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.
Designing With, Not For: The Journey to Develop a Community-Forward Program
How can funders plan for the future in the midst of uncertainty? The 11 funders of The BUILD Health Challenge® share their process undertaken with communities to rethink, redesign, and reconsider efforts to advance health equity. Attendees will get a behind-the-scenes look at how the co-…
Emergence and Evolution: Pivoting Internal Culture Amidst Crisis
In a year of massive change and rupture, our internal cultures and practices had to radically pivot to adapt. From creating fully virtual workplaces to holding space for processing anti-Black racism, to accommodating the needs of working families, the internal workings of philanthropy look about as…
Democracy, Healing Divides, and Civic Life
With heightened polarization and divisiveness, growing mistrust of public institutions, protests against racial injustice, and uncertainty over the electoral infrastructure, recent events have revealed the remarkable fragility of our institutions and the norms supporting them. At the very least,…
Please Forgive Our Mess. We’re Building Trust Here.
Building relationships and trust is messy. Where do you start? And how do you keep moving forward, when sometimes it seems impossible to find common ground? York County Community Foundation embarked on a journey starting in 2018 to intentionally build bridges and work together with people of color…
A Blueprint for Transformation and DEI: The Ashley Stewart Story
The remarkable transformation of Ashley Stewart, one of the country’s largest brands serving Black women, is a story about how trusting relationships make us all better. Under the leadership of then chairman and CEO, James Rhee, Ashley Stewart overcame impossible odds to bring the company out…
Solidarity Philanthropy in Action: Walking the Talk
Amidst the interrelated crises of ecological collapse, systemic racism and social injustices, there is a call to action for solidarity philanthropy. This sounds good but what does it mean in practice?
To show true solidarity as a foundation requires trust-based funding, alignment between grant…
Collective Action Strategies for Advancing Health Equity: Addressing Root Causes of Pain and Despair
Black, Brown, Indigenous and Immigrant populations have suffered disproportionate rates of hospitalization and death from COVID-19. The death of George Floyd reiterated the need to address racial justice and equity in our sector. This confluence of racial injustice and health inequities are…
A Better Path Forward: Unlikely Partnerships for the Greater Good
Sponsored by Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
This uplifting conference kickoff envisions a sector that mobilizes unlikely partnerships—especially in times of crisis—to create shared vision and real change. Philanthropic leaders are uniquely positioned to help various stakeholders find what…
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
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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…