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. 

The Harm in Misinformation: Philanthropy Needs DAFs

From the moment the Council on Foundations was established in 1949, we have stood up to attacks on philanthropy and charitable giving. Most of these have been fueled by a common culprit — misinformation. That is why the Council is a constant presence on the Hill, travels across the country speaking…

Advocacy Toolkit

Toolkit
Sometimes the hardest part of engaging in advocacy can be figuring out where to start. Government is the mechanism for public policy process, and elected officials and their staff are driving and creating policies. As their constituents and important stakeholders in civil society, they need to…

Washington Snapshot - July 1, 2016

The Council on Foundations would like to wish all of our readers a safe and enjoyable 4th of July! News from the Hill Tax Blueprint Proposes Ideas that Could Impact Charitable Giving Our readers will recall that last week Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and his Task Force on Tax Reform released their…

Rules of Advocacy & Lobbying

Legal Compliance Guidance
It is easy to get hung up on what you think you cannot do in terms of engaging with your policymakers. The good news is, you can do more than you may think! Though the law varies somewhat between what community and public foundations are allowed to do, versus what private foundations are allowed…

Foundation Law for Non-Lawyers

When my colleague and fellow attorney Lara Kalwinski, Senior Counsel for Policy and Compliance and Executive Director of National Standards, and I both came to the Council on Foundations in 2013, we each had extensive experience with the Council’s books, newsletters, and other legal publications.…

Council on Foundations Applauds Important Changes in Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Policy

The Council on Foundations, a member of the Global NPO Coalition on FATF, applauds the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) recent update to its counter-terrorism recommendation on NPOs, specifically grantmakers. The Council hails the removal of the long-standing characterization of nonprofits as “…

How to Find Your Members of Congress

Fundamentals
Find your Representative(s) Members of Congress are interested to learn about the work that you are doing in their communities. When identifying your representative(s), it is helpful to think—not only about the district in which your home office is located—but also the areas in which you fund. It…

Donor-Advised Fund Letter of Support

Last week, The Washington Post published an article grossly mischaracterizing the value and importance of DAFs as a philanthropic tool. The Council immediately responded by penning a letter to the editor (see below) outlining how DAFs encourage charitable giving and enable community foundations to…

Council Member Update: Finance and Endowment Focus

Members View the Recording This member update will focus principally on important issues related to foundation financial management and endowment performance. We will look in depth at the Council's recent research on endowments and preview our upcoming Endowments and Finance Summit in New York…

Keep Calm and Carry On?

This post originally appeared as an op-ed in The Chronicle of Philanthropy on June 24, 2016 with the title "Brexit Vote Will Force Philanthropy to Tackle Many Tough Issues." The vote for Britain to exit the European Union took philanthropy and the rest of the world by surprise. But it raises tough…

Month of Pride

I started this blog post earlier in the month to recognize June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ)* Pride Month, but the tragedy in Orlando rightly caused the Council and my blog post to change course. As June comes to a close, it seems fitting to celebrate the LGBTQ…

Washington Snapshot - June 24, 2016

News from the Hill Speaker Ryan Releases Tax Blueprint As our readers know, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) organized five task forces to draft substantive blueprints outlining policy options for a number of issue areas—including tax reform. Chaired by Ways and Means Committee Chairman, Kevin…

Diving into the Data: Staffing & Salaries

The second chapter of the Council’s full 2015 Grantmakers Salary and Benefits Report provides extensive data on staff and salaries. In it, we offer tables on everything from the size of responding foundations to the diversity and salaries of their full-time staff and the tenure and turnover of…

Call Summary: 2016 Chinese Foreign NGO Law

On May 10, 2016, the Council on Foundations (the Council) and International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL) convened over 100 organizations to discuss new Chinese legislation that may restrict the work of Hong Kong- and Taiwan-based foundations and other nonprofits in China. Members can access…

Washington Update LIVE!: Philanthropy's Voice in the Policy Process

  Download the Presentation Slides August is here, which means your Members of Congress have ventured outside of the beltway for an extended stay in their districts—otherwise known as your communities. This is a great opportunity for you to connect with your elected officials, build and…

Washington Snapshot - June 17, 2016

In response to the horrific attacks in Orlando, Council President and CEO Vikki Spruill and Board Chair Sherry Magill penned an open letter reaffirming the Council’s commitment to advancing diversity, equality, and inclusion in and beyond the philanthropic field, and to continue serving as a…
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