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. 

First 100 Days of the Program Officer: Advice from the Field

Fundamentals
Note to the Program Officer The scope of the program officer job description has evolved. Where it was once primarily tactical—reviewing funding requests and developing requests for proposals—the program officer’s role more commonly includes strategic activities. Program officers must master three…

Providing Quality Donor Services to Keep Donors Engaged

Fundamentals
Keeping donors interested and excited about their philanthropy is a fundamental task for a community foundation. After all, donors are your best source for additional gifts and larger “legacy” gifts in the future. Community foundations provide donor services to achieve two main goals - to keep…

Sample Disclosure and Confidentiality Statement for Staff and Board Members

Sample Document
You can use this document to guide the development of your disclosure and confidentiality statement for staff and board of directors.

Developing an Asset Allocation Strategy

Fundamentals
As needs in their communities continue to grow, community foundations recognize the importance of making the right investment decisions. That’s because good investments help attract donors, preserve the long-term purchasing power of assets, and increase the amount of money available for grantmaking…

Designing a Development Plan

Fundamentals
A development plan outlines a foundation’s goals and strategies for developing resources. It explains how staff, board members, and other volunteers should focus their development efforts within a certain period (usually one or two years). A development plan also helps measure progress in the midst…

Comparing Grantmaking Strategies for Community Foundations

Fundamentals
Most community foundations operate a competitive grantmaking program that is responsive to their community—meaning they make grants in response to requests from those seeking grants. At times, however, you may ask: Is this approach the most effective use of our philanthropic dollars? Some…

Building a Successful CEO-Board Chair Relationship

Fundamentals
Both the board and CEO advance each foundation’s mission. They hold different responsibilities, but they need to support and balance each other. The board chair-CEO partnership is crucial to your foundation’s effectiveness, as well as to your success as a CEO. As one CEO said, “To have a…

Sample Board of Directors Election and Retention Policy

Sample Document
This is a sample document to guide the development of your Board of Directors election and retention policy.

Annual Reports

Fundamentals
An annual report is your foundation's report to the community—a year-end summary of your activities, a record of grants and issues funded, and a description of donor contributions. The annual report is likely your community foundation's most important public relations tool and part of your larger…

Accounting for Agency Endowment Funds Held at Community Foundations

Legal Compliance Guidance
Note The information below was originally developed by the Finance, Administration & Operations Group (FAOG) Accounting Practices Committee and was last updated Aug. 19, 2010. It was updated in 2025 by the FAOG Accounting Practices Committee, in collaboration with Baker Tilly US, LLP, and was…

Disaster Philanthropy

Foundations often play an essential role in disaster relief and recovery. Not only do foundations provide grants and help raise money, they also use their experience and expertise to help civic leaders and responders distribute aid and rebuild communities. Our disaster grantmaking resource page…

India: My Five-Star Experience in Uttar Pradesh

Blistering sunlight broils our small group as we gingerly perch around the edges of the raised bed our hosts have set out for us in front of their hut in Godha Village. We’ve come to visit a few of the 100 ultra-poor women in rural Uttar Pradesh recently employed by our local partner, a social-…

Changing Supporting Organization Status

Legal Compliance Guidance
With tighter restrictions on grants to supporting organizations after the PPA, reclassifying into a public charity with fewer restrictions is an option worth considering.   Supporting organizations that meets the public support test can be reclassified as a public charity under section 509(a)(…

Council Summary: Report to Congress on Supporting Organizations and Donor-Advised Funds

Legal Compliance Guidance
The Treasury Department released its report on donor-advised funds (DAFs) and supporting organizations (SOs) in December of 2011. This report, mandated by the Pension Protection Act of 2006, was due in August 2007. The report is 109 pages, including appendices, and is divided into five chapters:…

Treasury Report on Donor-Advised Funds and Supporting Organizations

External Resource
In Notice 2007-21, the Treasury Department and IRS requested comments on issues relating to the organization and operation of donor-advised funds and supporting organizations, to be included in a study of these organizations. The resulting report includes a detailed discussion of the legal…

990 Filing for Small Public Charities

Legal Compliance Guidance
Under the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA), any organization that is not required to file Form 990 because it is a “small public charity” will be required to submit an annual 990-N report to the IRS. The IRS posted FAQ's with additional information about the filing requirement. A “small public…
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