NCWIT Aspirations€¦ · Web viewANNUAL PLANNING GUIDE Who: Affiliate Coordinators to use with their committee What: These are essential tools to support you and your committee in

ANNUAL PLANNING GUIDE

Who: Affiliate Coordinators to use with their committee

What: These are essential tools to support you and your committee in reflection and assessment of the previous year’s efforts, vision and goal-setting for the upcoming year (or first year), and preparation and implementation resources focused on developing your committee, securing sponsors and financial support, and engaging your local community through outreach.

Why: This is designed to support you and your committee in maximizing your impact and optimizing how you operate. The work of an affiliate committee is synergistic—each effort made supports another (e.g. successful affiliates view the AiC award event not just as a recognitions opportunity, but also as an opportunity to cultivate relationships with future sponsors and committee members). This guide is set up to support you in adapting this synergistic approach (represented visually below) and to set you up for long term success.

Throughout this guide, you will find resources to support you in each of the following areas: committee development, outreach, and sponsorship—investing in these areas is what allows you to create and deliver outstanding outputs such as the AiC award event and year-round programming.

PROCESS

Below is a suggested process for how you might use the tools and resources in this guide; feel free to adapt based on your committee’s needs.

How: There are facilitation suggestions throughout this guide specific to each tool. This work can be done in a 1-2 day committee retreat or spread throughout several 1-2 hour meetings. Set aside time with your Regional Affiliate Manager (RAM) to review this content and plan for the year.

When: Intended to be used after your Aspirations in Computing award event and before September 1 (when applications open). We encourage you to revisit the resources throughout the year as you’re implementing your plan.

STEP 1: Reflect & Assess

SCOR Analysis Capacity Assessment

STEP 2: Vision & Set Goals

Vision & Goal Setting

STEP 3: Prepare

Create Budget Draft ‘Pitch’ Map Community

STEP 4: Implement

COMMITTEE DEVELOPMENT OUTREACH SPONSORSHIP

Developing Your Committee Award Videos Sponsorship Guide

Building a Succession Plan Educator Email Campaign

Optimizing Your Affiliate Web Page

SCOR ANALYSIS

STEP IN PROCESS 1: Reflect & Assess in Annual Planning Guide *Resource can also be used on its own

CONTAINS 2 pages: How-to and worksheet

PURPOSE Reflect on past year to inform vision and goal setting for the coming year.

Facilitation Suggestions: ● Gather your committee for a 1-2 hour post-AiC award event debrief. ● Have each committee member write on separate post-it notes at least one strength, challenge,

opportunity, and requirement in each of the 5 areas: ○ Committee○ Outreach○ Sponsorship & Financial Support○ AiC Awards/Award Event○ Year-Round Programming

● Use these questions to prompt: ○ Strengths: What can we celebrate/maintain? What’s working well?○ Challenges: What can we examine/change? What’s not working well? ○ Opportunities: What opportunities exist? What/who are we not tapping into?○ Requirements: What do we need to capitalize on opportunities/make changes?

Consider including any external data you collect such as feedback from event attendees

● As they finish, have members stick their post-it notes on the wall/boards available grouping by categories (e.g. all strengths on the back wall, all challenges on the whiteboard, etc.).

● Break the committee into 4 groups (or do as a large group if committee is 1-3 people) and have them read all of the post-it notes, synthesize, and document themes.

● Gather back together and discuss the themes as a committee. ● If meeting virtually, create a shared document (e.g. Google doc) with one page for each

category. Split each into strengths, challenges, etc. like the included worksheet.

Example: STRENGTHS

Committee: ● All engaged & committed to NCWIT mission● Tasks are completed on-time

CHALLENGESCommittee:

● Communication processes ● Could use more members to support growth

OPPORTUNITIESCommittee:

● Existing committee connections● Virtual communication

REQUIREMENTSCommittee:

● Create Google drive/docs ● Map community and outreach action plan

SCOR ANALYSIS Worksheet

STRENGTHS (What can we celebrate? What’s working well?

