Nonprofit Selection Process

Considerations:

Only 501(c)(3) nonprofits will be considered.

Nonprofits need to have been in existence for at least two years.

Nonprofits must be located in and benefit Talbot County, Maryland.

Nonprofits that have been nominated must go through a vetting process, including the completion of a Nonprofit Fact Sheet & Application.

 

Nonprofit Nominations & Presentations:

Members nominate nonprofits for consideration at meetings and three are randomly drawn from a fishbowl.

Members unable to attend may submit in advance an online Nonprofit Nomination Form; these will be added to the fishbowl.

The three nonprofits randomly drawn will be vetted and contacted to present at the next meeting. 

Only members who have signed a membership form and are in good standing may submit a nonprofit for consideration.

At each meeting, the three nominated nonprofits will each make a brief presentation. Presenters will come into the room one at a time. To maintain an even playing field, AV equipment is not to be used.

Presentations are to be limited to five minutes and focused on how funds will be used to benefit the nonprofit’s services. At the discretion of the nonprofit, funding may be used for unrestricted or specific programmatic purposes. At the end of the presenter’s prepared remarks, each presenter will entertain questions for five minutes before exiting the room.

 

Selection & Voting:

Following the three presentations, members will vote by ballot for their preferred nonprofit for funding.

Members unable to attend will submit their ballots in advance via an online Absentee Voting Ballot.

The nonprofit receiving the most votes "wins" and that nonprofit will be called back into the room.

Members will make their charitable contributions directly to the nonprofit via check or online contribution.

In the case of a two-way tie, a second vote will be taken. If the second vote remains a tie, the winning nonprofit will be randomly picked by putting both names in a hat.

Once a nonprofit is selected, there is a two-year waiting period before they can be considered again.