Leadership Day of Giving 2023 is Alpha Phi Foundation’s eighth annual day of giving. This is a membership-wide effort to inspire collegiate and alumnae members, as well as family and friends of Alpha Phi, to support Alpha Phi Foundation’s mission of advancing the lives of women by funding cutting-edge leadership training programs.

Leadership Day of Giving is September 27, 2023.  Join us for 24 hours of generosity and camaraderie!

Leadership Day of Giving is a great opportunity to plan a gathering with fellow Alpha Phis, either as an official Alumnae Chapter or amongst friends or you can participate online from anywhere around the world!

Gifts on Leadership Day of Giving are designated to various leadership training programs. Alpha Phi Fraternity utilizes proven industry experts and pioneer partnerships with emerging companies to deliver cutting-edge programmatic experiences. Alpha Phi focuses on topics relevant to today’s collegiate experience that speak to the diverse learning styles of Gen Z. Using a multi-faceted approach, programs are selected to supplement the educational opportunities provided by the member’s host institution.

Click here to learn more about Alpha Phi’s Leadership Programs!

Absolutely! Alpha Phi Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Donations to the Foundation are tax-deductible.  

Yes. Alpha Phi Foundation is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, which means that all gifts to the Foundation are tax-exempt to the fullest extent allowed by law.

Our federal tax identification number is 36-3895478.

Yes, a third party can fill out the application on your behalf.

Yes. A single institution may submit multiple applications for different projects.

Of course! After you’ve enter in the donation, swiped their card, and obtained the cardholder’s signature, the next prompt will be “3. Acknowledgement.” This is where donors have the option to enter their email address to receive an electronic receipt.

Be sure that whoever is entering the email address double checks that the email is valid. You will not be able to resend a receipt from the MobilePay app.

 

Yes, you can fill out the application on your own behalf.

We love your enthusiasm; however, a single bracelet will be shipped to collegiate donors who make a gift of $19.56 or more. The Clara’s Circle bracelet is a symbol of your individual giving. Please wear your bracelet with pride and encourage your sisters to realize the power of their philanthropy alongside you!

No. Once your application has been submitted, you can no longer make changes to it. Be sure to review your application thoroughly before clicking “Submit.”

No. Forget Me Not Grants cannot be applied toward dues and/or in-house room and board expenses. Personal Statements that specifically request funds for dues and/or in-house room and board expenses will not be considered.

No. Scholarships cannot be applied toward room and board expenses. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Alpha Phi Foundation cannot support Fraternity- or Greek-specific expenses, including membership dues.

Yes. Please make your check payable to Alpha Phi Foundation. We are unable to process checks written to other organizations.

To make a donation by mail, please send a check or money order to:

Alpha Phi Foundation, PO Box 7410667, Chicago, IL 60674-0667

If you would like to designate your gift to a specific fund or program, or if you are giving on behalf of an Alpha Phi chapter, please make note in the memo field.

No, there is no refund capability in the MobilePay app. That said, please double-check that you are entering the amount correctly with each transaction.

If you must issue a refund, contact Lizzie Hineman, Manager of Chapter Giving & Communication, immediately following your event. Since all transactions are deposited into the Foundation’s bank account, the Foundation must issue the refund.

We encourage chapters NOT to sell their event t-shirts on their GiveSmart event page just yet!

While you may be inclined to user the Items tab on your GiveSmart dashboard, know that the funds collected through Items are set for donation and will come back to the Foundation.

Unless a t-shirt is included in the ticket/registration price, we suggest that t-shirts are sold through the vendor’s website. You may include the link to the t-shirt order form on the Home Page of your GiveSmart site or you can even text the order form link out to your registered guests.

Yes, you must be an Alpha Phi member in good standing with Alpha Phi International Fraternity.

No, Alpha Phi Foundation accepts all majors. There are some scholarships specific to certain majors.

Yes! Alpha Phi Foundation is proud to offer need-based scholarships. The Alpha Phi Foundation Scholarship is awarded annually to five outstanding undergraduate Alpha Phis who qualify based on both merit and need.

