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. 

Global Philanthropy Update - September 2021

With the UN General Assembly (UNGA) just a few weeks away, there is no shortage of challenges that will hinder the world’s capacity to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030. From the IPCC’s recent devastating climate report and natural disasters in every corner of the…

2021 HR Retreat - Speakers

h2.field-content a { color: #C25AA2; } Speakers

The Future of Philanthropy is Local

As we continue to navigate a new normal amid a global pandemic, philanthropy has a moral obligation to create spaces for everyone’s voice to be heard, valued, and represented in building common ground to achieve more together. How do we advance the greater good in our community? How do we build…

Philanthropy's Response to 2021 Hurricane Ida

OVERVIEW Hurricane Ida struck the southern coast of Louisiana on the afternoon of August 29, 2021, as an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane and its remnants have since caused major flooding throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. As updates about the impact of this disaster are known as…

Public Policy and Advocacy for Grantmakers

Publication
Government policy decisions impact communities and can drive or impede solutions to some of the most pressing issues facing the nation. Engagement in public policy advocacy is therefore crucial to the philanthropic sector's ability to achieve its greatest impact. Public Policy and Advocacy for…

Community Philanthropy Update - August 2021

Earlier this month, the Council launched a new Strategic Direction focused on how philanthropy can build the trust needed to advance the greater good. This strategy was developed out of feedback from hundreds of philanthropic leaders over the last two years, as well as support from the…

Values-Aligned Philanthropy: Foundations Resisting Hate and Extremism

With extremism on the rise, philanthropy’s responsibility to avoid funding hate has been in the spotlight. While individual foundations have worked to address the issue, there has not been significant analysis of the sector’s activities when it comes to finding solutions to hate funding—until…

Community Foundation CEO Virtual Roundtable: Impact Investing - Part 1 & 2

September Roundtables Focus: Impact Investing  Designed by and for community foundation CEOs, this two-part CEO/COF webinar session provided the tools and knowledge community foundations require to embark on or build upon their impact investing programs. The Council and CEONet convened CEOs…

Community Foundation CEO Virtual Roundtable: Impact Investing - Part 1

September Roundtables Focus: Impact Investing Part 1   Designed by and for community foundation CEOs, Part 1 of this two-part CEO/COF webinar session provided the tools and knowledge community foundations require to embark on or build upon their impact investing programs. The Council…

2021 UN General Assembly Virtual Philanthropic Side-Events

This page is an archived schedule of philanthropic side-events from the 2021 United Nations General Assembly. See the most recent UNGA schedule instead. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the UNGA side-events will be remote or hybrid again. This page highlights events that may be of interest to…

Better Ways of Working: Notes from the Journey at Walmart.org

The challenges of the past year have exacerbated inequities around the world and caused many of us in philanthropy to reflect on how we can change our own ways of working to be more effective partners in transforming societal systems for equity. At Walmart and the Walmart Foundation, where…

2020 Council on Foundations - Commonfund Study of Investment of Endowments for Private and Community Foundations (CCSF) Report

Publication, Research
The CCSF report is the field’s most comprehensive and authoritative study on investment and governance policies and practices. The 2020 CCSF studies 260 private and community foundations that represent $115.4 billion in assets. Topics covered include: Returns and Investment Objectives…

Philanthropy's Response to Afghanistan Refugee Crisis

OVERVIEW With the departure of U.S. armed forces and the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban, a refugee crisis is unfolding throughout the region. According to the UNHCR, since the start of this year 550,000 Afghans have been forced to flee their homes because of conflict and the numbers…

COVID-19’s Long Tail: Developing a Mental Health Strategy for Recovery

COVID-19 is leaving a long tail of psycho-social impacts from the variety of losses that people have experienced during the pandemic such as death, illness, housing and job insecurity, and absence of in-person treatment. Policymakers and funders need a sustained and intentional strategy to address…

Highlights of the 2020 Council on Foundations–Commonfund Study of Foundations

Join Commonfund Institute and the Council on Foundations for a discussion of the results from the newly released 2020 Council on Foundations–Commonfund Study of Investment of Endowments for Private and Community Foundations® (CCSF). This webinar will mark the culmination of the ninth year…

2021 Public Policy Summit

Subscribe to Community Foundations