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.
The Power of Relationships to Build Equity and Change Systems
In response to severe racial disparities in COVID-19 impacts, Maine’s philanthropic sector has used its social capital to help facilitate access to emergency resources from the public sector for grassroots, immigrant-led organizations. Three Maine funders will explore philanthropy’s…
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…
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 - 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.…
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…