This summer, the Greater Washington Community Foundation is making a significant upgrade to the technology that powers many aspects of our work.

The systems change reflects our commitment to delivering a faster, more transparent, and more responsive experience for our donors and partners.

It will also have a significant impact on the grantmaking experience for our donors including how you view information about your fund and recommend grants. This system transformation will also provide better data to help us understand how fundholder philanthropy connects to greater community needs.

While we are thrilled about what lies ahead, we want to make sure you have the full picture, so you can plan your summer grantmaking accordingly!

Why We’re Making This Change

In 2019 and 2023, The Community Foundation conducted a Donor Perception Survey through the Center for Effective Philanthropy, designed to help us better understand the needs, interests, and experiences of our community of givers. One of the biggest takeaways from that survey was the need to update our internal grant processing and modernize our systems to optimize for efficiency.

One of our strategic goals is to Connect Your Philanthropy to Impact and the primary way we do that is through grantmaking. In FY26 alone, our grants team processed nearly 5,900 grants totaling more than $130 million in charitable giving from our generous fundholders. The impact these investments have on our community is tremendous. That’s why we are excited to implement new systems that will provide our fundholders access to more and better data to measure that impact.

The biggest change will be the rollout of a new system called Foundation Cloud Community Portal, which will replace our existing Donor Central Portal.

The new portal includes upgraded infrastructure that improves our processing procedures, adds enhanced security, and makes it easier for you to manage your fund, track activity, and submit grant recommendations — all in one place.

Behind the scenes, we are also upgrading the financial system we use to process gifts and payments. Our new platform, Financial Edge NXT, is a cloud-based accounting solution built specifically for nonprofits and foundations. By connecting directly with our new portal and reducing the manual steps involved in moving funds, it allows us to process your gifts and grant payments more quickly and with greater accuracy — so more of your generosity reaches the community without delay.

These new systems will also help to reduce turnaround times for gifts, grants, and payment processing and provide fundholders with more information on the impact of their grants.

Key Dates

As we prepare for launch, you should be aware of some anticipated system closures in August that could delay gift and grant processing.

Now through August 17:

Donor Central remains fully active. You can continue submitting grant recommendations as you normally would.

August 18–23 (Transition Window):

Donor Central will be unavailable for new grant recommendations while we complete the system migration. If you have an urgent or time-sensitive grant need during this period, please reach out to us directly [DY1] at [email protected] or by phone at (202) 955-5890.

August 24: The new portal goes live.

You will have access to an upgraded experience for submitting grant recommendations, viewing fund statements, accessing gift and grant histories, and more.

How We’ll Support You Through the Transition

We are investing in making this a smooth transition for our fundholders. Here is what we have planned:

Webinar and Tutorial Videos

Beginning in August, we will be providing opportunities for fundholders to learn more about our new systems and their capabilities, including hosting a live Webinar and posting How-To Video Guides on our website to cover a number of topics including:

Logging in to the new portal and setting up MFA
Submitting fund requests
Accessing fund statements
Accessing gift and grant histories
Viewing investment strategies

A quick-start guide will also be made available to you and saved directly to the portal for easy reference.

Virtual Office Hours

Beginning in August, we will host three weekly virtual office hours sessions to answer your questions and walk you through the new system in real time.

In-Person Tutorials

For those who prefer a hands-on experience, we will offer in-person tutorial sessions staring near portal launch.

Your philanthropic advisor will also be available throughout the transition for any questions or concerns. You will receive additional communications from them as we approach the go-live date.

Thank you for your continued partnership. We are excited about what this upgrade means for your grantmaking experience—and for the communities we serve together.

‍ ‍

Marcus Braxton
Chief Operating Officer
Greater Washington Community Foundation

An Update on Our Technology Transformation: What Fundholders Need to Know