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. 

Webinar Recording: Membership Renewal 2020: Calling All Community Foundation Members

 

Mo Data Mo Problems

Members, View the Recording When the credit reporting agency Equifax announced in 2017 that it was breached, the personal data of 143 million people was exposed. The company subsequently agreed to a global settlement worth up to $425 million. Cyber attacks do not only occur in the private sector.…

Community Foundation Week Resources

Celebrating National Community Foundation Week November 12-18: Engage with Your Local Community Today! Community Foundation Week, created in 1989 by former President George H.W. Bush, recognizes the important work of community foundations throughout America and their collaborative and innovative…

Membership Renewal 2020: Calling All Community Foundation Members

Members, View the Recording The Council launched a new approach to membership to better reflect the diversity of the field, but what does that mean for you? Join this members-only conference call to hear more about the model, understand the new renewal process and get your questions answered by…

Community Foundation Week 2019

#COMMUNITYFNDWEEK Community Foundation Week, created in 1989 by former president George H.W. Bush, recognizes the important work of community foundations throughout America and their collaborative and innovative approach to working with the public, private, and nonprofit sector. Annually,…

Philanthropy and the SDGs: Practical Tools for Alignment

External Resource
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors' guide for philanthropists to align your practices with the SDGs.

Philanthropy and the SDGs: Getting Started

External Resource
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors' strategic guide for philanthropy to get started implementing the SDGs.

Shaping the global agenda to maximize city leadership on the SDGs

External Resource
A Brookings Institution report on the experiences of vanguard cities in implementing the SDGs.

Goalkeepers 2019 Report

External Resource
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation 2019 report on progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

Global Philanthropy Update - October 2019

From Greta Thunberg’s passionate climate advocacyto concerns about the efficacy of multilateralism that the UN represents, there was no shortage of news from the 74th UN General Assembly. Despite only having ten years left to achieve the SDGs, recent reports are bleak. Of more than 1,000 CEOs…

Forget the Divide: It's time for us all to be "glocal"

West Central Initiative (WCI) is one of six community foundations in Minnesota created by the McKnight Foundation in 1986 to response to the farm crisis. Together, we cover the area of the state called “Greater Minnesota.” We have cities and towns in all of our regions, but we are commonly…

Career Pathways: Who are the people in your neighborhood?

I once joked with a friend that I had no personality of my own, rather that I was made up of a Frankenstein patchwork of all the people I’ve met. The tendency to wander in my storytelling? Let me introduce you to my late grandfather. The courage to opine on things not even remotely in my ken? Let…

Announcing the Council's New Membership Model – We Heard You!

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Community Foundation Membership

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. Need more…

What Does Accountability Mean in Philanthropy?

At our Chicago learning session, I was inspired by the approaches of colleagues from the MacArthur, Kellogg, Joyce, Grand Victoria, and California Wellness foundations, alongside friends from BoardSource and the Council on Foundations. Over the course of three days, these brilliant women (yes, they…

Health Outside the Clinic: Community Health Workers and the Future of Healthcare

During the United Nations General Assembly in late September, Heads of State, government officials, civil society, and the philanthropic and commercial private sector will convene in New York with a focus on Universal Health Coverage (UHC). UHC is a key part of Sustainable Development Goal 3…
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