No, once your chapter has a GiveSmart organizational hub, you can create your own campaigns/events. Please continue to submit your event to the Alpha Phi Foundation calendar, so we can help you promote your chapter’s philanthropy!

The Heart to Heart Grants seeks to cover all or a large portion of the direct costs of a project. Funds are not provided/available for indirect costs, general operating support, and/or capital costs (such as construction, acquisition, or renovation of facilities). Funds are available for equipment expenses which are integral to the project, justified in the budget narrative, and do not exceed 5% of the total amount requested. Personnel costs related to the project are considered direct costs of a project.

Contact giving@alphaphifoundation.org for detailed instructions on how to make a stock transfer to Alpha Phi Foundation.

You can make your Clara’s Circle gift in a variety of ways! You can make your gift through our website, at leadership conferences with Red Dress Rena, and/or to your chapter’s philanthropy events. Any gift you make to the Foundation qualifies you for Clara’s Circle.

GiveSmart has a ton of amazing training resources. To access these materials, login to your admin dashboard and click on Help located in the top menu bar. When you click on Visit Help Center, you will be connected to GiveSmart’s how-to articles, video tutorials, live webinars, and more! Soon you’ll be using GiveSmart like a pro!

GiveSmart tech support can enable the ticketing feature for your event. To connect with their support team, please click on the blue Help button located in the bottom left of your GiveSmart dashboard.

After your references have submitted their complete recommendation forms, you will see their uploaded documents appear in the “Attachments” Tab on your application. Once both have been submitted, you will be able to review and submit your application.

Chapters will need a username, password and device name to use the MobilePay card reader. On the inner lid of your MobilePay device box, there should be log-in information for your chapter. If you do not have it, contact chaptergiving@alphaphi.org

Each phone/tablet accepting donations through the MobilePay card reader needs a unique Device Name ( an identifier for the phone/tablet you are using to collect donations). Please include your chapter and the phone owner’s name when creating a Device Name.

For example, if Martha Foote Crow were to login to MobilePay, her Device Name would be Alpha-Martha. 

The Foundation staff must approve any new devices that login to the MobilePay app. If your Device Name does not include your chapter name, you will not be approved. Please login at least 48 hours to give the Foundation staff enough time to approve your login.

Questions? Email chaptergiving@alphaphi.org

 

Click here to learn how to properly close out your event and request fund disbursement. 

Please close your event site and collect any outstanding pledges/donations within 21-30 days of your event end date.

To close your event, you need to toggle your event site from Live to Hidden. Once your event site is hidden, donations can no longer be accepted through your event page. To close your event, access your campaign site. Select View Admin > Settings > Global > Scroll down to Advanced Settings > Site > Visible to Users > Toggle to Hide > Save. 

A Foundation staff member will be able to run your event’s donation report within the week following your event. You may request a donation report by emailing chaptergiving@alphaphifoundation.org.

The MobilePay app does not display your individual event’s total funds collected. When you view Transactions on the app, you will see donation amounts from other Alpha Phi chapter events. You may add your event’s transactions up on your own, if necessary.

We define “equipment” as larger capital purchases such as computers, copiers, software, etc. and would expect this category to not exceed 5% of the budget. Other expenses tied directly to the execution of your project are not considered “equipment” expenses.

For the 2022-23 academic year, a total of 153 undergraduate applications were submitted and 50 undergraduate scholarships were awarded; 80 graduate applications were submitted and 26 graduate scholarships were awarded.

We recommend having 1 card reader for every 100 event attendees.

Forget Me Not Grant Recipients may receive only one grant per fiscal year (July 1 – June 30 of each year). Applicants can apply for the Forget Me Not Grant more than one time. However, grants may only be awarded two times to the same applicant. Applicants may be awarded a second time only if they are experiencing an unrelated emergency crisis situation or a significant worsening of the original crisis situation for which they applied.

