Prepared for Washington Grantmakers by the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy.

The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.

Report I - Creation, Implementation, and Lessons Learned

Preface

The tragic events of September 11, 2001, left thousands of families shattered and grieving. The sudden loss of so many people had, and will continue to have, an immeasurable impact on our communities. Large relief funds, like the September 11th Fund (New York) and the Survivors' Fund (Washington, D.C.), quickly formed post-September 11 to help survivors and families of these direct victims with both immediate and long-term needs. But the devastation of September 11 also extended to a secondary group—workers in the hotel and tourism industries who lost their jobs because of the sudden decrease in visitors to the New York and Washington, D.C., regions. These displaced workers, many of whom were new immigrants, were not beneficiaries of the victim relief funds.

It was in this context that the Community Capacity Fund (CCF) was launched in October 2001, spurred by a major investment from the Ford Foundation in the capital region. The CCF was created to strengthen the region's capacity to not only advocate for and reemploy the dislocated workers, but also to strengthen cross-jurisdictional efforts to prepare for and respond to any future disasters. With additional funding from several sources, including the New York Times Foundation, America Online, and the Japan Relief Fund, the CCF has granted nearly $1.5 million to organizations in the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Maryland. And now, nearly a year after the attacks, the CCF steering committee and staff are beginning to look back at their hard work and assess the impact of their philanthropy on area communities.

This is the first of two reports documenting the implementation of the Community Capacity Fund, a project of Washington Grantmakers. Based on an analysis of interviews of key steering committee members and staff of the Community Capacity Fund, as well as a review of various Fund documents, including meeting notes, staff reports, and grant proposals, Report I examines the design of and lessons learned from the grantmaking process. Report II, scheduled for completion in September 2003, will focus on the community capacity building achieved through the Fund's grantmaking in advocacy, skills training, and disaster preparedness.

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