively with its program grantees to highlight their important work and to bring female donors and recipients together as partners in social change.

As Harriet Beecher Stowe said, “Women are the real architects of society.” Women reinvest 90% of their earnings in their families. That means when you give a woman or girl opportunity through programs like the ones Aurora Women & Girls Foundation has supported and supports, you create a powerful agent of change for your entire community.

How Does Aurora Women & Girls Foundation Invest in and Inspire women and girls?
We provide metaphorical ladders for the women and girls in our community. For participants in the programs we fund, the ladders are the programs themselves, which help them to gain the knowledge and skills they need to succeed. For the women and girls who support Aurora Women & Girls Foundation, the ladders are really opportunities to reach back and help other women and girls climb the ladder to independence and success.

Who is Aurora Women & Girls Foundation’s Board?
The Aurora Women & Girls Foundation Board is made up of women from many different backgrounds and experiences. They give of their financial resources, time, talent and perspectives because they have a personal connection and desire to see that women and girls are provided every opportunity to succeed in their lives. They have pledged to significantly increase the amount of program grant dollars directed into the community so that more girls and women will be served. The board also recognizes that long-term philanthropy leads to long-term impact. As individuals and as a collective group, they have committed to increasing the endowment to $1 million. By building the endowment, the Board ensures a legacy of support in this community.

See the full list of 2010 Board Members on the About Us page.

Why is Aurora Women & Girls Foundation not associated with a community foundation?
The founding directors of Aurora Women & Girls Foundation determined that the organization would be independent. And while we remain an independent foundation, we have a strong relationship with the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving. They have supported our planning efforts, provided Technical Assistance grants, information and guidance. Members of the staff attend our events.

What other organizations does Aurora Women & Girls Foundation compete with?
We do not see ourselves as “in competition.” Our ultimate goal is to expand the pie – to grow the amount and sources of dollars directed toward women and girls programs. We are a catalyst to do more: drive more resources and more funding to women’s and girls’ issues; do more to raise the public’s understanding of the needs of women and girls; positively influence our communities by doing more investing in women and girls.