Through Alpha Phi Foundation’s enterprise GiveSmart partnership, collegiate and alumnae chapters have access to the GiveSmart platform at no cost to the chapter! Chapters will be responsible for covering the credit card fees (3.5-4.0%) associated with any ticket sales. The fees will be deducted from the total ticket revenue prior to receiving the funds.

* Chapters may choose to give guest a choice on whether they would like to pay for the processing fee when purchasing the ticket.

Log in to the app with your username, password, and device name at least one business day before your event.

1. Your username and password can be found on the inside lid of the card reader box.

2. When entering the device name, you must include your chapter name in the device name.

3. Have your device name approved by a Foundation staff member.

Test or demonstrate how to process a gift by making a small gift of no less than $2.

PRO TIP: Be sure to test the app and card reader using the WiFi you’ll have access to during your event.

Graduate applicants should enter the institution information for the university they will most likely be attending in the fall. If you are selected as a recipient, you will have the opportunity to update your university information before your scholarship is disbursed.

Please complete the graduate application as any funds awarded would go towards the upcoming academic year.

Yes. Applicants may receive scholarships multiple times. The primary consideration is that you are enrolled or are in the process of enrolling in a part-time or full-time degree-granting program for the upcoming academic year.

Alpha Phi Foundation will not accept late applications or materials for any reason. These include, but are not limited to applications, recommendations, and transcript documents.

No. Upon submitting a scholarship application, you are automatically a candidate for any scholarships for which you qualify. We encourage all interested candidates to submit a scholarship application and allow Alpha Phi Foundation to consider you for any awards for which you are eligible.

No. An Alpha Phi nomination is not a requirement for submitting an application.

No, there is not a limit.

Alpha Phi Foundation is willing to review grants that span anywhere between 12 and 24 months.

Forget Me Not Grants range in amount from $500 to $2,500

Alpha Phi Foundation’s online donation form is operated by Blackbaud Merchant Services, a respected industry leader in online donations. When you enter your credit or debit card information onto our secure (SSL) website your information is encrypted and is unreadable to anyone outside the transaction process.

You will receive a confirmation email from GiveSmart within 1 business day of signing up. Within 4-5 business days, you will receive your chapter’s Organization Hub log-in credentials from a GiveSmart account representative. From here, you can login and begin customizing your campaigns!

New members may apply, but applications will not enter the review process until the member is initiated into Alpha Phi Fraternity.

We recommend that you sign up 6-8 weeks prior to your event. After you receive access to your chapter account, make sure to allot time to participating in GiveSmart’s training webinars, customizing your campaign sites and promoting your event.

Yes! Our enterprise partnership began summer 2018. Chapters who used GiveSmart prior to the initiation of the partnership need to register for GiveSmart through Alpha Phi Foundation.

Alpha Phi Foundation defines dissemination plan as the creation of a solid plan for efficient knowledge circulation among professionals and the general public.

Alpha Phi Foundation is not looking for an exhaustive list of budget items, but rather a well-rounded picture of the major budget categories that are required for your project, which ideally add up to $100,000 for Clinical proposals and $25,000 for Community proposals.

All not-for-profits have administrative expenses. Alpha Phi Foundation works to keep our administrative expenses as low as possible—around 20%.

Chapters may use the MobilePay card readers to accept funds that will remain with the Foundation. This includes donations, payments for auction items, and food or game “tickets” (e.g. food ticket for Mac ‘N Phis, cover fee for Mr. Heartthrob pageant or ticket to participate in a dunk tank).

Chapters may NOT use MobilePay card readers to accept funds that will need to go back to the chapter. This includes registration fees and/or event tickets. NOTE: The cost of registration or event tickets should be intended to offset the chapter’s event costs.

Follow in Clara’s footsteps and become a donor of Clara’s Circle by making a gift today. Make a gift of any amount to Alpha Phi Foundation during the fiscal year (July 1-June 30) to change women’s lives. To commemorate the year of Alpha Phi Foundation’s inception, gifts of $19.56 or more will be recognized with a limited edition t-shirt.

