Become a community champion

The Greater Washington Community Foundation ignites the power of philanthropy, catalyzes community impact, and responds to critical community needs. Over the past 50 years, we have distributed over $1.5 billion to a range of causes in Greater Washington and beyond.

Our Community Champions truly embody what philanthropy means to our region. For half a century, Community Champions have shown their love for our region by investing in some of our region’s most pressing needs.

Each year we depend upon the generous partnership of our Community Champions to meet urgent local needs.  Together with our community of givers, we have:

  • helped local workers get skills and training to advance in their careers,

  • expanded access to quality education for more children and youth,

  • increased economic mobility for historically underinvested communities,

  • invested in solutions to end homelessness, and much more.

Through our vitally important work, we recognize that our region’s biggest challenges stem from economic injustice. Longstanding inequities have been exacerbated by the pandemic, undermining our economy, and disproportionately hurting our Black and Brown neighbors. With a new strategic vision to close the racial wealth gap, and by working in partnership with Community Champions like you, we are committed to ensuring that everyone in our region can prosper.

Providing the community leadership that leads to bold solutions requires talent, time, and money. For this, we depend on annual contributions from donors like you! 

MAKE A GIFT AND BECOME A COMMUNITY CHAMPION TODAY!

There are several ways to become a Community Champion. If you would like to make an online donation to this effort, please complete the form below. For information on how to contribute by wire or check, please click here.

Community Foundation donors can make a grant recommendation in Donor Central.

If you have any questions, please contact Kate Daniel, Development Manager, at [email protected] or (301) 495-3036 x169.

Your Investment at Work

As a Community Champion, you empower The Community Foundation to be flexible and vigilant in leading the response to today’s needs and tomorrow’s challenges.

Your gift fuels our leadership in narrowing our community’s racial wealth gap.

Ultimately, it is both our mission and responsibility to create a just, equitable, and thriving region now and for the future. We cannot do it without you!

Your support for Community Champions ensures that The Community Foundation can:

  • We will leverage our resources and expertise to lead our community in addressing the most catalytic opportunity of our lifetimes: closing the racial wealth gap in the Greater Washington region.

  • As a convener for our community, we identify needs and bring together philanthropic, business, and local government leaders to tackle the region’s most pressing challenges.

  • We offer deep community knowledge, expertise, and insight to help donors find the most rewarding and impactful ways to give back to our community now and in the future.

  • As the region’s largest grantmaker and with a big-picture view of the region’s nonprofit sector, we understand the greatest needs facing our communities and the organizations that can best serve them.

  • We support programmatic initiatives and advocacy around important issues, as well as commission and publish research in the public interest, on topics such as the affordable housing crisis, workforce development, access to health care, and connecting disconnected youth to opportunity.

  • From supporting victims of the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon and their families to running corporate disaster relief programs for Capital One and Marriott employees, to assisting residents impacted by government shutdowns or the COVID-19 public health and economic crises – we are there whenever our neighbors need us most.

SUPPORT OUR COMMUNITY IMPACT FUNDS

You can also support any of our programmatic initiatives and community endowments to advance our ongoing work to strengthen communities throughout this region.

COMMUNITY IMPACT INITIATIVES

These initiatives target specific needs through advocacy, community leadership, and investments in high performing nonprofits.

COMMUNITY ENDOWMENT FUNDS

Multiply the impact of your generosity by pooling it with other giving through our professionally managed portfolios designed to address critical needs identified in collaboration with our donors and community partners.

  • Arts and culture

  • LGBTQ+ community

  • Crisis response

  • Health

  • Environment

  • Regional scholarship fund

  • Community endowments for DC, Montgomery County, Northern Virginia, and Prince George’s County