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. 

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Five Trends in Communications

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Five Trends in Arts and Culture

The Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra performs at the Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy along with the Voices of Inspiration Chorus and three young vocalists from the Duke Ellington School of the Arts on March 23, 2015. This post is part of our inaugural Trendspotting Series…

Five Trends in Finance

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Philanthropy Responds to Another National Tragedy: Oakland Warehouse Fire

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Five Trends in Talent

In 2017, HR is expected to adapt to keep up with the changing business environment and evolving employee expectations. This post is part of our inaugural Trendspotting Series profiling important ideas that will be shaping some major fields of interest in 2017. Each piece represents the…

Finding New Narratives In Rural America: A Concert of Ideas

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Five Trends in Technology

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Washington Snapshot - December 8, 2016

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Quick Review of FATF's Evaluation of the U.S.

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Five Trends in Social Enterprise

Social enterprises help ensure the economy works for everyone because they have a proven benefit to include people who have the toughest time getting jobs due to their histories of homelessness, incarceration, mental health challenges, drug and alcohol abuse, as well as limited education…

Ending Violence Against Girls: The Summit on FGM/C: Giving Innovative Leaders the Resources They Deserve

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Five Trends in Media

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Taking a Step Back: Understanding North Carolina’s Changing Landscape

During my seven-year tenure as superintendent of Guilford County Schools, I was committed to listening to and learning from others. I listened to parents, teachers and students to understand what we could do in order to make our schools better for each child. Much of that listening and learning…

Giving Days: Ramp Up or Wind Down

  Hosted by the Council and the Knight Foundation, hear the perspective of community foundation leaders on both sides of the Giving Day effort. Giving Days come with huge upside potential to increase visibility and credibility. Giving Days help democratize philanthropy with far-reaching…

Don't Skimp on Overhead in 2017: Expand your Admin Support

Members, View the Recording The webinar explores the success factors and goals for building a donor base committed to operations. A range of strategies are used dependent on your community market, donor base, and resources required, but expanding your admin support builds value beyond the immediate…
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