Letter From Our President and CEO
President and CEO Tonia Wellons
Dear friends,
As our community faces unprecedented challenges due to the COVID-19 public health and economic crisis, I find hope and inspiration in the outpouring of support from neighbors helping neighbors through these troubling times. Together we mobilized $8 million in support for coordinated emergency response efforts and funded 200 nonprofits providing critical services. Thank you for standing with us during our community’s time of need!
As we prepare for what comes next, we are committed to advancing racial justice and building a more equitable future for our region by using our voice, influence, programs, and initiatives to help end racial disparities. Our goal is not to go back to the way things were before, but to work together to build a new normal where everyone has an equal opportunity to live, work, and thrive.
Despite these challenging times, your generosity and care for our community continues to inspire hope for what we can accomplish together. Together we invested more than $68 million during the last fiscal year to strengthen our communities by supporting a diverse range of causes, including education, safety net services, workforce programs, the arts, and more. That is something to celebrate!
The last year was also an exciting time for The Community Foundation as we welcomed new leadership, launched new initiatives, and continued our critical community impact work.
We welcomed Katharine Weymouth as the new chair of our Board of Trustees, continuing a family a legacy of giving and service started by her grandmother Katharine Graham. I was thrilled to be appointed as President and CEO to continue working closely with you and our talented team of employees and volunteers who are dedicated to serving this community.
Last summer, we teamed up with the DC Interagency Council on Homelessness to launch The Partnership to End Homelessness, the first-of-its-kind initiative to unite the public and private sectors around a shared strategy to ensure homelessness is rare, brief, and non-recurring.
These are just a few of the highlights featured in our FY2020 Annual Report. You will learn more about our commitment to Building Thriving Communities and our work to mobilize philanthropy, lead in the community, and operate with excellence.
Thanks to your partnership, we can continue to serve our community’s needs today, while building a better tomorrow for all who call our region their home.
Sincerely,
Tonia Wellons
President and CEO
Special thanks to our FY20 Friends of The Community Foundation.
mobilizing philanthropy
By mobilizing philanthropy for this community, we provide a stable funding source to respond to today’s needs and tomorrow’s challenges.
Investing in Strengthening Our Communities
Partnering with Donors and Nonprofits to Create Lasting Impact
$66 million in contributions
to funds at The Community Foundation
11 new legacy commitments
from donors wishing to impact our community for generations to come
42 new giving funds
established by generous individuals, families, businesses, and civic groups
5,519 grants
administered to 2,803 grantee organizations
109 students received over $600,000
in scholarship awards to achieve their academic goals
Programming Highlights
For Donors
We held several donor education and community engagement events throughout the region.
Donors participated in nearly 50 site visits to nonprofit partners serving the region.
The Partnership to End Homelessness held a corporate symposium and two donor learning series events on affordable housing and chronic homelessness.
The Funders’ Roundtable in Montgomery County series held discussions on the effects of adverse childhood experiences, efforts to improve outcomes for youth with Councilmember Nancy Navarro, and the social and economic factors that shape our lives with County Executive Marc Elrich.
Let’s Address the “Hidden” Issues Undermining our Kids’ Futures
The Children’s Opportunity Fund held a discussion on pay for success models with MCPS Superintendent Dr. Jack Smith and a Read Across Montgomery County event with special guest readings from County Executive Marc Elrich and other business and civic leaders.
In the lead up to the 2019 Civic Leadership Awards in Prince George’s County, we held three events for past honorees, nonprofit leaders, and emerging philanthropists.
For the community
For Professional Advisors
Programming for advisors from leading financial, law, accounting, and other advisory firms across the region.
51 meetings
3 presentations conducted for advisory firms
2 events
48 referrals from professional advisors
More than 100 people attended our Professional Advisors Annual Fall Luncheon to learn about which kinds of funds best serve each donor's needs.
A Voice for the Local Philanthropic Community
Viewpoint: Region's income gaps can also lead to perception gap
In her Washington Business Journal op-ed, President and CEO Tonia Wellons discusses the misperception that poverty is primarily a choice—and how philanthropy can help.
Charitable giving in D.C. is well below the national average
For the Washington Post, Tonia Wellons discusses how our region is a magnet for some of the nation’s wealthiest and most powerful people, but we are conspicuously behind the curve when it comes to one important measure: generosity.
Viewpoint: What business can do to ease homelessness
In an op-ed for the Washington Business Journal, our former CEO shared insights on how the local business community can invest its resources, voice, and leadership to help ensure more of our neighbors have a stable place to call home.
Leading in the Community
Through our community leadership and impact funds, we address critical challenges facing our communities and invest in nonprofits making a real difference.
Community Leadership Initiatives
The COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund
The COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund launched in March 2020 to address the urgent health and economic needs of communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. At the time of this release, it has mobilized $8 million and made $7 million in grants to help stabilize our nonprofit partners and expand critical services. We aim to respond to urgent needs and reach vulnerable communities in our region, and to work toward rebuilding a more equitable region.
