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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.
From the Margins to the Mainstream: Assessment of the Impact Investment Sector and Opportunities to Engage Mainstream Investors
External Resource
In this report, the World Economic Forum Investors Industries consulted the senior decision-makers and portfolio managers of the largest and most innovative investors in the world to facilitate a more realistic vantage point on the challenges in scaling the sector.
Northern New England Community Foundation Impact Investing: A Rural Community Foundation Case Study
External Resource
In summer 2011, the Maine Community Foundation, New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, and the Vermont Community Foundation came together, with the help of GPS Capital Partners and TPI, to jointly evaluate the potential for expanding impact investing as a program strategy and donor service. This case…
Limits to the Charitable Deduction: Bad Timing & Faulty Logic
Council on Foundations president and CEO Vikki Spruill and several Council members met with Congressional leaders today to deliver the important message that changes to the charitable tax deduction would diminish its value and have an undeniably negative impact on communities across the United…
Council on Foundations Announces Key Appointments for Network Team
The Council on Foundations today announced the first members of its network team, which will facilitate the flow of information and ideas across the philanthropic sector. The network team will connect members around common issues of concern, connect our members to outside resources across sectors,…
FEMA National Disaster Recovery Program Database
External Resource
With the development of the National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF), FEMA worked to create systems that can supplement, and not replace, current and ongoing community planning and recovery efforts. To support this effort, FEMA developed a web-based tool, the National Disaster Recovery Program…
IRS: Disaster Relief Resources for Charities and Contributors
External Resource
In the aftermath of a disaster or in other emergency hardship situations, individuals, employers, and corporations are often interested in providing assistance to victims through a charitable organization. The IRS provides a number of resources to help those involved in providing disaster relief…
Sample Matching Gift Policy
Sample Document
This sample matching gift policy can be easily customized for your foundation's use.
Leadership Insights: What Foundation Executives and Trustees are Saying About Diversity and Inclusion
Recording
A video series featuring leaders sharing their insights about their organizational journey to become more diverse and inclusive and lessons learned along the way. All videos are close captioned.
Dr. Robert K. Ross
The California Endowment
Watch video
Dr. Risa Lavisso-Mourey…
The Sustainability Formula: How Nonprofit Organizations Can Thrive in the Emerging Economy
External Resource
From TCC Group, which developed the Core Capacity Assessment tool, this resource investigates how organizations can put these core capacities to work in achieving organizational sustainability in difficult economic times.
Building Community Capacity for Participation in Evaluation
External Resource
From Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO), what does it mean to truly and authentically engage a community in evaluation? Grantmakers working on place-based grantmaking already have the incentive and drive to support in-depth evaluation, to understand the impact of the initiative, and to…
Working Better Together: Building Nonprofit Collaborative Capacity
External Resource
Collective action is an effective way for nonprofits to increase their impact, but they often lack the key capacities that enable these types of partnerships to thrive. This publication from Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO) offers insights on the core capacities nonprofits need to…
Sample Decline Letter
Sample Document
This sample declination letter can help you inform grant applicants that their grant proposal was not accepted.
Sample Grant Completion Report
Sample Document
This sample grant completion report may be customized and provided to your grantee partners.
Seeking Shared Success: Business Model Innovation through Mergers, Affiliations, and Alliances
Publication
The challenges of the recent financial downturn have inspired many community foundations to find new paths to business model innovation. Alliances, affiliations, and mergers offer one path to “shared success.” Seeking shared success with other community foundations is one intriguing way to innovate…
Proposal Review Flowchart
Sample Document
This sample proposal review flowchart may be useful for establishing your foundation's processes for grant review.
Sample Grant Proposal Application Checklist
Sample Document
This sample grant proposal application checklist can be customized to your foundation's processes, allowing you to check off each step of the grant application process.
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