OUR MISSION

Alternative Gift Market Cape Cod's (AGM) mission is to raise funds for worthy local, national and international organizations that are dedicated to improving the lives of people and the health of our planet. These organizations work tirelessly to combat the effects of persistent poverty, injustice and climate change.

Each year AGM's Steering Committee, comprised of representatives of the sponsoring religious organizations, chooses the charities to participate in the market. Generally there are ten local non-profits, ten international non-profits and, this year in addition, there are four national non-profits.

Our considerations for selection of the non-profits are:

• Tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status
• Mission and focus aligned with AGM's mission
• Community served reflects the communities and interests of the sponsoring religious organizations
• Track record of success
• Potential impact of the funds raised
• Size of the organization's budget, with a preference for smaller organizations
• Ratings of charity watchdogs if available
• Balance of causes, sizes and geographic locations.

Co-chairs 

Fran Senner-Hurley    Falmouth Jewish Congregation

Jane Jackson              Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Falmouth

Sandy Rodgers           Church of the Messiah

Treasurer

Christine Michelson     Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Falmouth

Webmaster

Charlotte Harris           Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Falmouth

Congregational Representatives

Jenifer Alai                   Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Falmouth

Noreen Cavanaugh      Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Falmouth

Krista Hennessy           St. Barbabas Episcopal Church 

Annie Holden                St. Barbabas Episcopal Church 

Sandy Shapiro              Falmouth Jewish Congregation

Betsy Perpall                Falmouth Congregational Church

Greg Mills                     Falmouth Congregational Church

Mary Fran Buckley       Church of the Messiah

Carol Casey                 Church of the Messiah

Linda Lynch                  Waquoit Congregational Church

Bobye Anderson          John Wesley United Methodist Church

Kate Finemore             John Wesley United Methodist Church

Russ Wilcox                 Mashpee Congregational Church

Joe Clerico                   Christ the King Parish

The sponsoring congregations share in picking up the expenses needed to hold the AGM each year. Volunteers provide the labor for planning and implementing the market which keeps the costs low.  For each of the past 13 years, a few fair trade organizations were included in the market.  They contributed a small percentage of their sales to help cover expenses.

The 2019 AGM raised just over $44,000 which was distributed among 20 different charitable organizations.  The expenses for 2019 were just over $1500.  

Credit card fees are the biggest expense each year. This year, because the fund-raiser is virtual instead of live, all online purchases will have to be made by credit card, and credit card companies charge fees. So we are asking shoppers at Checkout to voluntarily pitch in a small percentage to offset that expense.  This is particularly important because there will be no income from fair trade organizations to help cover the credit card fees.

AGM Cape Cod is not an incorporated non-profit with its own 501(c)(3). Instead, to ensure that all donations made through AGM Cape Cod are tax deductible, the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Falmouth (UUFF) acts as our fiscal agent. Therefore, all checks for donations made through AGM Cape Cod are made payable to UUFF-AGM and receipts for donations will come from UUFF.

100% of your donations go to the charities you select.