Private Foundations
Private foundations make grants based on charitable endowments. The endowment funds come from one or a small handful of sources -- an individual, a family or a corporation. Because of their endowments, they are focused primarily on grantmaking and generally do not raise funds or seek public financial support the way public charities (like community foundations) must.
“Private foundation” is the umbrella term that includes corporate, independent, family, and operating foundations. As of 2011, there were 73,764 private foundations in the United States (Foundation Center, 2011).
In 2011, private foundations held more than $604 billion in assets and gave away more than $45 billion (Foundation Center, 2011).
Below is everything on our site for private foundations. Due to the large number of resources on our website, we highly recommend you use the site navigation or the search feature to find what you are looking for.
Leading Together 2021 - Leadership in Action
Leadership in Action
Solidarity Philanthropy in Action: Walking the Talk
Wednesday, June 16 | 3:20-4:00 p.m.
Amidst the interrelated crises of ecological collapse, systemic racism and social…
Leading Together 2021 - Fireside Chats
Fireside Chats
Disrupting the Narrative: The Power of the Story
Tuesday, June 15 | 2:50-3:30 p.m.
How do you change the narrative of a continent that has been entrenched in people’s minds for…
The Council on Foundations Announces 2021 Career Pathways Cohorts
WASHINGTON, DC - The Council on Foundations today announced the two cohorts selected to participate in the 2021 Career Pathways program, a leadership development program designed to diversify the talent pipeline for executive roles in the philanthropic sector. The 47 new participants are members of…
Leading Together 2021 - Plenary Sessions
Plenary sessions
A Better Path Forward: Unlikely Partnerships for the Greater Good
Tuesday, June 15 | 11:15 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | Sponsored by Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
This uplifting conference…
Systemic Racism: Disasters Expose It – How Do We Address It?
Racism is ever-present in our society, but for those who are not Black, Indigenous or People of Color (BIPOC), it is sometimes easy to brush it aside. However, disasters lay bare the inequities that exist in societies around the world.
COVID-19 has been a clear example of how disasters exacerbate…
Leading Together 2021 - Unable to Attend
#block-system-main .hbspt-form label {
font-family: 'source-serif-pro';
color: #191919;
font-size: 18px;
}
#block-system-main .hbspt-form input.hs-button.primary.large {
border-top: none;
border-bottom: 2px solid #191919;
border-left: none;
border-right: none;
font-family:…
Leading Together 2021 - Concurrent Sessions
Concurrent sessions
Leading Together 2021 centered trust and equity as critical cornerstones of strong partnerships and effective, high integrity philanthropy. The conference featured programming you won't find anywhere else. Our concurrent sessions focused on one of three themes.…
Leading Together 2021 - Raising the Bar Sessions
Raising the bar
These sessions focused on sharing the best practices, resources, and tools for philanthropic leaders to be agents of change in their organizations and communities.
Participation, Power and Philanthropy: Putting Nonprofits and Communities…
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…