Public Foundations

Public foundations are grantmaking public charities that gain their funds from a variety of sources, which may include foundations, individuals, corporations, or public entities. Public foundations may engage in fundraising, and may seek broad public financial support. They may or may not have endowments. There is no legal definition of a public foundation, but most dedicate a significant portion of their annual budgets to grantmaking. Most community foundations are also grantmaking public charities.

Since public foundations may be defined in different ways, and there is no official IRS or legal definition of public foundations, it is difficult to arrive at statistics that are fully representative of the field.

Below is everything on our site for public foundations. We strongly 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/programs-services/public-grantmaking-charities for curated public foundation content. 

Council on Foundations Announces Key Appointments for Network Team

The Council on Foundations today announced the first members of its network team, which will facilitate the flow of information and ideas across the philanthropic sector. The network team will connect members around common issues of concern, connect our members to outside resources across…

FEMA National Disaster Recovery Program Database

External Resource
With the development of the National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF), FEMA worked to create systems that can supplement, and not replace, current and ongoing community planning and recovery efforts. To support this effort, FEMA developed a web-based tool, the National Disaster Recovery Program…

IRS: Disaster Relief Resources for Charities and Contributors

External Resource
In the aftermath of a disaster or in other emergency hardship situations, individuals, employers, and corporations are often interested in providing assistance to victims through a charitable organization. The IRS provides a number of resources to help those involved in providing disaster relief…

Sample Matching Gift Policy

Sample Document
This sample matching gift policy can be easily customized for your foundation's use.  

Leadership Insights: What Foundation Executives and Trustees are Saying About Diversity and Inclusion

Recording
A video series featuring leaders sharing their insights about their organizational journey to become more diverse and inclusive and lessons learned along the way. All videos are close captioned. Dr. Robert K. Ross The California Endowment Watch video Dr. Risa…

The Sustainability Formula: How Nonprofit Organizations Can Thrive in the Emerging Economy

External Resource
From TCC Group, which developed the Core Capacity Assessment tool, this resource investigates how organizations can put these core capacities to work in achieving organizational sustainability in difficult economic times.

Building Community Capacity for Participation in Evaluation

External Resource
From Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO), what does it mean to truly and authentically engage a community in evaluation? Grantmakers working on place-based grantmaking already have the incentive and drive to support in-depth evaluation, to understand the impact of the initiative, and to…

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.  

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…
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