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. 

Washington Snapshot: House Ways and Means Committee; Revisiting Opportunity Zones Designations?

In This Week's Edition of Snapshot... House Ways and Means Committee Revisiting Opportunity Zones Designations? Department of Treasury The Federal Reserve Department of Commerce Department of Housing and Urban Development Department of Transportation Happening in the States  …

As We Look to the Future...

Last year, the Council on Foundations did a lot of listening. In conversations across the country with those who generously helped to crystalize the Council’s vision for the future, one thing was clear. These philanthropic leaders are devoted to the missions and communities they support and are…

The Council on Foundations Announces 2020 Career Pathways Cohort

The Council on Foundations today, announced the 24 participants selected for the 2020 Career Pathways cohort, a leadership development program designed to increase the number of diverse candidates in the philanthropic leadership pipeline. The newly selected participants represent the seventh cohort…

Community Foundation Excellence (CFE) Fundamentals Course - Baltimore, MD - CANCELLED

This event is canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. We will work to find an alternate date to offer the course, subject to the containment of COVID-19 and ability to travel. Council Coronavirus Resource Hub   A well-trained staff and an informed board are critical to the success of…

Washington Snapshot: Private Foundation Excise Tax; Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Relief Tax Act of 2019; President’s 2021 Budget

In This Week's Edition of Snapshot... Private Foundation Excise Tax Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Relief Tax Act of 2019 UBIT Refunds Congressional Ties to Education President’s 2021 Budget  Executive Branch and Regulatory Affairs Happening in the States From the Council's…

Council on Foundations Names Three Philanthropic Leaders to its Board of Directors

The Council on Foundations today announced the appointment of three philanthropic leaders to its Board of Directors – Brennan Gould, Mae Hong and Peter Laugharn. Brennan Gould serves as President & CEO of the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, a grantmaking organization with a…

Spotlight On: Enabling Environment Experiences from the WINGS Networks

Hosted by Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support (WINGS), the webinar will include representatives from the Spanish Association of Foundations, the Council on Foundations and the European Foundation Centre (EFC) to talk about what goes on behind the scenes in the successful strategies to…

2019 Grantmaker Salary and Benefits Report: Board Compensation Tables

Publication, Research
The 2019 Board Compensation Tables provide foundation board and staff with the tools they need to benchmark their board compensation policies and practices against peers in the field. This report contains data collected through the Council’s 2019 Grantmaker Salary and Benefits Survey and presented…

Thank You for a Great Year!

As 2019 comes to a close, I’m reflecting on my first year at the Council on Foundations. I’m proud of the strides we’ve made in forging strong relationships across the sector, moving our policy agenda forward, supporting the professional growth of members and reimagining both our membership model…

CFUnited Conference Highlights

This webinar is canceled. The CFUnited Conference is being postponed due of the COVID-19 outbreak. For more information, please see the official conference statement. Learn More   2020 CFUnited Conference: Power of Place is designed to bring together the field of community foundations for…

Career Pathways: The Unintended Consequences of Leadership Development

I’ve just finished a year-long program that aims to bring more diverse senior leadership to the philanthropic sector. My time with Council on Foundations’ Career Pathways program was transformative and will, no doubt, have an impact on my thinking and career trajectory in ways that I can’t yet even…

2019 Chapman Prize Awarded to Opportunity Fund, a Leading Nonprofit Microlender

The Council on Foundations and the Daniel and Barbara Chapman Trust today announced Opportunity Fund as the recipient of the 2019 Chapman Prize. For more than 25 years, Opportunity Fund has served as a trusted partner to small business owners in underserved communities by providing access to…

2020 CFUnited Conference: Power of Place - CANCELLED

The CFUnited 2020 Conference is cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. For more information, please see the official conference statement. Learn More   In January 2019, The Council on Foundations joined AdNet, Comma and ProNet as the fourth partner under the CFUnited umbrella to bring…

Community Foundations at the Heart of Building Broader Communities in Americas

A Mexican American Linguist describes that in U.S. we would say “why has one of us stolen a television?”. In Mexico, it would be, “one of us has stolen a television, why have we done this?”  The emphasis is not on punishing the individual at fault but recognizing our collective failure to…

Community Foundation Excellence (CFE) Fundamentals Course - Dallas, TX - CANCELLED

Due to rapidly escalating health concerns relating to the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus), the Council on Foundations has decided to cancel this Community Foundation Excellence (CFE) Fundamentals Course. This decision was made out of concern for the health and well-being of our attendees. We…

Nonprofit Law in Ethiopia

Legal Compliance Guidance
Current as of May 2024 | Download print version (PDF) This describes the legal framework of nonprofit organizations (also known as non-governmental organizations or NGOs) in Ethiopia, along with translations of legislative provisions relevant for a foundation or advisor undertaking an equivalency…
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