| VISION AND LEADERSHIP |
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For more than 35 years, The Community Foundation and our donors have demonstrated a deep commitment to our diverse communities. Going forward, working together we can bring positive change to the most difficult issues facing our region today.
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The Partnership for Equity
Recent Activities There are more than 50 foundations and government agencies in the Greater Washington region operating various types of capacity-building grantmaking programs. Each of these programs independently strives to strengthen the ability of nonprofits to achieve greater performance and impact. However, limited information exists about the degree to which public and private funders are supporting capacity-building and the strategies they're using. This "knowledge gap” inhibits collaboration, informed decision-making, and greater impact. The Partnership for Equity sponsored a two-day convening of local public and private funders that currently fund capacity-building to learn about their respective capacity-building funding strategies as well as to share lessons learned, problem-solve and generate a regional action plan for collaborative work. The sessions brought together more than 30 government and philanthropic representatives from across the region, resulting in an initial course of action to increase networking, coordination and collaboration. Participants agreed to undertake the following activities over the course of three to six months: • Learning/Networking: Thirteen funders agreed to meet monthly to discuss their respective capacity-building work and related micro/macro issues (e.g., lack of common capacity-building language and guiding principles, increasing burden funders place on nonprofits seeking capacity- building funding, etc.). • Action: Five funders agreed to explore the viability of developing a common grantmaking application form for capacity-building funding and if viable take steps to institute. Read the notes from the September 2008 meeting HERE. Read the notes from the October meeting HERE. Download the Asset Mapping of Greater Washington Capacity-Building Funders document HERE.
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