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 History of Violence

This publication from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explores the history of violence and the reasons why it has become a greater focus for public health in recent decades.

What if we treated violence like a contagious disease?

In this video from TEDMED 2013, epidemiologist Gary Slutkin of Cure Violence says the issue has been misdiagnosed, and instead created science-based strategies that aim to stop violence before it erupts.

Global Philanthropy

The focus of the Council's global program is to support U.S. philanthropy’s international engagement – including through cross-border grantmaking – but also by applying a global perspective to domestic philanthropy within the United States. We make it our mission to play a key role in facilitating…

2014 Fall Conference for Community Foundations

October 19-22 | Preconference October 18-19 | Cleveland, Ohio This year marks the Community Foundation Centennial, and we look forward to celebrating alongside the Cleveland Foundation, the nation's first community foundation. Programming will celebrate the rich legacy and bright future of place-…

Catalytic First Loss Capital

External Resource
This issue brief from the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) details the motivations, benefits, considerations, and suitable scenarios behind the use of catalytic first-loss capital in impact investing transactions. Catalytic first-loss capital refers to socially- and environmentally-driven…

Impact Investing 2.0: The Way Forward: Insight from 12 Outstanding Funds

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The Impact Investor Project was established in 2012 as a two-year research partnership between InSight at Pacific Community Ventures, CASE at Duke University, and ImpactAssets. The goal was simple: supplant the guesswork and conjecture in impact investing with solid evidence of high performance and…

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

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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…

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

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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…

The Sustainability Formula: How Nonprofit Organizations Can Thrive in the Emerging Economy

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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

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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…
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