Launched in June 2019 in collaboration with the DC Interagency Council on Homelessness, this first-of-its-kind initiative in DC has galvanized private sector engagement and united the public and private sectors around a shared strategy to address homelessness and housing insecurity. The Partnership continues to advance solutions to ensure that homelessness is rare, brief, and non-recurring.
Emerging Leaders Impact Fund
The Emerging Leaders Impact Fund is a new effort to harness the energy of emerging leaders in Prince George’s County to grow and leverage local philanthropy for positive community impact. Members contribute to a pooled fund, learn about local needs and solutions, and collaborate to determine where to direct funding to high-impact nonprofits.
A community listening and engagement initiative to understand the diverse experiences of residents. In 2020, the initiative returned as a three-part series to tap into Community Insights through a regional survey, bring residents together to discuss the issues that matter through On the Table conversations, and turn ideas into community change projects through Community Action Awards. This initiative was postponed to the fall of 2020.
Community Impact Funds
THE CATALYST FUND
The Catalyst Fund made $170,000 in grants to renew support for partners focused on wealth-building and entrepreneurship among low-income residents of color through microloans, small business training programs, and support for micro-enterprise development.
Children’s Opportunity Fund
The Children’s Opportunity Fund, in partnership with Montgomery County Government and Public Schools, completed its third grant cycle for a total of $2 million invested towards closing the achievement gap for marginalized children and families in Montgomery County.
Fund for Children, Youth, and Families
The Fund for Children, Youth, and Families awarded $1.95 million in grants to support 46 nonprofits making a difference around some of our region’s biggest challenges in education, homelessness, and foster care.
The 2020 Count DMV In Census Project made $287,000 in grants to ensure an equitable future for our region through a fair and accurate Census count by supporting education, outreach, and assistance focused on hard-to-count communities.
DC Fund for Just and Peaceful Neighborhoods
The DC Fund for Just and Peaceful Neighborhoods made $140,000 in grants to support nonprofit organizations working to transform criminal justice and implement violence intervention and prevention services in DC.
The Partnership to End Homelessness made its first round of grants to help nonprofits expedite housing placement and increase stabilization for single adults experiencing homelessness. The Partnership’s impact investment also helped fund the development and preservation of 448 affordable housing units.
Prince George’s County Domestic Violence Community Assistance Grant Fund
The Prince George’s County Domestic Violence Community Assistance Fund made $305,00 in grants to provide survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking with counseling, housing, transportation, and legal services, and to implement prevention programming.
The Resilience fund
The Resilience Fund made $270,000 in grants to increase civic engagement, expand outreach and services to marginalized communities, and support advocacy on behalf of immigrants, asylum seekers, and survivors of sexual assault.
Nonprofit partners in Prince George’s County participated in a half-day speed consulting workshop facilitated by the Taproot Foundation, where they were paired with skilled volunteers for consultation sessions on marketing, HR, and strategic challenges.
Sharing Funds in DC, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties
Sharing Funds awarded 77 local nonprofits with $647,000 in grants.
Sharing DC focused on workforce development and adult education programs that support individuals, youth, and families to improve literacy proficiency while learning skills or earning credentials needed to be competitive in the job market.
Sharing Montgomery and Sharing Prince George’s supported nonprofits providing safety-net services to help individuals in crisis to lift themselves out of poverty, educational activities to prepare young people for a successful transition to adulthood, and workforce development programs to help residents earn a living wage.
Transforming Neighborhoods Initiative
The TNI Fund for Community Innovation awarded its final grants of $75,000 to four community-based organizations providing quality free and/or affordable out-of-school time programming for youth and families living in Prince George’s County.
Greater Washington Workforce Development Collaborative
The Greater Washington Workforce Development Collaborative continued supporting research and advocacy work aimed at expanding benefits for low-income families, such as paid family and medical leave, access to quality affordable childcare, minimum wage increase, and Medicaid expansion in Virginia.
Operating with Excellence
We are committed to operating with the highest standards of integrity and stewardship to ensure donor funds are effectively reinvested in improving our community.
Achieving National Standards for Excellence
Our commitment to impact, transparency and accountability was once again awarded with the GuideStar Silver Seal of Transparency and Four-Star rating from Charity Navigator.
Welcoming New and Diverse Leadership
We were excited to welcome new members to our leadership team and board:
Tonia Wellons, President and CEO
Katharine Weymouth, Chair, Board of Trustees
Veronica Jeon, Chair, Prince George’s County Advisory Board
Karen Leder, Chair, Montgomery County Advisory Board
Partners in Caring for Our Community
We were proud to receive Unity Health Care’s Partners in Caring Award for our continued support and partnership in ensuring all residents have equal access to quality and comprehensive health care.