The Community Chest and Welfare Federation of Los Angeles Area records contains reports (both annual and research), minutes, by-laws, and other administrative materials that document the higher level functions of these non-profit organizations during formative phases of their history, the late 1920s through the early 1960s. The records provide a wide overview of the activities of the board of governors, some of the executive committees (including the Cooperative Committee and the Public Relations committee), and administrative staff.

Included in the collection are early statistical analyses and annual reports reflecting the development of the Federation's budgeting and allocation procedures, documentation of chest campaigns, and interpretive materials produced during the Depression, when Angelenos frequently expected the Federation to provide more emergency relief than was afforded by the often meager proceeds from Chest campaigns in those years. The collection also contains much material on personnel practices, job and service classifications, and pay plans for the Federation's member agencies. Among problems that troubled the Federation from its beginnings was the fact that many working Angelenos contributed to Chest campaigns in metropolitan areas of the city but lived in outlying suburbs where no Chest agencies provided services. The Federation therefore gave early consideration to questions of expansion or decentralization, and the collection records the beginning of joint budgeting with neighboring community chests. Minutes of some of the Federation's committees are to be found in the collection, including those of the Chest-Agency Co-Operation Committee which worked to reorganize the Federation during the population influx of the 1950's.

Also present are materials reflecting the work of the Federation's research department as it produced maps, bibliographies, and reading lists for inquiring citizens, began a research library, and made studies of unmet service needs in the region. Of particular interest is a 1925 report on "Social Work With Families in Los Angeles", made by Carl de Schweinitz and Ruth Hill for the Welfare Federation under the direction of the American Association for Family Social Work. Also noteworthy is the candid 1951 report from a Citizens' Study Committee on recommended changes in the management and functions of the Federation. Of curiosity interest are some long lists of harmless-sounding groups and associations supplied to Los Angeles social welfare agencies in 1955 by the House Un-American Activities Committee, with a stern warning that these groups be scrupulously avoided as "subversive".