Community Impact

Fund for Racial Equity

ACT for Alexandria is bringing donors and community members together to fight against generations of racial injustice in Alexandria. The Fund for Racial Equity has been created for a single goal: to provide a sustainable source of funding dedicated to supporting efforts that dismantle systemic racism and advance racial equity in Alexandria. We are seeking committed donors to join us in making a meaningful financial commitment to support this goal.

Citi Foundation's Community Progress Maker Award

ACT for Alexandria was selected by Citi Foundation as a recipient of the Community Progress Makers initiative, which supports visionary organizations across the U.S. that are working to connect low-income communities and communities of color to greater social and economic opportunity. We will use our position as a community foundation to accelerate Alexandria’s goals around equity and economic opportunity. We will expand our racial equity programs, build community power and voice, and address the biggest disparities in the Alexandria community: economic success, affordable housing and educational attainment.

Spring2ACTion

Spring2ACTion, Alexandria’s Giving Day, is a 24-hour online event that provides a simple way to connect donors to the charitable causes they care about most and encourages them to take action. Over the past 11 years, Spring2ACTion has raised more than $15M for the Alexandria nonprofit community.

In 2021,

$2.5 million raised

8,591 donors

156 participating nonprofit organizations

ACT Now COVID-19 Response Fund

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit our community in March 2020, ACT quickly worked with the City of Alexandria to mobilize partners, donors, and nonprofit organizations to meet our community’s needs head-on. The focus of the first phase of grantmaking was emergency relief – food, shelter, supplies, and building the capacity of nonprofits to modify their service delivery models.

$991,683 in total grant awards

82 grantee organizations

126 grants distributed

7 Tuesday Talks

2,675 donors

Alexandria Resilience Fund

The City enlisted ACT as a partner to distribute nearly $2M in federal CARES Act funding to ensure the sustainability and health of Alexandria’s nonprofits and their constituents. The Fund also invested in coaching and training to help stabilize nonprofits. As a result, Alexandria has a stronger nonprofit sector that will continue to meet the needs of Alexandrians in the years to come.

$1.89 million in total grant awards

57 grantee organizations

61 grants distributed

13,708 Alexandrians served

Racial Equity Capacity Building Initiative

We believe the diversity of our community is one of Alexandria’s greatest assets. ACT envisions a future when race no longer predicts one’s outcomes in life; when everyone has what they need to thrive, no matter what neighborhood they live in, the color of their skin, their gender, or where they were born. This vision of a vibrant community is core to our work. In order to move this vision forward, ACT has hosted:

Allyship Workshops

Learning Lab Peer Cohort Program

IMPACT Racial Equity Forum

Virtual Shared Voices Town Halls

ALX Cares Grocery Gift Card Program

This partnership with ACT, the City of Alexandria, and 12 nonprofit partners addressed food insecurity brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and provide eligible residents the ability to purchase food and household supplies that met their needs.

$2.52 million in aid

7,412 gift cards distributed

2,326 families served

Capacity Building Grants

ACT supports and encourages nonprofit excellence and strengthens leadership within nonprofits by investing in organizational needs. ACT has invested more than $1,000,000 in capacity-building grants to Alexandria nonprofits since 2005.

Youth Support Network

ACT is pleased to partner with the Frank & Betty Wright Foundation, Alexandria City Public Schools, the City of Alexandria Parks & Recreation Department, youth-serving community organizations, and other stakeholders to support the development of a Youth Support Network centering youth and families and ultimately strengthening the out of school time network and system.

Census 2020

In March 2020, Alexandrians were called upon to be counted as part of the 2020 Census. Mandated by the U.S. Constitution, every ten years the country counts every resident. ACT partnered with foundations across the region to mobilize resources and influence to support a complete count in the 2020 Census and participated on the City’s Complete Count Committee.

$25,000 in total grant awards

12 grantee organizations

16 grants distributed

100% Complete Count Achieved

ACT Now Government Shutdown Fund

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments reports that the shutdown had a $1.6B economic impact on the regional economy. ACT and the City of Alexandria each invested $25,000 in the ACT Now Fund to provide emergency funding to nonprofits that delivered the critical services and programs that Alexandrians needed.

Center for Alexandria's Children

One of ACT’s first initiatives was incubating the Center for Alexandria’s Children (the Center), an accredited Child Advocacy Center and family resource center located on the West End of Alexandria. The Center’s continued commitment to child abuse prevention and intervention is providing hope and healing for our city’s children and their families.

Early Care & Education Workgroup

Now called Kids’ First Year, the program is a five-year initiative that created an early care and education system in Alexandria that coordinated, aligned and ultimately strengthened the network of nonprofits and government entities that help pre-school children (0-5) thrive. ACT Convened the Early Care and Education Workgroup to create a system of comprehensive support, care and education for Alexandria’s young children and their families.