For supporting materials and answers to frequently asked questions, visit our Funding the Center page.
Welcome
For more than 50 years, the Foundation Center, headquartered in New York, has played a vital role in our communities, strengthening our nation's nonprofit sector by advancing knowledge about philanthropy. We have been active in the Washington, DC, area since 1964. Organizations you support and care about are among those that benefit from our work. At our DC library/learning center, we provide grantseekers and grantmakers with the tools that will help them build their capacity to achieve their missions.
Conveniently located at Farragut Square, the DC library/learning center also serves as a meeting ground for those in the nonprofit sector in our area, bringing people together for learning and discussion. Nearly a thousand people visit us each month, and about a hundred more, on average, are served by programs we offer in locations throughout the region.
Funding from grantmakers makes our programs and services possible. These include free access to our comprehensive library collection, innovative educational programming, one-on-one reference assistance, and dedicated public outreach throughout the national capital area. In addition, participation from grantmakers in our educational workshops informs their potential applicants about the grantseeking process.
Information Resources and Services
Nonprofit staff members and volunteers, individual grantseekers, government representatives, scholars, and others interested in the charitable sector visit our library to find information on specific funders and on all aspects of philanthropy and nonprofit management. Our reference staff is available 38 hours each week, including Tuesday evening, to provide individual assistance to visitors. Our library offers free public access to the Center's searchable databases of grants and grantmakers, including Foundation Directory Online, Corporate Giving Online, and Foundation Grants to Individuals Online, and to an unparalleled collection of books, periodicals, videos, and other materials produced by the Center and other publishers.
Education and Outreach
The Foundation Center's DC library/learning center presents a regular rotation of 16 free classes and 10 full-day courses on the grantseeking process and funding research. Our free classes are especially important to under-resourced agencies attempting to diversify their revenue base, startup organizations, and new staff members of established organizations. Our growing network of Cooperating Collections, funding information centers located at libraries and community agencies in the Maryland and Virginia suburbs and throughout the nation, also provides convenient, free access to the Foundation Center's print and online directories of grantmakers and grants and other core Foundation Center resources, as well as training and assistance in using them effectively.
To help us reach new audiences, the Foundation Center collaborates with other nonprofits whose special areas of expertise complement ours. One of our highest priorities is to provide grantseeker training to smaller, newer nonprofits.
Virtual Services
Our web site is an increasingly popular means of interaction with the Foundation Center. We provide same-day reference assistance through our Online Librarian. Visitors to the Foundation Center's DC library/learning center homepage find content of specific interest to our region's nonprofit community, including Philanthropy News Digest—National Capital Region and profiles of regional nonprofit organizations and grants that make a difference. The 20,000 people who subscribe to our electronic Washington, DC, Library News receive free weekly e-mail notices of new resources and upcoming classes and events. Many people find information on our homepage or in our e-newsletter that helps them plan visits to our library/learning center.
In June, 2007, we launched an Events Archive offering a variety of programs previously presented that have been captured through multimedia, including a special section for Washington, DC events.
Serving Specialized Audiences
In response to requests from our audiences for programming that addresses the specific interests of their organizations, the Foundation Center offers presentations throughout the year for special groups. These provide opportunities for sharing and learning about new grantmaking priorities and practices, discussing issues related to specific fields of the nonprofit sector, exchanging ideas and information, and networking with colleagues.
We are committed to ensuring that all those who can benefit from our information and training are able to take advantage of them. For people with disabilities, we provide signers upon request, assistive technology, and a lending program for those who are unable to visit us in person.
You Can Help Support Our Vision
The Foundation Center's vision is a world enriched by the effective allocation of philanthropic resources, informed public discourse about philanthropy, and broad understanding of the contributions of nonprofit activity to civil society. We hope that you will support our work as we embark on our second half-century of service to the Washington area's nonprofit sector.
Please feel free to contact me directly to learn more about our programs or about becoming a donor to our DC library/learning center.
Sincerely,
Janice Z. Rosenberg
Interim Director, Washington, D.C. Library/Learning Center
(202) 331-1400
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