Community Foundations

Community foundations are grantmaking public charities that are dedicated to improving the lives of people in a defined local geographic area. They bring together the financial resources of individuals, families, and businesses to support effective nonprofits in their communities. Community foundations vary widely in asset size, ranging from less than $100,000 to more than $1.7 billion.

Community foundations play a key role in identifying and solving community problems. In 2017, they gave an estimated $5.48 billion to a variety of nonprofit activities in fields that included the arts and education, health and human services, the environment, and disaster relief. The Community Foundations National Standards Board confirms operational excellence in six key areas—mission, structure, and governance; resource development; stewardship and accountability; grantmaking and community leadership; donor relations; and communications. Foundations that comply with these standards can display the official National Standards Seal. Currently, over 500 community foundations have earned the seal.

More than 900 community foundations operate in urban and rural areas in every state in the United States; currently, approximately 350 are members of the Council on Foundations. The community foundation model also has taken hold around the world. Community foundations have participated in the growth of international giving by U.S. foundations in recent years, with international giving by community foundations more than tripling, from $103 million in 2011 to $315 million in 2015, and community foundations' share of overall international giving by U.S. foundations more than doubling, from 1.4 percent in 2011 to 3.4 percent in 2015.

You can use our Community Foundation Locator to view a list of community foundations in the United States.

Below is everything on our site for community foundations. We highly recommend that you use the navigation or our search feature to find what you're looking for on our site. Please also visit cof.org/community-foundations for curated community foundation content. 

2018 UN General Assembly Philanthropic Side-Events

This page is an archived schedule of events from the 2018 United Nations General Assembly. See the most recent UNGA schedule instead. In September 2018 - representatives from government, civil society, and the corporate sector came together at the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly…

2019 HR Summit

The 2019 HR Summit: Building a Culture of Equity, co-hosted by the Council on Foundations and CHANGE Philanthropy, is your unique opportunity to share your personal and organizational journey as it relates to building a culture of decision-making and best practices rooted in equity.…

Crypto-Philanthropy: What You Need to Know

Editor's note: This post is one in a series highlighting sessions for the upcoming Endowments and Finance Summit, held in Washington, DC, on September 6-7. The Summit is where foundation leaders – such as CEOs, CIOs, CFOs, Senior Investment Officers and board and investment committee members –…

Washington Snapshot: Senator John McCain Leaves Behind a Legacy, Treasury Proposes Rules on SALT Workarounds

In This Week's Edition of Snapshot… Senator John McCain Leaves Behind a Legacy Senate Passes Spending Bill Package Treasury Proposes Rules on State-Level SALT Workarounds Primary Elections Held in Arizona and Florida States Respond to Work Requirements Differently Payments in Lieu of Taxes (…

Facebook Live: Serving the Public Good: Exploring Relationships between Public Policy and the Charitable Sector

Join us on Facebook for the closing plenary session at the 2018 Endownments & Finance Summit.  Experts from top economic thinktanks and foundation leaders will discuss the future of philanthropy, highlighting key policy implications and anticipated outcomes of changes in charitable giving…

Facebook Live: Harnessing the Momentum, Finding Opportunities, Building Stronger Futures

Join us on Facebook for the opening plenary session at the 2018 Endownments & Finance Summit.  Hear from top foundation leaders how they navigated the financial unknowns of the past year and what moves they plan to make in the year ahead to set their organizations up for success.…

Putting Down Roots

Editor's Note: As a part of our Inclusive Economic Prosperity in the Midwest convening, we're highlighting stories from the region. This article was originally published in bMag, a publication by the Bush Foundation. Pakou Hang (BF’11) and her six siblings spent much of their childhood rising…

Council on Foundations Statement On Donor Advised Funds

In response to numerous articles in which some media outlets have mischaracterized the intent and impact of donor advised funds, the Council on Foundations released the following joint statement from interim president and CEO Gene Cochrane and Javier Alberto Soto, chair of the Council’s board of…

Preserving Equity among Generations: CPI + 5%

Editor's note: This post is one in a series highlighting sessions for the upcoming Endowments and Finance Summit, held in Washington, DC, on September 6-7. The Summit is where foundation leaders – such as CEOs, CIOs, CFOs, Senior Investment Officers and board and investment committee members –…

Washington Snapshot: Treasury Solicits Input on UBIT Guidance, SALT Workaround Regulations Coming Soon

In This Week's Edition of Snapshot… Senate Finance Committee Considers Treasury Nominee Treasury Solicits Input on UBIT Guidance with Notice 2018-67, Releases Priority Guidance Update SALT Regulations Update Primary Elections Held Recently in 13 States In the States: States Weigh Wayfair…

Webinar Recording: You Can Take it to the Bank: Community Foundations & Legal Control Over Agency Funds

  View the Slides Designated and Agency Funds -- What's the Difference? Community foundations offer a wide range of benefits to their communities. A popular and growing service is the holding, investing, and disbursing of endowment and special project funds for other charities. With the…

Building a Cultural Epicenter

Editor's Note: In advance of our Inclusive Economic Prosperity in the Midwest convening, we're highlighting stories from the region. This article was originally published in bMag, a publication by the Bush Foundation. Photography is by David Ellis. On an autumn afternoon in 2017, Abdirizak “…

ER Causing You Trauma? Diagnosing the Rules and Regulations for Expenditure Responsibility

Members, View the Recording The steps of expenditure responsibility are the federally-mandated procedures a private foundation (and DAFs) must follow for any grant made to a non-charity. While the rules for exercising expenditure responsibility are relatively straightforward, many issues and…

Assessing the Need for a Nationwide Community Foundation CEO Network

Publication
In partnership with a group of community foundation leaders, CF Insights conducted a field-wide survey of community foundation CEOs to determine the strength of demand for their own formalized, unified network, which would allow them to connect to each other on issues relevant to chief executives…

Career Pathways: Leadership Lessons on Achieving Equity

Editor's note: This is part of our blog series featuring current participants in the Career Pathways program. Applications for the 2019 cohort open in September. I believe that it is pretty well understood in the sector that we have an imperative in foundation offices and board rooms to ensure our…

2018 Interns: Wrapping Up the Summer

Editor's Note: The Council thanks our 2018 summer interns for their hard work over the past few months. The summer interns were: Ashul Agrawal, Michael Kelly, Reilly Tifft, Caroline Healey, Chris Tian, Ashley Morrison, and Randall Williams. As the summer is coming to a close, so is our time with…
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