AMG 2015 - Memphis: Donations, Requests for Assistance, Sponsorship

[Grants Committee]

Donations: The AMG 2015 Grants Committee (GC) is now humbly soliciting pledges for donations to assist members who otherwise might not be able to attend AMG 2015 in Memphis, Tennessee. To pledge or make a donation:

1) Please send a PM to the Grants Committee to let us know the amount you are pledging to donate or the amount being directly donated. Copy this PM to “bocker3” (You may also copy other GC members – pozniceguy, and Jody – but always copy bocker3). Any amount would be helpful.
2) You will receive a PM back from Grants Committee letting you know where to either send your check/money order donation, how to do an electronic bank transfer (if available between banks), or how to do a donation through PayPal.
3) If you would like to earmark your pledge/donation to a specific member, please communicate that to us as well through the PM.
3) Upon receipt of your donation, you will receive a PM acknowledging your donation.
4) All donations are made with the fullest anonymity possible. The only people who will know of your donation are members of the GC. They will keep this information confidential.

Accountability of donations: To ensure accountability and transparency regarding donations received for GC and distribution of funds, the following process will be employed by the GC:
1) When a member pledges to make a donation or makes a donation – the member will PM the GC and copy bocker3.
2) An Excel spreadsheet showing the amount being pledged/donated, the name of member making pledge/donation, and date of pledge donation. The sheet will also show when donation was received and verified and track acknowledgement of pledge/donation to the member.
3) On a regular basis the treasurer will report to the GC and post on the Forums the amount of donations received.
4) As funds are being distributed, treasurer will provide a regular accounting of this activity to GC and post on the Forums a breakdown of funds dispersed.
5) All activity will be done in a manner that maintains the fullest anonymity of donors and persons receiving assistance. The only people who will know donors or recipient names will be members of the GC – who will keep this information confidential.

Requests for Assistance: Grants Committee is also accepting requests from members requesting assistance, so we can estimate the amount that needs to be raised. Please send us a PM if you are requesting assistance to be able to attend AMG 2015. Please note that we would ask you specific questions about what type of assistance you would need (airfare, lodging) and the approximate amount needed. While we strive to be able to spread the donations to as many recipients as possible, it may not be possible to assist everyone.  Please keep in mind that funds are typically reimbursed to recipients upon arrival at AMG.

Baseline Considerations for Evaluating Requests for Assistance: The GC shall establish guidelines for approving grant requests. The goal is to spread the available donations to as many members requesting assistance as possible. Excluding donations that have been earmarked to specific recipients, when needing to choose which recipient to be awarded, the guiding principles include but are not limited to: (1) awarding grants to requesting members who have not received them in the past; (2) awarding grants to members who have shown commitment to productive forum participation; (3) awarding grants to members who have donated in the past and are now needing assistance.
• Grant awards must have at least 2/3 of the voting members voting in favor of the award.
• Grants may not be awarded to any member of the GC for the year.
• The GC shall maintain anonymity of both donors and recipients. The GC shall ensure that donors who earmark their contributions to specific members get these instructions carried out while still keeping anonymity.

If any of the above is not clear, please feel free to send a PM to the Grants Committee.

Thank you for your support!
AMG Grants Committee