What/how can we maintain?)

CHALLENGES(What can we examine? What’s not working well?

What/how can we change?)

OPPORTUNITIES(What opportunities exist? What/who are we not

tapping into?)

REQUIREMENTS(What do we need to capitalize on opportunities/make

changes?)

CAPACITY ASSESSMENT

STEP IN PROCESS 1: Reflect & Assess in Annual Planning Guide

*Resource can also be used on its own


PURPOSEAssess saturation and capacity to inform vision and goal-setting for the coming year.

Facilitation Suggestions: This process, outlined below, can be done as a committee or by 1-2 people and shared/discussed with the rest of the committee virtually or in person.

Determine Saturation: This is in no way a ‘perfect science.’ The intent here is to get a sense of the population (girls interested in tech) available for you to support and understand how fully you are serving that community. The key question to examine, drawing back to NCWIT’s mission, is ‘are we serving all the girls in our community who might be interested in tech?’

1. What’s our ‘market’? Use any information you have to estimate the number of potential applicants in your local area. Below are a few resources to consider:

● AP Computer Science Over Time ● State of Computer Science Education ● Data from local school district, state department of education, and any other local K-12

education groups 2. How much of our market are we serving?

Total the number of applicants/students participating in programming3. How saturated is our market / how fully are we serving our community?

Divide the total number of AiC community members by the market size to get a rough saturation percentage. For example, if you’re currently serving 35 girls and have an estimated “market” of 70, your saturation percentage would be 50% (35/70).

Assess Capacity: The intent here is to get a sense for where you are ‘maxed out’ and where you still have room to ‘do more.’ The question you’re asking here is ‘can our current way of operating support engaging more girls?’ Continuing the example above, if your committee is looking to double the amount of applicants to reach full saturation, can your existing committee structure support that? Can your existing budget support that? How about the facilities you’re using? etc.

As a committee, determine which areas are ‘maxed out’ and which have room to take on more by assigning them a red, yellow, or green label.

CAPACITY ASSESSMENT Worksheet

Saturation:

Number of AiC Community members Total Market Size ➗ ＝ Percent Saturated

Capacity:

Able to take on more and thrive

Space to take on some more

Maxed Out/Need more to Grow

Committee Members

Volunteers

Space / Facilities

Budget

Award Recipients

Discussion Questions: ● How far away are we from 100% saturation? What are the major factors causing that gap? ● As we try to close that gap, what do we need to do differently? What areas are ‘maxed out’ in

how we’re currently operating? ● What ‘outside’ factors should we consider in determining our capacity—for example, are we

trying to serve an exceptionally large geographic location? Are there very few schools/universities in the area or what feels like ‘too many’ to engage? Do our major community stakeholders seem ‘maxed out’—as in they have little left to give financially or with their time? Etc.

● How does this information impact our vision and goals for the coming year?

VISION + GOAL SETTING

STEP IN PROCESS 2: Vision & Goal Set in Annual Planning Guide

*Resource can also be used on its own


PURPOSESet vision and goals for the upcoming years (up to 5) after reflecting on previous year’s successes and challenges and assessing saturation/capacity.

Facilitation Suggestions: ● Virtually or in person, start by offering some definitions/questions to ground your committee:

○ Vision = takes a year or more to achieveWhat do we want to experience at that time? How do we want to be operating?

○ Goal = takes 3-6 months to achieve How are we going to get there?

○ Step = takes less than a week to achieve What actions do we need to take to reach these goals?

● As a committee, craft a vision for 1 year out, 3 years, and 5 years out. The example below is positioned as if you were a brand new affiliate—use it to provide inspiration knowing your committee may be in a different place.

● Next, craft goals for the upcoming year to align with those visions. Input your goals on your affiliate web page at aspirations.org.

● Then, outline steps you need to take to achieve those goals—this is likely best to be done in a separate meeting time as it will get more detailed and task-oriented. This will become your action plan or roadmap for the year. Add deadlines and who is responsible for completing.

