- Home
- Act in the Community
- ACTion Alexandria
- Testimonials
- Center for Alexandria’s Children
- Spring for Alexandria
- Generations of Giving Gala
- Alexandria Board Leadership Exchange (ABLE)
- Alexandria Council of Human Service Organizations (ACHSO)
- Capacity Building Grants
- Give Back Alexandria
- Nonprofit Excellence Forum
- The Giving Circle of Alexandria
- Community Calendar
- Lotsa Helping Hands
- Donors & Giving
- For Nonprofits
- For Professional Advisors
- News & Events
- About ACT
Give Back Alexandria
What happens when you have more passion than capital to help Alexandria? That’s the challenge facing today’s young professionals, many of whom have joined together in ACT’s Give Back Alexandria. Members Scott and Sonia Price believe the group is true to its name. Says Scott, “It’s a great vehicle for giving back. You may not be able to give large sums of money, but collectively and combined with ACT matching funds, we see a big impact.” And the group’s fundraising is always … fun. Last year, its annual Blues and Bluegrass event attracted 200 young Alexandrians. For Scott, who makes a special effort to reach out to diverse segments of the community, the group is also “a great way to get so many different groups together with the common goal of helping the city.” And now, he says, given the current economic climate, “There couldn’t be a better time to get involved.”
Learn how you can support this program...
| ACTion Alexandria Network Funded for Engaging Residents in Civic Problem Solving & Increasing Local Philanthropy |
 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information: John Porter, ACT Executive Director
703-739-7778 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ACTion Alexandria Network Funded for Engaging Residents
in Civic Problem Solving and Increasing Local Philanthropy
January 13, 2010—ACT for Alexandria, Alexandria’s community foundation, was awarded a Knight Foundation grant of $102,000 over the next two years to create and implement the ACTion Alexandria Network designed to increase civic engagement and local philanthropy in the community. The Alexandria City Council voted last night to approve a City partnership with ACT to create this Web 2.0 network to better engage residents in civic problem solving and increase philanthropy to local nonprofits and others.
In addition to the Knight Foundation and the City, additional financial support will be provided by private donors and the ACT Community Fund for a combined total of $292,000 over two years.
ACTion Alexandria will be an experimental and evolving online platform where Alexandrians engage and interact on civic matters especially in the human services arena. “With nonprofits experiencing increased requests for services coupled with declining resources, alternative solutions to address these needs is both expedient and cost effective,” said John Porter, ACT’s Executive Director. “Directly engaging community members through the web is intended to provide not only more input on various issues, but also to facilitate an active approach to citizen-led problem solving. Converting online interest into offline action can make a tangible difference in the lives of Alexandrians and provide significant benefits for the City and community.”
ACT was one of 24 winners in the Knight Community Information Challenge, as funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The contest helps community and place-based foundations find creative ways to use new media and technology to keep residents informed and engaged. Other winners included community foundations in Chicago, New York City and Silicon Valley.
“Information is as important to a thriving democracy as clean air, jobs and schools,” said Trabian Shorters, Knight Foundation’s vice president for communities. “As leaders, local foundations are taking the initiative to meet those information needs. This project and others like it help ensure that everyone has the information necessary to make decisions about their governments and their lives.”
ACT convened a steering committee and commissioned a $20,000 study in 2009 called “Connect Alexandria” to assess the feasibility of creating such a network. “The ACTion Alexandria concept was developed in response to numerous conversations with many members of the community,” said Allison Cryor DiNardo, ACT Board President. “Before seeking any outside funding, we sought to find a way to use technology to engage citizens to solve problems in Alexandria particularly in light of increased needs for service and decreasing support in the local nonprofit arena.” ACT’s feasibility study indicated the city was ripe for a technological approach to better engage citizens in community problem solving and to increase philanthropy in the community.
“ACT for Alexandria has developed a wonderful, interactive venue for our residents to become more involved in the Alexandria community,” said Mayor William D. Euille. “We are happy to be a partner in an initiative that encourages public dialogue, and underscores the City’s commitment to help others in the community.”
ACTion Alexandria will be an ACT-administered initiative and overseen by an advisory board with relevant expertise. A full-time Community Manager will provide both technical and organizational leadership support along with a part-time Business Manager who will oversee the operation and seek partners in the community to develop long term financial sustainability for the initiative. The ACTion network is expected to be operational in the Fall of 2010.
ACT for Alexandria (formerly known as the Alexandria Community Trust) is a local community foundation founded in 2004 to be a convener, collaborator and catalyst for increasing philanthropy focused on Alexandria. Its other initiatives include the Center for Alexandria’s Children, Give Back Alexandria and Spring for Alexandria.
###
|
