Growing Interest
In the spring of 1996, the Grantmaker Forum released its first report entitled, The Philanthropic Perspective on Community and National Service. This document generated considerable interest in the field of service among grantmakers both locally and nationally.

In July of 1996, the Grantmaker Forum in collaboration with two public policy "think tanks," the Hudson Institute and the Progressive Policy Institute, sponsored the National Symposium on Community and National Service in Washington, D.C. Attended by more than 200 people representing all sectors—public, private, not-for-profit and philanthropic—the Symposium demonstrated broad and burgeoning interest in the field of community and national citizen service. The day following the National Symposium, the Forum brought together 50 key policy, program and funding leaders to talk about how best to forge multi-sector partnerships in support of community and national service.

The level of interest and participation in the National Symposium, and the enthusiasm generated at the Partners Meeting prompted the Grantmaker Forum to examine its own capacity to meet growing demands. In November of 1996, the Ford Foundation in New York City hosted a planning session during which invited guests discussed how the Grantmaker Forum should organize itself in order to accomplish its goal of stimulating the expansion of the field of service through multi-sector investment in service programs.

Task Force Formation
The November meeting resulted in the formation of three Task Forces: Research, Communications and Policy (originally known as Public Policy) and Funder Outreach. Each Task Force was led by a grantmaker and involved, either directly or indirectly, representatives from relevant program and policy arenas. After the establishment of the Task Forces, an Executive Committee was formed to provide a governance structure and oversight to the Grantmaker Forum overall.

In July 1997, the Grantmaker Forum's Task Forces convened in Seattle for their first face-to-face meeting. At the Seattle meeting, Task Force members presented and adopted Annual Workplans and budgets, which outlined the mission of each Task Force and the activities to be accomplished over the course of twelve months. In addition, members agreed that each Task Force would meet regularly by telephone and annually in person to review the status of Workplan activities.

The Forum Continues to Grow
The Forum now has a mailing list of over 2,200 representatives from the public, private, philanthropic and nonprofit sectors. This includes all Members of Congress, all Governors, and some of Americašs Promise community delegation leaders. The balance of the list includes individuals who have expressed interest in the issue of community service and volunteerism generally or in the Grantmaker Forum in particular.