Example:Vision—1 year from now...We execute a successful AiC award event and begin to establish community partnerships with potential to grow.

Goals COMMITTEE OUTREACH SPONSORS AWARDS / EVENT YEAR-ROUND

Secure 3 dedicated and engaged

members

Visit all schools in area & make 1 solid connection at each

Fully fund award ceremony

Recognize at least 10 students

Design and offer 2 workshops

throughout the year

Vision—3 years from now...We have solid partnerships in our community—funding is no longer a hindrance and awareness of our work is spreading. We have significant time and resources to invest in supporting the girls in our community year-round.

Vision—5 years from now...Our committee is completely built out, engaged, and set up for success; we are known in our community as the ‘hub’ for closing the diversity gap in tech; Our AiC community is thriving and members are staying engaged from youth to career.

VISION + GOAL SETTING Worksheet

Vision—1 year from now...

Goals:

COMMITTEE OUTREACH SPONSORSHIP & FINANCIAL SUPPORT

AWARDS/ AWARD CEREMONY

YEAR-ROUND PROGRAMMING

Steps: The table below is just a starting point; add in rows as needed/use your own planning tool

TASK PERSON RESPONSIBLE DEADLINE

Vision—3 years from now...

Vision—5 years from now...

DRAFT YOUR PITCH

STEP IN PROCESS 3: Prepare in Annual Planning Guide *Resource can also be used on its own


PURPOSETo cultivate relationships in your community and ultimately gain committee members, sponsors, and other support, you’ll need to be able to succinctly and impactfully describe who you are — this tool will support you in crafting that description.

Facilitation Suggestions: The goal here is to create a 3-4 sentence base description of who your affiliate is and what you do that can be adapted and expanded upon to match different audiences and situations.

● Work through this process of drafting a pitch with your committee virtually or in-person and be sure each member can succinctly and persuasively communicate what you do and why.

● After your base description is created, have committee members practice adapting the pitch based on 3 audiences: Parents & students, potential volunteers & committee members, and potential sponsors. Below are suggestions for what to highlight with which audience.

● The base description you create is perfect to put on your affiliate website, in sponsorship letters/information sheets, emails to educators, etc.

Adapt for…

Parents & Students Volunteers & Committee Sponsors

Emphasize the experience● Stories from award

recipients and community members

● Support offered and confidence builder

● Access to opportunities

Make connection to NCWIT● Mission is to increase

meaningful participation of all women and girls in computing

● The support for you/your daughter is on-going no matter where she lands—access to mentors, networking, internships, job opportunities, professional development, etc.

Emphasize your ‘why’ ● Your passion for closing

the diversity gap in tech● Professional

development and networking opportunities

● Personal impact you’ve been able to help make



● Part of a highly regarded, research-based, and well-resourced national network

Emphasize the impact ● Numbers: people served,

age-ranges, years as affiliate, gender gap statistics, etc.

● Stories: how past sponsors have benefitted, access to potential interns and employees, etc.

● What their specific contribution would mean



● Part of an established, highly regarded, and well-resourced national network; benefits for your org are endless

DRAFT YOUR PITCH Worksheet

HOOK (e.g. we revolutionize the face of technology, close the gender gap, change what’s possible through inclusion, etc.)

WHO + WHAT (e.g. affiliate committee carrying out NCWIT’s mission)

WHERE (your location/region)

HOW (e.g. inspiring and encouraging girls & women through 3 AiC initiatives—awards, AspireIT, AiC Community)

WHY (do best to convey impact and/or why this matters specifically to your region using local numbers/anecdotes)

CALL TO ACTION (e.g. get involved, learn more, join us, etc.)

Example: We are closing the gender gap in tech in Colorado. As an affiliate, we carry out NCWIT’s (National Center for Women & Information Technology) mission of increasing the meaningful participation of all women and girls in computing and tech on a local level through programming called Aspirations in Computing (AiC).

