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. 

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.  

Sample Proposal Acknowledgment Letter

Sample Document
This sample grant proposal acknowledgment letter will allow you to let prospective grantees know that their application has been received.  

Sample Post-Grant Self-Evaluation

Sample Document
This sample post-grant evaluation can be customized to your foundation and provided to your grantees to submit at the conclusion of their grant.

Sample Membership Committee Policy

Sample Document
This is a sample Membership Committee policy.

Sample Grant Agreement – No Expenditure Responsibility

Sample Document
This document is an editable grant agreement for grants not requiring expenditure responsibility. This sample document is being provided for informational purposes only and is not to be shared without the permission of the Council on Foundations. Use of the sample document does not create an…

Stories of Succession: Involvement is Mandatory

Stephanie Danforth Chafee’s ancestors trace their roots in Rhode Island back to the Mayflower. Her philanthropic heritage in the area is almost as deep and conservative. Her mother was a leading supporter of the Parent Teachers Association, the Zoological Society and the Roger Williams Zoo. Her…

Sample Foundation Investment Policy

Sample Document
This document is an editable foundation investment policy template. This sample document is being provided for informational purposes only and is not to be shared without the permission of the Council on Foundations. Use of the sample document does not create an attorney-client relationship, and…

Hiring An Archival Consultant

Legal Compliance Guidance
The services of a consultant may prove beneficial to an organization considering the creation of a records management or archival program. From a consultation, those who oversee the records and archives project should derive a general sense of the existing historical record of the organization —…

Sample Grant File Index

Sample Document
This sample grant file index allows you to see the types of information which your foundation may need to keep on each of your grantees.

Sample Expenditure Report

Sample Document
This customizable sample report allows you to track expenditures by grantees.

Sample Docket Write-up of Program Goals and Strategies

Sample Document
This sample docket write-up allows you to customize your program goal and strategies.
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