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.
Foundations in the News
Philanthropy in the News
Chronicle of Philanthropy Coverage
Inside Philanthropy Coverage
United Philanthropy Forum: "Joint PSO Statement: Keep Equity at the Forefront in Philanthropy's Response to Coronavirus"
DAFNE: "Italian Foundations Emergency Response"
Grant Oliphant: "COVID-19: A test of…
Global Philanthropy Update - January 2020
Happy 2020! January has kicked off with a bang as we’ve been hard at work at the Council to develop exciting programs, publications, and avenues for engagement in 2020 and beyond. I’m excited to share more about the work of our global program as the year progresses and I look forward to continuing…
Washington Snapshot: House Ways and Means Committee; Revisiting Opportunity Zones Designations?
In This Week's Edition of Snapshot...
House Ways and Means Committee
Revisiting Opportunity Zones Designations?
Department of Treasury
The Federal Reserve
Department of Commerce
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Department of Transportation
Happening in the States
…
As We Look to the Future...
Last year, the Council on Foundations did a lot of listening. In conversations across the country with those who generously helped to crystalize the Council’s vision for the future, one thing was clear. These philanthropic leaders are devoted to the missions and communities they support and are…
The Council on Foundations Announces 2020 Career Pathways Cohort
The Council on Foundations today, announced the 24 participants selected for the 2020 Career Pathways cohort, a leadership development program designed to increase the number of diverse candidates in the philanthropic leadership pipeline.
The newly selected participants represent the seventh cohort…
Washington Snapshot: Private Foundation Excise Tax; Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Relief Tax Act of 2019; President’s 2021 Budget
In This Week's Edition of Snapshot...
Private Foundation Excise Tax
Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Relief Tax Act of 2019
UBIT Refunds
Congressional Ties to Education
President’s 2021 Budget
Executive Branch and Regulatory Affairs
Happening in the States
From the Council's…
Council on Foundations Names Three Philanthropic Leaders to its Board of Directors
The Council on Foundations today announced the appointment of three philanthropic leaders to its Board of Directors – Brennan Gould, Mae Hong and Peter Laugharn.
Brennan Gould serves as President & CEO of the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, a grantmaking organization with a…
Spotlight On: Enabling Environment Experiences from the WINGS Networks
Hosted by Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support (WINGS), the webinar will include representatives from the Spanish Association of Foundations, the Council on Foundations and the European Foundation Centre (EFC) to talk about what goes on behind the scenes in the successful strategies to…
2019 Grantmaker Salary and Benefits Report: Board Compensation Tables
Publication, Research
The 2019 Board Compensation Tables provide foundation board and staff with the tools they need to benchmark their board compensation policies and practices against peers in the field. This report contains data collected through the Council’s 2019 Grantmaker Salary and Benefits Survey and presented…
Thank You for a Great Year!
As 2019 comes to a close, I’m reflecting on my first year at the Council on Foundations. I’m proud of the strides we’ve made in forging strong relationships across the sector, moving our policy agenda forward, supporting the professional growth of members and reimagining both our membership model…
Career Pathways: The Unintended Consequences of Leadership Development
I’ve just finished a year-long program that aims to bring more diverse senior leadership to the philanthropic sector. My time with Council on Foundations’ Career Pathways program was transformative and will, no doubt, have an impact on my thinking and career trajectory in ways that I can’t yet even…
2019 Chapman Prize Awarded to Opportunity Fund, a Leading Nonprofit Microlender
The Council on Foundations and the Daniel and Barbara Chapman Trust today announced Opportunity Fund as the recipient of the 2019 Chapman Prize.
For more than 25 years, Opportunity Fund has served as a trusted partner to small business owners in underserved communities by providing access to…
Community Foundations at the Heart of Building Broader Communities in Americas
A Mexican American Linguist describes that in U.S. we would say “why has one of us stolen a television?”.
In Mexico, it would be, “one of us has stolen a television, why have we done this?”
The emphasis is not on punishing the individual at fault but recognizing our collective failure to…
Nonprofit Law in Ethiopia
Legal Compliance Guidance
Current as of May 2024 | Download print version (PDF)
This describes the legal framework of nonprofit organizations (also known as non-governmental organizations or NGOs) in Ethiopia, along with translations of legislative provisions relevant for a foundation or advisor undertaking an equivalency…
Inclusive Economic Prosperity White Paper
In 2018, the Council on Foundations introduced a series of summits on inclusive economic prosperity. These summits were designed to help foundation leaders better understand the leading role that philanthropy can play in developing inclusive economic prosperity outcomes locally.
Given the…