GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Office of Partnerships and Grant Services (OPGS)

Open Government Report 2014

To institutionalize a culture of transparent and open government, accountability, and to
expand opportunities for resident participation and collaboration, this Report describes
how the Office of Partnerships and Grant Service has and will continue to develop and
enhance transparency, public participation, and collaboration. In accordance with
Mayor’s Order 2014-170, this report addresses the following topics:
1)

Transparency
Describe the steps your agency has taken or plans to take to enhance or expand
opportunities for the public to participate in agency decision-making.
(a) How and to what extent OPGS shares information with the public?
(i) Publishing the “The Funding Alert” a weekly e- newsletter containing
district, federal, and foundation competitive grant opportunities and also
related technical support for nonprofits that is distributed to over 8,000
subscribers;
(ii) Posting District government alerts (e.g. Ebola Updates) and relevant
capacity building information on a regular basis on OPGS’ Facebook
page;
(iii)Broadcasting OPGS’ annual public private partnership conference
proceeding on the DC Office of Cable TV’s Channel 16 and providing
training materials such as – Writing Successful Grant Proposals,
Crowdfunding for Nonprofits, and Doing Business with District
Grantwriters, as well as information about How to Respond to Grant Fraud
and Scam Solicitations; and
(iv) Producing its Quarterly Donation Reports on OPGS’ website to promote
greater transparency; and
(v) Attending and presenting at District community meetings and conferences
to provide information on the services OPGS provides
(b) How does OPGS meet its obligations pursuant to the District’s FOIA and
Open Meetings Act?
(i) Pursuant to the District’s FOIA and Open Meeting Act, OPGS initiated the
Open Government and FOIA page on its website providing easy access to
the office’s materials and records (e.g. OPGS organizational chart,
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purchases and transactions, and District agency donation procedures), and
contact link to its FOIA officer.
(ii) Please note the OPGS does not have an oversight or advisory board or
commission and thus currently is not subject to the Open Meetings Act.
(c) Steps taken to increase public access to information;
(i) OPGS’ program and statistical data is also published in the Indices, a
statistical index of DC Government Services produced by the Office of
Planning and posted electronically by OCTO. OPGS will continue to
work with OCA and OCTO to identify datasets appropriate to publish.
Please note that in the future, requirements for open data reporting will be
provided by the Chief Data Officer.”
(d) How OPGS will make its data in more available to the public?
(i) OPGS will launch a marketing campaign to promote its services to the
public by collaborating with the DC Office of Cable TV, Foundation
Center, and placing public service announcements with local public access
TV and media organizations, as well as WMATA.
2)

Public Engagement and Participation
Describe the steps your agency has taken or plans to take to enhance or expand
opportunities for the public to participate in agency decision-making.
(a) How OPGS provides online access to proposed rules and regulations and
secures public access to them?
(i) Heretofore, OPGS has published online information about the District’s
Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) and Request for Applications
(RFA) on the District’s Grant Clearinghouse. However it will expand its
announcements, in collaboration with the Office of City Administrator and
the Office of the Secretary, to include relevant Proposed Rules and
Regulations to the public on its website.
(b) How OPGS shares information and resources to keep the public properly
informed?
(i) OPGS shares grant development information and capacity building
resources to keep the public properly informed, through participation in
community meetings, annual DC City Council public oversight and
performance hearings, posting news on its Facebook page, the weekly
“Funding Alert, nonprofit list serve, and its website.

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(c) How does OPGS identify stakeholders and invite their participation?
(i) OPGS has organized regular meetings with local nonprofits including its
annual Public Private Partnership Conferences to share national best
practices and solicit their input from online, oral, and written evaluations
to improve the office’s program services as well as promote greater
collaboration among local and regional nonprofit service provides.
(d) Steps taken by OPGS to improve public engagement and participation?
(i) OPGS plans to increase its usage of online training applications and tools
such as Goto Webinar and Survey Monkey to engage more nonprofits in
its technical assistance and training activities.
3)

Collaboration
Describe the steps OPGS has taken or plans to take to enhance or expand cooperation
among departments, other governmental agencies, the public, and non-profit and
private entities in fulfilling its obligations.
(a) OPGS currently collaborate with a number of nonprofit capacity building
organizations such as the Center for Nonprofit Advancement, Foundation
Center, Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers, and Trinity
Washington University’s School of Professional Studies; as well as District,
Federal, and State government grantmakers to obtain real-time competitive
grant and technical assistance information to support the growth and
sustainability of District nonprofits.
(b) OPGS will also work closely with the DC Children Youth Investment Trust
Corporation, National League of Cities, and other key stakeholders to support
national and local initiatives related to the White House’s My Brother’s
Keeper (MBK) and District’s Boys and Men of Color (BMOC) in FY15.

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