Encourage and foster 100% participation of all chapter members. The more members that give, the more our entire sisterhood will benefit! Chapter members may make their gift through chapter philanthropy events to join Clara’s Circle, and your chapter will still receive credit! To do so, gifts must be made through www.alphaphifoundationchapters.org.

Applications are accepted by Foundation Staff, who verifies eligibility based on criteria approved by the Foundation Board of Directors, which includes:

• 1. The applicant is a member of Alpha Phi Fraternity who has completed the requirements of the Forget Me Not Grant application
• 2. The severity of applicant’s hardship and the extent to which the applicant may alleviate that hardship with existing income, resources, and circumstances
• 3. The existence of applicant’s liabilities and other factors that may diminish the applicant’s ability to allocate income or resources to alleviate the specific hardship
• 4. Evidence the applicant is seeking any and all available support to alleviate the hardship
• 5. The existence and level of prior or current financial support the applicant has received or is receiving from the Foundation or any other source

You can apply your donations to different Foundation funds and programs by marking your gifts as unrestricted or restricted.

• Unrestricted gifts are among the most valuable to the Foundation because they allow us to allocate the funds wherever the need is greatest. These gifts to the annual fund not only support the Foundation’s vital programs—unrivaled leadership training, scholarships, women’s heart health, Forget Me Not Grants, and heritage—but also fund the people, facilities and technology the Foundation needs to be able to administer our vital programs.
• Restricted gifts allow you to designate your gift to a specific program, grant, scholarship or endowment. When you designate your gift, you enjoy the satisfaction of knowing you are supporting a program that is personally meaningful to you.

To protect your application information from being lost, we recommend that you save all of your responses in a separate document. Also, as you work on your application, periodically save your changes. Application information is only saved when the applicant saves the content. There is no other way to retrieve information that was not saved by the user.

Please keep in mind that Alpha Phi Foundation will not accept late submissions, even in the event of a technology glitch.

An official letter of transmittal is an organizational endorsement of your project by the CEO or President of your organization basically affirming that he or she is aware of your proposal and that it does align with the goals and ideals of your organization.

Clara’s Circle is Alpha Phi Foundation’s new collegiate giving society. Established in honor of our most philanthropic founder, Clara Bradley Burdette, Clara’s Circle offers an exciting opportunity to learn about the power of philanthropy through individual giving.

Clara’s Circle is not about the amount of your gift…it’s about the spirit of philanthropy. Your gift will honor and support our sisterhood, making an impact in the lives of our sisters today and tomorrow.

The Clara’s Circle Leadership Council is comprised of Alpha Phi collegians that are charged with engaging their peers in making a gift to Alpha Phi Foundation through Clara’s Circle. Council members will help build and strengthen an active tradition of individual giving for all collegiate members. Members of the Leadership Council educate fellow collegians on the importance of philanthropy, actively promote Clara’s Circle in a variety of ways and represent Clara’s Circle and the Foundation as graceful and enthusiastic ambassadors.

Your chapter may use GiveSmart for any type of event—philanthropic or not.You have the ability to customize your GiveSmart site to best fit your event type.

Event examples may include Alpha Phifa events, Mac N Phi’s events, APhi Phestival DJ competitions, Red Dress events, Heart Health Weeks, Parent’s Weekends, or even Founders Day events.

All Clara’s Circle donors are listed on our website by chapter. For your gift of $19.56 or more, you will receive limited edition piece of jewelry.

You’ll also gain access to exclusive Clara’s Circle donor events, such as our reception at Convention!

Need-based scholarships are awarded on the basis of both merit and financial need. Financial need is not considered for merit-based scholarships. Candidates for need-based scholarships must be undergraduates who have completed and submitted the need-based scholarship section of the scholarship application.

Not quite. The GiveSmart platform is great because you have the power to customize the design and layout of your event site. Once you’re comfortable with how your page looks, make your page visible and share!

