New Great Dames pitch contest applications due soon

WILMINGTON — For the first time, Great Dames will be debuting a pitch competition for remarkable ideas from nonprofits this summer. Applications are due by July 17.

The inaugural Giving Circle Pitch Competition will focus on benefitting small women-centric nonprofits in August. Announced earlier this summer, the competition is open to all women nonprofit leaders from across the world and hopes to provide resources to maximize their impact. 

The winning nonprofit will claim a purse of $5,000 as well as a business mentor, a portfolio of services in financial planning and marketing, as well as a strategic partnership with Great Dames.

“We expect to hear bold ideas from women who are leading efforts to empower women and girls,” Great Dames President and CEO Sharon Kelly Hake said in a statement. “Thousands of influential women and men from the Great Dames community will hear these pitches. So, while there will be one winner, we are giving the floor to many nonprofit leaders whose voices may not otherwise be heard. And the global Dames community will be listening.”

Great Dames is an organization focused on meeting women’s professional and personal goals, inspired by Hake’s experiences talking with women across the world while she worked as a global marketing director at DuPont.

Since it launched in 2009, Great Dames has held scores of workshops and networking events. The organization launched its own pitch competition in 2014, after seeing so many competitions leave women behind.

The Giving Circle Pitch Competition will name five finalists to present before the organization online on Aug. 15. Members of the Giving Circle will vote on the winner, which will be revealed on Sept. 28 at the Delaware Art Museum.

Applicants will be judged on three criteria: its remarkable approach to empowering women and girls;  its potential impact; and its effective use of Great Dames grant and business resources.

For more information, visit www.greatdames.com/giving-circle-grant-competition