Nonprofit Advancement Fund

The Montgomery County Community Foundation plays a leadership role in supporting the development of a healthy, coordinated nonprofit sector in the county through the Nonprofit Advancement Fund for Montgomery County. Its objectives are to: 

w    Strengthen nonprofits through board development, leadership training, and other innovative capacity building activities, thereby enhancing nonprofits’ ability to address county needs and opportunities; and 

 

w    Create and sustain new partnerships and more effective dialogue among nonprofits, local government and the private sector/private philanthropy focused on linking the efforts of all the sectors to achieve a better quality of life for the county’s residents.

Grantmaking

The Nonprofit Advancement Fund makes grants to support a select group of initiatives focused on building the leadership and management capacity of key groups of nonprofits as well as the nonprofit sector as a whole. Current grantmaking has a special emphasis on immigrant-led nonprofits and organizations serving low-income children, youth and their families. The Fund’s steering committee, comprised of MCCF board members and donors, guides the grantmaking activities.


Recent grantees include:

IMPACT Silver Spring – to develop leadership skills of selected immigrant led nonprofits through a peer learning group, supported by more intensive one-on-one organizational consultations. The funds will cover stipends for participants, training sessions, staff times and costs of consultants. 

MOSAICA - to provide a series of six workshops on successful collaboration between and among nonprofits to: (1) build the capacity of organizations to plan, implement, and manage collaborative projects; (2) build the capacity of organizations that are led by and serve different communities to collaborate successfully; and (3) encourage collaborative projects as a strategy for effectively serving diverse children, youth, and families. 

Nonprofit Village – to create a co-housing facility for nonprofits that provides them with significant rental stability, significant infrastructure supports (IT, finance, etc.) as well as create a community of leaders and organizations who will more naturally collaborate and cross-pollinate their programs.

Facilitation and Convening

The Nonprofit Advancement Fund supports critical leadership work by MCCF staff and consultants, together with other partners, to take advantage of the unique perch and influence of MCCF in the county. MCCF is highly regarded for its multi-sector convening and leadership skills, particularly around the issue of strengthening the county’s nonprofit sector and its relationship to government, business and philanthropy ---- with the end-goal of better outcomes for the county’s growing and diverse resident population. Examples include:

Learning Circle – This series of four meetings convened family and corporate foundations, local government representatives and nonprofit leaders to examine ways to strengthen the county’s nonprofit organizations and the nonprofit sector as a whole. Members of the group developed a set of goals and recommendations for stakeholders, including the newly elected County Executive and County Council. At the request of County Executive Ike Leggett, MCCF also funded a scan of “best practices” for how governments from other jurisdictions work with nonprofits. 

Funders’ Roundtable – The quarterly luncheon brings together corporate and philanthropic leaders from across the region to raise awareness of critical issues in Montgomery County and explore some of the best practices in addressing local needs. Key to these discussions is a thorough understanding of how philanthropic dollars can best support nonprofits, including building their capacity.