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 - November 17, 2016

In this week's Washington Snapshot: Updates from the Council Congressional Leadership Falling into Place State and Local Election Results Pennsylvania Legislator Seeks to Legislate Discredited "Overhead Ratio" Read the full Snapshot Now

Washington Snapshot - November 10, 2016

The Election Results are in... So What Does all of This Mean for Philanthropy? Early on Wednesday morning, President-elect Donald Trump was confirmed in winning the election to become the 45th President of the United States. But the Presidential race was not the only landmark in American politics…

2017 Annual Conference - Awards Programming

Awards Programming Join the Council in honoring exemplars in the field of philanthropy at our 2017 Annual Conference. The Council will present the 2017 Distinguished Service Award and Wilmer Shields Rich Award for Excellence in Communications at the Annual Meeting of the Members, and the Secretary…

Community Foundations Update - November 2016

Council Submits Letter to Treasury on Forthcoming DAF Regulations As part of our ongoing dialogue with the Department of the Treasury, the Council met with senior officials to deliver a letter outlining the potential negative implications that forthcoming regulations on DAFs could have on our…

Investing in Communities - National Entrepreneurship Month

We all knew that November was going to be a tumultuous month (if you hadn't heard, there's an election today). When the polls close and the dust settles, the country could be set on one of a number of starkly different paths. Perhaps because of this uncertainty, President Obama took the…

Leading and Learning Together

Report from the Strengthening Community Learning Forum October 13-14, 2016 | Louisville, KY One grant almost never solves the problem. Community foundations know this, and they’re not just stewards of funds anymore. They’ve become long-term facilitators, unleashing the creativity and energy of…

Washington Snapshot - November 3, 2016

Philanthropy News and Op-Eds The Council Speaks Out on the Value of DAFs On Thursday, October 27, the Chronicle of Philanthropy released this year’s Philanthropy 400. Of particular note is the fact that Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund moved into the number one spot on the list. Accompanying the list…

Trending in Legal Affairs: Foundation Events, Elections and Political Campaign Activity

On Tuesday, November 8, Americans will go to the polls to elect the forty-fifth president of the United States, 34 Senators, and the entire House of Representatives, as well as hundreds of state and local officials. And while interested parties may urge constituents to get involved and participate…

Chronicle’s Philanthropy 400 Ranking Overlooks DAF Value

On Thursday, October 27, 2016, the Chronicle of Philanthropy released this year’s Philanthropy 400, its annual ranking of American nonprofits based on the private support they raise. The special report acknowledged a record year in giving, and named Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, the charitable…

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Fundraising Year

As preparation for winter holidays begin earlier and earlier, the Council wants to provide an important resource for your year-end fundraising and grantmaking activities. The IRS provides a wealth of resources on charitable contribution deductions. While I’d enjoy writing details about each of them…

Members, Send Us Your Conference Ideas!

Registration is open for our 2017 Annual Conference — Leading Together — in Dallas, Texas, next April 23-26, and we are asking our members to help us build the conference you want to attend. We have a call for sessions open until November 4, and we hope you will take this opportunity to share your…

Washington Snapshot - October 27, 2016

News from the Hill Update on Republican Blueprint for Tax Reform In June 2016, House Republicans unveiled a blueprint for tax reform. This week, they released a new video to promote and explain the plan. Barbara Angus, chief tax counsel for the majority on the House Ways and Means Committee,…

Trending in Legal Affairs - Halloween Edition: Exorcising Expenditure Responsibility

An inexperienced grants manager was nervous, dreadfully nervous. One dark evening, a spirited major donor appeared at the community foundation. The donor, wanting to assist with local community improvements, recommended a grant from his donor advised fund (DAF) to the chamber of commerce, a 501(c)(…

Council Submits Letter to Treasury on Forthcoming DAF Regulations

After meeting with senior officials at the Department of Treasury, the Council submitted a letter on October 21, 2016 to Elinor Ramey, Attorney Advisor in the Office of Tax Policy regarding private foundations and how they may use donor advised funds (“DAFs”) to further their grantmaking activity.…

Community Foundations October Update

This month, the communities affected by Hurricane Matthew are top of mind. To aid in their recovery, the Council co-hosted a special webinar with the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) on Tuesday, October 11 to inform funders on how to best direct resources. A recording of this webinar is now…

Does Your Grantmaking to Conflict Zones Make It There?

From Whitehall Road to Chancery Lane, government officials and charity leaders from numerous countries navigated London’s fashion week chaos last month in their most orthopedic shoes and ill-fighting business attire to discuss barriers to international grantmaking. Specifically, they discussed…
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