We, through AiC, work to increase persistence in computing by inspiring, encouraging, and advancing women and girls at each pivotal stage of their educational and professional development through 3 initiatives:

● AspireIT— K-12 educational programs that spark early interest in computing ● Aspirations Awards— recognize and celebrate high school and collegiate women’s technical aspirations

and abilities + the educators who support them● AiC Community— creates a sense of belonging and endless networking and leadership development

opportunities for girls and women Our community is revolutionizing the face of tech—join us! See below for opportunities to get involved.

MAP YOUR COMMUNITY

STEP IN PROCESS 3: Prepare in Annual Planning Guide *Resource can also be used on its own

CONTAINS 1 page: How-to

PURPOSETo get a sense for the ‘major players’ in your community who can support you in carrying out NCWIT’s mission. This work will inform who you ask to be on your committee, who you cultivate partnerships with and ask to sponsor your efforts, etc.

Facilitation Suggestions: Mapping your community is best done with your entire committee and any other major stakeholders involved in your efforts—having multiple perspectives and knowledge sources will be of benefit.

● Gather everyone for a 1.5-2 hour session or as part of a retreat—let everyone know you’ll be starting with brainstorming, thinking big, and then narrowing down to inform your vision and goal setting with a focus on the ‘who,’ as in who would be great on our committee, who would be great sponsors, etc.

● Start by brainstorming a large list of any one who might be interested in supporting the NCWIT mission. If you have 6 or more people present, consider breaking into small groups and assign types of stakeholders (e.g nonprofits vs. for-profit) or geographic location to each group. Use the Aspirations Map to support your efforts. Consider the following:

○ Individuals (Elected officials, Board members, Educators, Consultants, etc.)○ For-profit organizations○ Non-profit organizations○ National youth-serving organizations○ Schools, colleges, and universities○ Civic clubs ○ Government agencies ○ Small businesses ○ Sports teams

● Bring your group back together to create a combined list of all the potential stakeholders who may be interested in supporting the NCWIT mission.

● Next, organize the large list into 3 categories: High, medium, and low impact. Consider the significance of the impact that entity could have on supporting your efforts by connecting back to your vision and goals for the year. If an entity would significantly help you in reaching your vision or goal, they would be in the ‘high impact’ category.

● Organize your high and medium impact lists by appropriate engagement opportunities such as these folks would be great committee members, sponsors, application reviewers, etc.

● Last, create an action plan for which committee member will follow up with who and by when. ● If meeting virtually, consider assigning bullets 2 and 4 as pre-work to small groups or teams

and then come together as a full group to combine lists and discuss appropriate engagement strategies + action plans.

DEVELOPING YOUR COMMITTEE

STEP IN PROCESS 4: Implement in Annual Planning Guide *Resource can also be used on its own

CONTAINS 2 pages

PURPOSEProvide guidance on developing your committee including reasons to have a committee, tips for building a committee, and signs of a healthy committee to gauge your progress

Why have a committee

● Having a committee increases scalability—the capacity of the raward event, AiC community, and the ability to grow and diversify is in many ways directly proportional to the capacity of the committee.

● It reduces the workload on any individual and adds collective wisdom, ideas, and connections ● It provides an opportunity for community members to get involved in the NCWIT mission on a

deeper and more consistent level

Tips for building a committee● Consider ‘the obvious’ when brainstorming and reaching out to new potential committee

members. Use the Aspirations Map to support you in these efforts. ○ NCWIT Alliance members○ People who are already working towards similar NCWIT mission○ Past AiC award recipients○ Parents of AiC award recipients○ AspireIT Partner Organizations ○ AiC Educator award ○ School—counselors, teachers, PTA/parent groups, school board members, etc.

● Have a spectrum of volunteer opportunities so you can cultivate relationships over time:

● Take advantage of any professional development/computing-related opportunities such as summer conferences and coding camps to recruit like-minded folks

Many times professional tech organizations have education outreach goals and serving on your committee could easily fulfil this requirement for them.

