Abstract

Scholarships awarded by the Maryland Governor's Office on Service and Volunteerism provide national and community service with greater training opportunities. Scholarship recipients agree to share their newly gained knowledge with the service community through evaluation reports and consultation or training services.

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Issue

The money to attend national or regional trainings is often unavailable for national and community service programs on limited budgets. The Maryland Governor's Office on Service and Volunteerism (GOSV) provides scholarships for program staff to attend trainings, provided they agree to share the knowledge they receive.

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Action

Scholarship winners agree to the following conditions:

• Recipients accept the scholarships in the name of their organization; scholarships are not awarded directly to an individual.
• Recipients can not be AmeriCorps members.
• Recipients must be 18 years of age or older.
• Recipients must sign a contract outlining allowable uses of the scholarship.
• Recipients must return receipts of their allowable expenses.

Organizations may use the scholarship money to host their own training or to send their staff member to a training. Those who go to an off-site training represent the Maryland GOSV, distribute informational materials about the GOSV, and return a one-page report to the GOSV. Many scholarship recipients later serve as trainers at statewide conferences. All may be used as resource referrals for callers seeking advice on specific topics. The scholarship is advertised in the newsletter, website, and training briefs produced by the Maryland GOSV.

Application guidelines are as follows:

• Scholarships are limited to $500 per organization per year.
• Trainings may be in Maryland or out of state, but must take place in the US.
• Scholarships may cover costs of travel, lodging, and registration. Food is not covered.
• The Maryland GOSV rate for mileage is $.30 per mile.
• Scholarship moneys cannot be used to pay tax.
• Scholarships are for agency staff (paid or volunteer) only. National service participants (AmeriCorps, etc.) are not eligible for scholarships.
• The GOSV reserves the right to reject scholarship applications in whole or in part.
• Applications are reviewed and approved on a rolling basis through the year.
• When possible, payments are arranged through the GOSV and paid directly to vendors through a purchase order. Some scholarships are paid on a reimbursement basis upon submission of original receipts.
• By accepting scholarship funds, organizations commit to sharing knowledge received through an evaluation report and with other service and volunteer organizations through consultation or training as needs arise (up to three times per year).

To apply for a scholarship, organizations must:

1. Identify the training or conference: title, sponsoring organization, date, and location.
2. Send a written request to the attention of the director of training and technical assistance. The request should include the following items:
   • Individual(s) attending, the organization, their positions, and contact information
   • Issue areas to be covered by the training
   • Conference/training registration and agenda (faxes acceptable)
   • How the agency will benefit
   • How the agency will share this knowledge with or provide training to others
   • Itemization of the costs the scholarships will cover (e.g., travel, lodging and registration costs)

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Context

To be eligible, an organization must coordinate volunteers or national service participants, and must be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit or a government agency. The purpose of this funding is to increase the State of Maryland's capacity to improve its communities through service and volunteerism. The GOSV encourages programs to attend "Train the Trainer" trainings to expand this knowledge base. Special consideration is given to agencies carrying out Maryland's Promise, the Statewide initiative to bring the five resources (mentoring, out of school activities, a healthy start, marketable skills, and the opportunity to serve) children need to lead fulfilling lives.

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Outcome

Since 1998 the Maryland GOSV has made $5,000 available annually for scholarships to conferences or trainings.Slightly over half of the scholarship recipients are Corporation for National and Community Service grantees who attend training events sponsored by the Corporation. Seven AmeriCorps staffers have used the scholarship to attend National Service Leadership Institute events. Other examples of how the scholarship has been applied:

• The Eastern Shore Volunteer Network hosted a local training on risk management and screening to protect vulnerable populations, which was open to public.
• The Rock Creek Foundation's Director of Service-Learning attended the National Society on Experiential Education's annual conference to present on the work of local programs.

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Posted On

December 20, 2001

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Related Practices

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Topic Areas

• Community building
• Training
• Capacity building
• Financial management
• Marketing and media
• Nonprofit management
• Sustainability
• Volunteer
• State Commissions
• Community-Based Organizations
• Staff
• Nonprofit Organizations
• Project TASC
• Program management

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