Value
of Membership
Why Belong to AGM?
To be more INFORMED, ENGAGED and EFFECTIVE grant makers.
INFORMED
Dialogue: Each year AGM hosts more
than 30 meetings and workshops that address issues relevant to
our members’ staff, trustees and executives. These programs
educate, update, challenge and inform grant makers. Recent topics
have included: "Brownfields as Economic Development Strategy:
Leveraging Public and Private Resources for Community Revitalization",
"Executive Transitions: Helping Organizations Manage Leadership
Changes", "Women and Welfare Reform", and "Family
& Corporate Foundation Roundtables". AGM’s Public
Policy Committee allows funders to get to know and learn from
legislators and public officials.
Research: AGM’s Resource
Center for Philanthropy supports the information needs of our
members, partners and the general public. The Resource Center
is the most comprehensive philanthropic and nonprofit research
center in New England. These resources are available at the Janet
C. Taylor Library, located at AGM’s Boston Office and accessible
online at AGM’s website, www.agmconnect.org.
Access: In 2004, AGM expanded its
online presence with a redesign of its website, agmconnect.org.
We are committed to building a new information services and knowledge
management platform, that will position AGM as the “hub”
for philanthropic communication and a vehicle for information
management.
News and Events: Information on
current and relevant news in philanthropy and member activities,
new reference materials and publications in the Resource Center
of Philanthropy, calendar of events sponsored by AGM and other
organizations, and articles written on important topics are accessible
through AGM Members InfoNet, a weekly e-communication, and AGM's
quarterly e-newsletter, Issues & Insights.
ENGAGED
Organizing: Members are asked to
help plan programs and serve on committees with their peers. This
involvement ensures member needs are met. AGM further offers support
to numerous affinity groups, including meeting space, fiscal agency,
and marketing.
Promoting philanthropy: Through
its Giving Network, AGM creates opportunities for donors and emerging
philanthropists to understand and participate in the grant making
sector.
Hands on: AGM site visits to community-based
organizations provide opportunities for grant makers to gain first
hand experience with grant recipients.
EFFECTIVE
Training: Professional development
programs teach and sharpen grant maker's skills. AGM offers workshops
on more effective grantmaking strategies, such as funding capacity
building, technology and venture philanthropy. In 2002 the Evaluation
Work Group involved pairs of grantmakers and their grantees in
a peer learning project; mutual education for the benefit of both.
Resources: AGM publishes the Grant
Makers Directory, which allows philanthropic organizations in
New England the opportunity to describe their goals and guidelines
of their grant making programs.
Community: AGM Members network
and exchange information and ideas with colleagues throughout
the New England Region. Convenings such as Funder Dialogues and
roundtables for Family Foundations, Corporate Foundations and
Community Foundations bring Members together to discuss current
issues and share strategies.
Knowledge: At our Meet-The-Donor
Programs, grant makers brief grant seekers on specific program
areas and create meaningful connections. In return grant makers
get feedback from nonprofits and learn how they can be more accessible.
Partners: AGM promotes meaningful
collaboration among grant makers and grant seekers. Towards this
goal, over 900 nonprofit organizations throughout New England
belong to AGM’s Partner Program.
Benefits: AGM Members can obtain discounts on
the following publications and software systems designed specifically
for grant makers.
Stanford Social Innovation
Review's mission is to share substantive insights and practical
experiences that will help those who do the important work of
improving society do it even better. SSIR seeks to strike a balance
between the pragmatic and the intellectual, to embrace no predefined
political ideology, and to champion the interests of no single
constituency. Instead, we will broker conversations, ask hard
questions, disseminate the fruits of rigorous research, and present
real-life case studies.
The Nonprofit Quarterly
is a unique magazine that leaders count on to provide them with
values based management information and proven practices. Each
issue focuses on a theme of critical importance and provides you
with the cutting edge, relevant and useful information you need
to manage more effectively and advance your mission.
MicroEdge offers
a range of grantmaking softwares that include GIFTS (in several
versions), and on-line application module (IGAM), and FIMS (widely
used by many community foundations).
Bromelkamp also offers
several grantmaking softwares that include First Pearl (designed
for mid-sized foundations), Community Pearl (that also incorporates
donor management).
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