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. 

Leading Together 2021 - Advancing Equity Sessions

  Advancing equity These sessions featured diverse voices on issues such as inclusive economic prosperity, racial injustice, income equality, and values aligned philanthropy. Numbers Don’t Lie: A Data-Guided Approach to Addressing Racial Inequities in…

Leading Together 2021 - Seeking Common Ground Sessions

  Seeking common ground These sessions sparked conversations that challenge philanthropy to bridge divides, explore unlikely partnerships and engage with different points of view. This conference theme was generously supported by the Walton Family Foundation…

PhilEx Live: Accepting Cryptocurrency Gifts

Developed out of a trending conversation on the Philanthropy Exchange (PhilEx), the Council invites you to join a member-only peer-led discussion around accepting cryptocurrency gifts. Join peers from member organizations across the country to discuss the steps they are taking…

A Census Like No Other: A Multi-Sector, Community-Focused Partnership

Despite having millions of households considered “hard-to-count,” and being challenged by a global pandemic, California successfully implemented Census outreach in 2020, generating a 69.6% response rate, higher than the national average response rate. In this session, foundation,…

Numbers Don’t Lie: A Data-Guided Approach to Addressing Racial Inequities in Philanthropic Practice

Philanthropic giving to communities of color remains low. In 2016, The Pittsburgh Foundation began a journey toward more just grantmaking, leading with data to achieve greater equity. This session will provide an overview of an approach that led to sustained increases in monetary and non-monetary…

Participation, Power and Philanthropy: Putting Nonprofits and Communities in the Driver's Seat

As grantmakers, our desire to have a transformational impact on the communities we serve catalyzes and ignites our work. To create the greatest impact, we must work in tandem with nonprofits and those with lived experience to sufficiently understand the issues and to co-create a path forward. What…

Digital Dependencies, Discrimination, and Democracy: What are Philanthropy’s Roles?

Every aspect of public life depends on digital systems. Awareness and adaptation to the potential harms of digital systems is critical to pursuing positive change. Black women are leading the way in scholarship and advocacy regarding the intersections of digital systems, racism and discrimination…

Building the Next-Generation Community Investment Ecosystem: How Foundations Can Advance Racial Equity

Will recovery from COVID-19 and racial reckoning finally bring our society closer to racial justice? This session will explore how foundations can shift the ways capital enters communities of color by helping to build investment ecosystems that finance community priorities. Participants will…

Best Practices for Equitable Philanthropy: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic

Center for Disaster Philanthropy and Candid have conducted two research reports on COVID-19 philanthropy, tracking over $20.2 billion in disaster giving for the pandemic within 2020. Our data from the reports have shown an increase in BIPOC giving over the course of the year, as well as increased…

Grappling with Global Threats from Within and Without

a.ltbtn-blackred { color: #fffef4 !important; } a.ltbtn-blackred:hover { color: #191919 !important; } Global grantmaking is more important and urgent than ever before. However, to address crises around the world, foundations working internationally must adapt to overcome new threats…

Bridging Federal and State Political Divides to Address Family Economic Inequality

Join the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, HHS’ Administration for Children and Families, and the American Public Human Services Association on their journey to advance whole family approaches to economic mobility, leveraging a unique public-private partnership with diverse perspectives including…

Pushing the Policy Envelope: Foundations Acting in a Pivotal Time

We are in a pivotal time for public policy action in our nation. Throughout 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic, economic downturn, and racial justice crisis magnified the deep-rooted systemic barriers that prevent many Americans — especially Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, and other marginalized…

Community Philanthropy Update - April 2021

Dear Friend, Over the last two years, conversations with community foundation leaders from across the country have deepened my understanding of the complexity and importance of your work. I have a personal commitment to advocating for the unique needs and priorities of community foundations, and…

Reclaiming Community

Designed by and for community foundation CEOs, this preconference session will focus on the critical role community foundations play in building community. Specifically, we will explore the role of community foundations in repairing the frayed threads of trust, unity and inclusion in our…

Community Foundation Legal Question of the Month

June 2021 We have a DAF advisor who is interested in making a grant to a new nonprofit organization that is still waiting on their 501(c)(3) determination. The grant they are recommending is for a specific project of the organization. Can we still make the grant if we do expenditure responsibility…

Pushing the Policy Envelope: Foundations Acting in a Pivotal Time

  Pushing the Policy Envelope: Foundations Acting in a Pivotal Time June 14 | 12:00-3:00 p.m. ET We are in a pivotal time for public policy action in our nation. Throughout 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic, economic downturn, and racial justice crisis magnified the deep-rooted systemic…
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