● While committee building is a year-round effort, there are some prime engagement opportunities including:

○ AiC Award event—invite potential members to attend ○ Award selection—invite potential members to participate

Signs of a healthy committee

Affiliates are all different and vary in their committee size and structure, and we know especially during an affiliate’s first year, the ‘ideal’ way of operating isn’t always possible. Use this list however makes the most sense for your committee—perhaps to know what to aspire to, as an assessment to determine progress, a tool to develop committee development related goals, etc.

● Members have clearly defined roles and expectations ● Every position has a succession plan ● No one person is taking on a disproportionate amount of the work (e.g. one person managing

the committee and planning the entire award ceremony)● Committee members are engaged and excited about supporting NCWIT’s mission;

Acknowledges committee members are motivated by several different factors (praise, etc.)

One affiliate uses a ‘point system’ to motivate committee members. Committee actions are assigned a point value (e.g. 1 point for attending meeting, 3 points for securing sponsor) and members must accrue a certain amount of points each year to stay on the committee (e.g. 30).

● Committee members represent the sectors present in the local community (e.g. a committee member from higher education institution, non-profit, k-12, etc.)

BUILDING A SUCCESSION PLAN


CONTAINS 1 page

PURPOSESuccession plans increase the sustainability of your committee’s efforts by reducing the chances of burn out, unfilled positions for long periods of time, and person-dependence (e.g. one person has all the knowledge and then they transition leaving a significant gap in the committee’s ability to operate successfully).

Facilitation Suggestions: This is work is best done over a period of time rather than in one setting. Consider assigning folks on your committee to lead this process—ask them to set check-in points and a final deadline in pre-award application open.

● Outline position descriptions for each role on the committee to the best of your ability. Consider focusing on competencies/skills needed for each role if exact tasks are not clear or static. Below is a rough outline to get you started:

○ Committee Management ○ Community Engagement & Outreach○ Financial & Budget Management ○ Award Application Management○ Award Ceremony Event Planning ○ Year-Round Programming Coordination

● Identify term limits to each committee position. 2 years is a great baseline term limit, however, feel free to customize. For example, when starting out, it might be more realistic to have pertinent roles such as committee chair be in their positions for 3-5 years while building your committee’s foundation.

● Consider integrating co-chair positions and/or two people in each ‘position.’ Having multiple people in a role, especially if they start at different times and overlap for a period of time, allows for more seamless continuation of work.

● Outline growth trajectories within the committee. One of the best ways to keep committee members engaged is to have opportunities for them to grow into/aspire to. For example, you may have committee vice-chairs serve for 2 years and then move into the chair position. This also allows for more seamless continuation of committee efforts.

● Set up a central location for all committee members to save committee related documents, notes, etc. Be sure to remove access as members transition off the committee.

● Draft an onboarding process/document for new committee members and an exit process/document for transitioning committee members.

● Review your succession plan materials each year and adapt as needed.

OPTIMIZING YOUR AFFILIATE WEB PAGE


CONTAINS Overview, web page example, and ‘how-to’ edit your web page

PURPOSE To ensure you are getting the most value out of this outreach tool

Your affiliate web page is a page housed on aspirations.org. You have a unique URL and access to edit it. Your affiliate web page offers a central place to house information and opportunities making it one of your top tools for outreach and engagement. It is an outward facing engagement tool and therefore the content should speak to all potential page visitors—potential volunteers, sponsors, parents, and students.

