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. 

2014 Fall Conference Why Attend

Why You Should Attend Getting approval to participate in professional development events can be challenging. But, you can take initiative and show your organization why and how your attendance at the2014 Fall Conference for Community Foundations will strengthen your performance and benefit the…

6 Reasons to Play with Matches

The idea of coordinated giving days is gaining momentum. These social media campaigns provide an image-building opportunity for community foundations as well as opportunities to build the capacity of our grantees to raise money for themselves. Rather than providing technical assistance, project…

Paradox Community Trust Story

This post is part of the #CF100 Series of blog posts. The Council on Foundations is marking the 100th anniversary of the nation’s first community foundation, The Cleveland Foundation, by highlighting the roles of community foundations with this series. See where it all began at our Fall…

Washington Snapshot - August 15, 2014

With lawmakers out of town for the month, the action—and the policy news— has shifted away from Washington to local communities. As a reminder to our readers, Washington Snapshot will be taking a short summer break the next two weeks, returning on Friday, September 5th. We hope you enjoy the last…

Does Certainty Matter? Why We Are Activating in August

Ready to Activate? See how you can get involved with efforts to pass the America Gives More Act when the Senate returns to Washington. Our easy to use toolkit includes customizeable documents will walk you step by step through the process of meeting with your lawmakers and engaging the media…

In Lexington, KY, Blue Grass Community Foundation serves as liaison between grassroots movements and national funders

This post is part of the #CF100 Series of blog posts. The Council on Foundations is marking the 100th anniversary of the nation’s first community foundation, The Cleveland Foundation, by highlighting the roles of community foundations with this series. See where it all began at our Fall…

WEBINAR: How Funders Can Respond to the Surge of Unaccompanied Children Migrating to the United States

Thousands of children are making the dangerous journey north from Central America and Mexico alone. The number of unaccompanied immigrant children migrating to the United States has increased, and experts anticipate 80,000 to 120,000 new arrivals in 2014. A complex array of federal agencies handle…

Urban Institute Survey on DAFs: What We Learned and Why It Matters

  As many of our members already know, the Council commissioned the Urban Institute’s Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy to conduct a survey about donor advised funds (DAFs) managed by community foundations. The Council is working in collaboration with Council of Michigan Foundations…

4 Lessons About Getting Started with Giving Days

Online giving days are generating huge interest among community foundations. Giving online is increasing in double digit percentages year over year, yet in our community, many of the nonprofits we serve have barely have a website let alone a “Donate Now” button. As a result, we thought it was…

Washington Snapshot - August 8, 2014

August recess is here and it seems like most of D.C. is on vacation! Yet, despite a slow news week on the policy front, the Council has been very busy and has a lot to share. We have been hard at work leading the charge to get the Senate to vote on the America Gives More Act (H.R. 4719). We have a…

2014 Urban Institute Survey of Community Foundations

Research
On May 30, 2014, the Urban Institute’s Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy conducted a survey of donor-advised funds (DAFs) operated by community foundations. All community foundations with total assets of $5 million or more were invited to take the survey. When the survey closed on June 20, we'd…

Community Foundation of Utah's Social Investors Forum

Here’s proof you don’t need an endowment to have a significant and disruptive impact on your region’s philanthropic landscape. This post is part of the #CF100 Series of blog posts. The Council on Foundations is marking the 100th anniversary of the nation’s first community foundation, The…

2014 Fall Conference for Community Foundations Preconference Programs

Separate registration is required for all of these events. Space is limited. Register now! If you are already registered for the conference and would like to add an additional preconference event to your registration, please use the paper registration form and fax or mail in the forms with…

You don't need an excuse to tell a great story

You don’t need an excuse to tell a great story. You simply need a great story. And every community foundation has a great story to tell. Whether your foundation is large or tiny, or is located in a big city or a small town, it likely has a powerful story of how it is improving its community and…

Philanthropic Paths: An Exploratory Study of the Career Pathways of Professionals of Color in Philanthropy

External Resource
This study conducted by Forward Change provides a holistic, in-depth picture of the career experiences of 43 philanthropic professionals of color ranging from Program Officers to CEOs working in a diverse array of foundations. The study surfaced a set of potentially common points of entry, career…

Flint Neighbors Connect the Blocks

Over the last two years, the City of Flint has been working on its first master plan since 1960. It serves as a blueprint for land use over the next 20 years. This post is part of the #CF100 Series of blog posts. The Council on Foundations is marking the 100th anniversary of the nation’s first…
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