Scholarship applications, including completed recommendations from references and transcripts, are due March 2024. The exact date and time will be announced in Fall 2023.

After the disbursement request is submitted, please allow at least 21-30 days for GiveSmart to cut and send the check to Billhighway. From here, allow an additional week for the revenue to be manually allocated to your chapter account.

You will need to download the Blackbaud Mobile app on each device that you plan to use during your event. On the device you plan to use, open your Apple App Store^® or Google Play^™ store and search “Blackbaud MobilePay.”

Download Blackbaud MobilePay app for Android™ devices

Download Blackbaud MobilePay app for Apple iOS devices

All transactions processed with the MobilePay card reader go directly to the Foundation’s bank account and are tax-exempt to the fullest extent allowed by law.

GiveSmart will cut two separate checks for ticket revenue and donations. Revenue from tickets will be sent to your chapter’s Billhighway account. Funds raised through direct donation appeals, instant buys, items, silent and live auctions will be sent to Alpha Phi Foundation as donations.

Alpha Phi Foundation’s Medical Readers are Alpha Phi alumnae with medical backgrounds spanning both research and clinical work. Our Medical Readers review and evaluate all applications. Their evaluations help us determine those top candidates who will then be asked to complete a phone interview with members of Alpha Phi Foundation’s Board and Staff. A thorough review of the top candidates’ applications, as well as notes from their phone interviews, are then reviewed by the Board of Directors for final determination of the grant recipient.

The Letter of Transmittal can be signed by whoever has signing authority for the applicant. This can be an Executive Director, President, Office of Sponsored Research, or similar entity.

Alumnae members in good standing facing severe and unforeseen financial distress, serious health issues, consequences of natural disasters and urgent family crisis

Collegiate members in good standing who face an interruption of education due to severe and unforeseen personal or financial struggles.

Members of the Foundation Board of Directors, Foundation Staff and family members of both are not eligible.

For collegiate members, a chapter advisor should serve as the reference.

For alumnae members, a fellow Alpha Phi or non-Alpha Phi friend, coworker, and/or family member who is familiar with the circumstances surrounding your application should serve as the reference.

With your support, we will inspire the lives of all women. Together, we will celebrate sisters and change lives through the spirit of philanthropy. Join us in making history with your gift to Clara’s Circle. Your gift honors and supports the Alpha Phi sisterhood, making an impact in the future of your sisters today and tomorrow.

Does the idea of “philanthropy” conjure images of buildings on your campus named after wealthy alumni? Think boards of directors sounds like something only a bunch of rich families sit on in their spare time? Women are the fastest growing donor group in the non-profit world. This is your opportunity to change the stereotype and change the world through the power of your philanthropy.

As Alpha Phis, we see what stewardship can do. Our chapters are the living, evolving embodiment of what “leaving something better than you found it” can truly mean to someone else. We’ve felt the love and joy in our own chapter’s traditions, in passing the gavel to the newest group of women to don our letters. Giving back and being generous are crucial parts of philanthropy. Clara’s Circle is your opportunity to channel that spirit into ensuring Alpha Phi continues to be the great organization you’ve gotten to be a part of.

By joining Clara’s Circle, you will see how important it is to donate money to non-profit and other worthy organizations and to commit yourself to helping others. Alpha Phi Foundation is your philanthropy. Through it, you can channel your gifts to make and important impact on society – on your campus, in your community, and in the world.

Your gifts help grow our programs – including scholarships, leadership opportunities, Forget Me Not Fund grants and women’s heart health innovations—that will allow further education and development of you and your sisters. Your participation in Clara’s Circle is an investment in our sisterhood, and advances all women’s lives through the power of your philanthropy.

No. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Alpha Phi Foundation will not accept late applications or materials for any reason. These include, but are not limited to applications, recommendations, transcript and financial need documents.

In order for your application to be considered, it must include complete recommendations from an Alpha Phi Alumna Reference and a Community Reference. As the applicant, you are responsible for submitting your complete application and verifying that your references have submitted complete recommendation forms.