Montgomery County is partnering with the nation’s foremost authority on philanthropy to host a funding seminar this month geared toward nonprofits that serve immigrants.

Anita Plotinsky, director of the Foundation Center’s D.C. office, said it’s part of a larger effort regionwide to educate nonprofits on their funding options.

Year-round, the center offers free classes on fundraising and puts out information on nonprofit trends. Plotinsky said the agency also has expanded its reach into Montgomery, with the establishment of a cooperative collection in the new Rockville Library that provides a database of resources for nonprofit agencies.

The Aug. 28 seminar will include a demonstration on using these databases.

This story continues below
Advertisement

“It’s designed to help those non-profits increase their knowledge of the grant-seeking process,” she said.

Newer charity groups aiming to help immigrants may face challenges Plotinsky said, hence the need for a specialized session.

At the event, center staff will pass on information about immigrant-centered nonprofits, which increasingly are offering such services as language and job training and medical care to foreign-born residents.

According to the Foundation Center’s latest report, of the 1,605 active grant-making operating foundations in the region, close to 50 percent were spread across neighboring Maryland counties. In Maryland, the majority of the foundations and giving came from Montgomery — with $195 million in total giving.

dlevitz@dcexaminer.com