What to include (minimum):

CONTENT EXAMPLE / TIPS BENEFIT

Affiliate Description Use pitch created in step 3 ● Introduces page visitors to who you are

Photo Choose photos that show the diversity of people your serve

● Gives page more life● Allows potential applicants to

see themselves ● Gives potential sponsors,

volunteers, etc. a better understanding of what affiliate does

Award & Event Description Be sure to update this as dates change ● Allows visitors to learn more about awards and spark interest in one of your major efforts—the award event

Call to Action Keep this broad to appeal to all page visitors such as ‘Get involved’

● Let’s people know what to do

Contact Information Be sure to direct visitors to something that is regularly checked/answered

● Clearly communicates who to contact to get involved

What to include (optimized):

CONTENT EXAMPLE / TIPS BENEFIT

Social Media Links You can use your affiliate’s social media if you have it or link to Aspirations social media

● Let’s viewers see what’s going on real-time, gives them a way to connect more

What not to include:● Last names of award recipients

OPTIMIZING YOUR AFFILIATE WEB PAGE Example

HOW TO EDIT YOUR WEB PAGE

YOUR UNIQUE URL:When editing the Affiliate page, if you scroll down to "URL Path Settings" you can see your customized URL (which can be edited further if needed).https://www.aspirations.org/aspirations-community/<affiliate name>For example: https://www.aspirations.org/aspirations-community/new-york-upstate-new-york

EDITING YOUR WEBPAGE:1. Go to the Coordinator Dashboard2. Click “View Affiliate Page” button 3. Click “Edit” option (second tab above your Affiliate name title on page)4. Under “Affiliate Details” is the“Overview” box:

● Description of AiC Award, Award Event and Affiliate should all go here● If listing the awardees - PLEASE link to the aspirations LIST which does NOT

include LAST names.■ e.g. View 2019 Oklahoma high school award winners here■ e.g. View 2019 Oklahoma educator award winners here

○ TO GET YOUR LIST FOR CURRENT AWARDEES, GO TO: https://www.aspirations.org/awardees/current-awardees?field_year_application_tid=74993 And filter for your Affiliates.

○ TO GET YOUR LIST FOR PAST AWARDEES, GO TO: https://www.aspirations.org/awardees/aspirations-award-recipients/past-affilliate_awardees And filter for your Affiliates & Award Year.

● Include contact for any sponsors that might want to support the event!○ e.g. If you're interested in sponsoring this event either by donations of

swag or monetary donations, please contact *****● Include photos from past events by linking to your Flickr album

○ e.g. 2019 Award Ceremony Pictures5. Under Community Photo:

● Choose File and then Upload (photo will show up at the top of the page)

6. Main Contact: PLEASE FILL THIS OUT AND KEEP UPDATED● If you include contact in the Overview box, that’s great but it gets buried. Having

contacts in this area ensures that there is a clear way to contact you at first glance.

7. Local Support: You can list your sponsors here for data purposes but to add sponsors to the Affiliate Page - see #9 below.

8. BE SURE TO SAVE (at top of the page) WHEN YOU ARE DONE

9. TO add sponsors/”Local Supporters” to your page - scroll down to “Local Support”

Click “Create Company/Organization

From this screen - you can create your sponsor/organization, upload a logo, etc.

Once you save, the sponsor will show up in the “Local Supporters” Box will appear with your

sponsors.

SPONSORSHIP GUIDE


CONTAINS 5 pages: How-to, sponsorship letter template, info sheet template, & menu template

PURPOSEProvides suggestions on how to approach sponsorship, strategies for securing sponsors, and templates to customize and adapt to reach your sponsorship goals.

How to think about sponsorship: Sponsorship is one of your most significant community engagement tools—it is a way for you to build relationships with your local community and create the best experiences for the AiC community you’re developing. Sponsorship provides a tangible way for people to contribute to your committee’s efforts and the NCWIT mission. Contributing money is one popular sponsorship option, however, it is not the only, and sometimes, it isn’t even the most effective. In addition to financial donations, community members + organizations can donate SWAG, their time, space for events and year-round programming, food, services (e.g. printing your award event programs for you at no cost), etc. We suggest approaching sponsorship as a long-term, mutually beneficial, partnership building process.

Where to begin: Start with understanding what you need (financially and otherwise) for the year to develop or continue to develop your thriving AiC community. A great time to do this is post-annual award event.

