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 Family Giving Lifecycle: Orienting Toward Effective Outcomes

While every philanthropic family is unique, there are common points of inflection. The NCFP Family Giving Lifecycle names those inflection points and provides questions for donors to ask at each stage, recognizing that philanthropy is iterative and ever-evolving. This session will share the…

Centering Black Community Voices in Pandemic Response – Regional and National Approaches

Join a conversation about how two community foundations stepped up to respond to the Pandemic. Early in the Pandemic, the Community Foundation of Greater Flint convened the Greater Flint Coronavirus Taskforce on Racial Inequities building on the lessons of the Flint water crisis. The East Bay…

Creating a Racial Equity Community Narrative with Strategic Plan Alignment: "A Milwaukee For All" Case Study

Are you preparing to launch your new strategic plan or give lift to advancing your leadership position within the community? Does your organization want to develop a bolder voice around its commitment to racial equity and inclusion? Achieving your organizational goals takes buy-in, inspired donors…

Crisis, Connection, & Collaboration: Learning and Growing Impact in a Challenging Year

2020 forced everyone to think differently. For many communities in East Texas and Louisiana, the crisis of the pandemic was an additional blow to families already struggling due to devastating storms and chronic systemic disparities. However, new opportunities have emerged spurred by the…

Introducing Ethos: A Way to Address Dilemmas with Empathy and Integrity

To make progress on the urgent challenges faced today, we need to stop funding just the “usual suspects” and bravely invest in movements and traditionally under-funded changemakers. Choosing equity isn’t without risks. Philanthropists and those who support them face many ethical…

Strategies for Shifting Power

Do your foundation’s policies and procedures reflect a changing philanthropy that raises the bar on diversity, inclusion, and equity? Learn about one global foundation’s journey to ensure that grassroots partners have a place at the table and that their voices are heard. During this…

Values-Aligned Philanthropy: Saying No to Hate

This interactive panel discussion will discuss the ways in which foundations have encountered and confronted the issue of hate funding. Roey Thorpe, a social justice strategist, will discuss the research she’s conducted for the Council on Foundations on values aligned philanthropy that…

Equity Everywhere for Everyone: A Place-Based Model for Community Change

The status quo of current policies, processes, and institutions that perpetuate inequities in the American South must change. The solution is to transform perceptions, beliefs and behaviors so that a community-driven value of racial equity is common place. To do so requires a movement, a set of…

The Path Forward: Prioritizing Racial Equity in Unexpected Places

Let’s be honest: when you think of regions in the U.S. where you expect funders to commit long-term effort to centering racial equity in their work, Appalachia does not come to mind. But the Appalachia Funders Network is doing just that — committing 10% of its annual budget to anti-…

Bridging Across Toxic Political Division

The violent breach of the U.S. Capitol represents only the beginning of the destructive effects toxic polarization will bring to America if left unchecked. Researchers see America’s polarization crisis as closer to political sectarianism -- and they point to how so many of us perceive those…

Committing to Equity and Inclusivity: Moving from Words to Action

Sponsored by Knight Foundation How can philanthropy advance equity and inclusivity in every aspect of our work? The compounding crises of the last year prompted many foundations to commit to embedding equity across their organizations and in their funding, but many remain unsure where to start.…

Transformational Leadership

During this inspiring Fireside Chat, New York Times bestseller and former CEO of the Robin Hood Foundation, Wes Moore, will share his inspiring life story and perspective on how philanthropy can help address poverty. Wes led the Robin Hood Foundation to one of its strongest years in the anti-…

Disrupting the Narrative: The Power of the Story

How do you change the narrative of a continent that has been entrenched in people’s minds for hundreds of years? The story of Africa is one that is often told by outsiders through frames that no longer serve this dynamic and evolving continent. Storytelling is a powerful way to shift…

The Power of Relationships to Build Equity and Change Systems

In response to severe racial disparities in COVID-19 impacts, Maine’s philanthropic sector has used its social capital to help facilitate access to emergency resources from the public sector for grassroots, immigrant-led organizations. Three Maine funders will explore philanthropy’s…

Designing With, Not For: The Journey to Develop a Community-Forward Program

How can funders plan for the future in the midst of uncertainty? The 11 funders of The BUILD Health Challenge® share their process undertaken with communities to rethink, redesign, and reconsider efforts to advance health equity. Attendees will get a behind-the-scenes look at how the co-…

Emergence and Evolution: Pivoting Internal Culture Amidst Crisis

In a year of massive change and rupture, our internal cultures and practices had to radically pivot to adapt. From creating fully virtual workplaces to holding space for processing anti-Black racism, to accommodating the needs of working families, the internal workings of philanthropy look about as…
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