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FEATURED EVENT
Practice and Purpose of Policy
A Training for Community Foundation Leaders
July 30 and August 6, 2024 | 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. ET
Virtual
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.
2017 Annual Conference - Plenary Sessions
Plenary Sessions
Opening Plenary: Philanthropy's Role in Vibrant Communities
Monday, April 24 - 8:30-10:15 a.m.
Breakfast starts at 7:45 a.m. — Doors Close Promptly at 8:30 a.m.
IMPORTANT: During President George W. Bush’s speech all mobile devices must be silenced and put away.…
2017 Annual Conference - Sessions
All Programming
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Community and Economic Development for Community Foundations
Maximize the potential of place and catalyzing of resources for your community.
Co-hosted by the Council on Foundations and the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Speakers and participants will include experts from the Council on Foundations, the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, and…
Public-Private Partnership Opportunities with the Administration for Children and Families
The Council’s Public-Philanthropic Partnership Office hosted a webinar for funders only with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration on Children and Families to help foundations understand the regular programs and goals of the agency.
The webinar was moderated by Mark…
Giving Days: Is It Time to Ramp Them Up, or Wind Down?
Giving days have exploded in popularity in recent years, helping the foundations that organize them reach new donors and become more digitally focused themselves. But some foundations are weighing whether to continue these online fundraising campaigns.
On January 25, Knight Foundation and the…
Council on Foundations Holiday Schedule
The Council on Foundations offices will be closed from December 24, 2016 - January 2, 2017. During this time, Council staff is available to assist our members with their time-sensitive needs. Please dial the membership line directly at 703-879-0645 or email Membership at membership@cof.org.
2017 Happenings and 2016 Highlights for Community Foundations
2017 Happenings for Community Foundations
Winter 2017 – Opinion Piece — Community Foundation Business Disruptions in 21st Century
Winter 2017 – White Paper — International Giving Activity for U.S. Community Foundations
Jan 11 – Webinar — Don’t Skimp onOverhead in 2017: Expand Your Admin Support…
2017 Lineup for Community Foundations
Greetings Community Foundation Colleagues
I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season and are looking to the new year with abundant optimism for what you and your community foundation can achieve.
Check out a quick sample of 2017 Happenings and Highlights from 2016
As the Council looks ahead…
A Leadership Conversation: Philanthropy’s Post-Election Assessment
This past Friday a diverse group of philanthropic leaders gathered in New York City to discuss the unexpected election results, what those results mean for our nation and what they mean for our work, both individually and as a sector. The meeting, convened by the Council on Foundations and hosted…
Five Trends in Philanthropy
2017 will be a year of change, as orthodoxies in the field get tested and philanthropy steps up and into a more prominent national role.
This post is part of our inaugural Trendspotting Series profiling important ideas that will be shaping some major fields of interest in 2017. Each…
Community Foundation Update - December 2016
Happy holidays! May this month be filled with year-end giving and exciting developments to propel you into 2017! As always, the Council is here for you, and I’m writing to share a few resources for you to consider as the year comes to an end.
First, the most recent developments in the Oakland…
Final Chinese Overseas NGO Law Guidelines Released
In early December 2016, the Chinese government released the official and final version of their new Guidelines on Organizational Registration and Temporary Activities Reporting. These guidelines provide needed information for compliance with the 2016 Law of the People’s Republic of China on…
Five Trends in U.S. Politics
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) shows President-elect Donald Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, the Speaker's Balcony at the U.S. Capitol on November 10, 2016.
(Photo credit - Zach Gibson/Getty Images)
This post is part of our inaugural Trendspotting Series profiling important ideas that…
Washington Snapshot - December 15, 2016
We will be taking a break from sending Washington Snapshot through the end of this year, and will resume on January 5, 2017. We wish all of our readers a safe and enjoyable holiday season!
News from the Hill
Update on Tax Reform Progression in the Senate
This week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch…
Five Trends in Public Opinion
The American public is divided in its attitudes toward important national issues, and historic allegiances have shifted.
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…
Five Trends in Communications
"In this country, public sentiment is everything. With it, nothing can fail; against it, nothing can succeed." ~ Abraham Lincoln
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…
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