Once you have a realistic budget created for the upcoming year (post-award event — next annual award event) and understanding of what resources are needed, it is time to start reaching out to potential sponsors and collaborators. Be sure to consider not just want you need for a successful award ceremony but also for successful year-round programming.

How to reach out: First, consider who is in your community and may be excited about supporting the NCWIT mission. Next, consider what opportunity/offer is going to be most appealing to them and what strategy (specific vs. open-ended) might fit this partnership best. Focus on what you have to offer—the benefits of them contributing—rather than leading with what you need.

What to offer: All organizations are going to differ in what they want to contribute and how. We suggest not making assumptions—for example, we may assume a small non-profit won’t want to contribute financially, and they may end up having a significant budget to support—however, below is a rough outline of how you may want to engage new and existing partners as a place to start.

New Partnerships: ● Invite them to annual award event so they can get a sense of what value exists in the

AiC community for them● Ask for SWAG donations as a way for them to enhance their brand recognition

1-2 Year Partnerships:● Ask for in-kind donations such as using their space or them providing services they

specialize in (e.g. printing, AV/tech, etc.) at no cost to you ● Offer opportunities for them to facilitate/host year-round programming (workshops, tours,

events, etc.)● Invite them to be supporting financial sponsor of award ceremony

3+ Year Partnerships:● Invite them to be main financial sponsor of award ceremony ● Collaborate to offer job shadowing and internship experiences

Specific vs. open-ended ‘ask’:There are benefits to both asking an organization/community member for a specific donation request (e.g. space for event) and cultivating a relationship in a more open-ended way (e.g. how would you like to contribute).

Sponsorship best practices: ● Connect with an individual/group within an organization rather than reaching out broadly. For

example, rather than sending a letter to ‘Girl Scouts,’ reach out to a person who works in STEM or outreach within Girl Scouts.

● Track sponsor outreach in a document available to all committee members; include organization name, contact name and information, committee member who is managing the relationship, and status update

Using the templates: Following are NCWIT created templates to use or adapt in reaching your sponsorship goals. The content comes from a combination of NCWIT and Aspirations educational and promotional materials and from sponsorship materials shared by top affiliates. Please customize these to fit your needs and/or pull content from them to create your own materials. Templates include:

● A sample sponsorship letter (intended to use for a specific ask to a specific organization/person)

● A sample sponsorship information sheet (to showcase the variety of potential sponsorship opportunities and benefits and further inform on Aspirations)

● A sample sponsorship menu (to outline specific sponsorship levels)

SPONSORSHIP LETTER TEMPLATE

Dear [insert individual],

We are working to revolutionize the face of computing in our community [insert location], and we’d like to invite you to partner with us in this mission.

We, and likely you, know diversity in computing and tech is lacking. One way to close the gender gap in tech and in turn, increase innovation and impact, is by encouraging self-identified women and girls to persist in computing.

Through our local NCWIT Aspirations in Computing community, we are doing just that. NCWIT is the National Center for Women & Information Technology, a national nonprofit that brings together a coalition of more than a thousand academic institutions, companies, and nonprofits working together to increase the meaningful participation of all women and girls in computing and information technology. We carry out NCWIT’s mission on a local level.

Year round, we support high school and collegiate women through educational programming, mentorship, and professional development. [Consider inserting a couple specific ways you’re supporting your community here]

One of the major ways we support this community in persisting is through the NCWIT Awards. These awards celebrate and encourage young women for their interests and achievements in computing. Past award recipients note their increased confidence, self esteem, and motivation for staying in computing as just some of the benefits.

Annually, we recognize these award winners and future IT workforce members at our award ceremony taking place this spring [insert exact date, if known]. This award ceremony is an opportunity for your organization, and other top organizations who care about the mission of supporting women in tech, to connect with future talent and increase your presence with these future internship and job-seekers.

We would love to partner with you in making this year’s award ceremony our best yet. The award ceremony is the entry point to the thriving Aspirations in Computing community and a lifetime of opportunities to revolutionize the face of tech. Below are a few impactful ways you can contribute your support:

● Donate SWAG for all of our award winners [insert approximate number of winners, if known]● Offer your space or services in-kind to support the event [insert specific request, if known]● Make a financial contribution for the event [insert specific amount, if known]

We hope you will join us in this worthy and important endeavor. I will call you next week to answer questions and discuss a possible collaboration, however, please don’t hesitate to reach out before then.

[insert signature and contact information]

SPONSORSHIP INFORMATION SHEET TEMPLATE

Partner with us in revolutionizing the face of technology!

What is NCWIT Aspirations in Computing: Aspirations in Computing (AiC), with the help of you, is closing the diversity gap in tech and changing what’s possible through inclusion. AiC increases persistence in computing by inspiring, encouraging, and advancing self-identified women and girls at each pivotal stage of their educational and professional development through 3 initiatives:

● AspireIT— K-12 educational programs that spark early interest in computing ● Aspirations Awards that recognize and celebrate high school and collegiate women’s technical

aspirations and abilities ● AiC Community that creates a sense of belonging and endless networking and leadership

development opportunities

NCWIT, the National Center for Women & Information Technology, is a national nonprofit that brings together a coalition of more than a thousand academic institutions, companies, and nonprofits working together to increase the meaningful participation of all women and girls in computing and information technology.

Why support our local Aspirations in Computing community: ● Have access to top computing students from [insert location].● Help strengthen the computing community by demonstrating your commitment to the support of

women and gender diversity.● [Consider inserting specific reasons unique to your community]

Ways to support: ● Publicize the award through your available social media or other channels● Invite employee volunteers to review award applications, participate in the award event, help with

meetup events, or help with other outreach activities throughout the program year● Host a company tour for applicants● Offer internships to award recipients● Host the award event at your organization● Provide a speaker for the awards event● Provide prizes or SWAG items for the award recipients● Underwrite/sponsor the award event● Underwrite/sponsor travel and accommodations for award recipients from outside the immediate

area

The impact of your support: [Consider inserting a specific story from a local past award winner to highlight the impact of AiC and sponsorship support]

Partner with us:Please contact [insert contact information] to discuss collaboration.

SPONSORSHIP MENU TEMPLATE

GOLD LEVEL SPONSORSHIP

● $2,500 minimum donation● Organization SWAG for award recipients● Sponsored opportunity (e.g. site visit, job

shadow, internship, or scholarship) for award winners

GOLD LEVEL SPONSORSHIP BENEFITS

● Organization ½ page ad in ceremony program

● Shout-out in any press releases and on social media

● Verbal recognition at ceremony event● Speaking opportunity at ceremony event● Four tickets for organization representatives

to attend ceremony● Exclusive networking opportunities with

current and past award recipients

SILVER LEVEL SPONSORSHIP

● $1,000 minimum donation● Organization SWAG for award recipients

SILVER LEVEL SPONSORSHIP BENEFITS

● Organization logo recognition in ceremony program

● Four tickets for organization representatives to attend ceremony

● Networking opportunities with current and past award recipients

BRONZE LEVEL SPONSORSHIP

● $500 minimum donation● Organization SWAG for award recipients

BRONZE LEVEL SPONSORSHIP BENEFITS

● Name recognition in ceremony program● Two tickets for organization representatives

to attend ceremony● Networking opportunities with current and

past award recipients

COMMUNITY LEVEL SPONSORSHIP

● Organization SWAG for award recipients and/or in-kind donation of space, food, etc.

COMMUNITY LEVEL SPONSORSHIP BENEFITS

● Two tickets for organization representatives to attend ceremony

● Networking opportunities with current and past award recipients

Documents

NCWIT Aspirations€¦ · Web viewANNUAL PLANNING GUIDE Who: Affiliate Coordinators to use with their committee What: These are essential tools to support you and your committee in