As 2026 draws to a close, private foundations are balancing year-end grantmaking, compliance requirements, and planning for the year ahead. Join us for an open office hours session where the Council’s Legal Resources team will answer any questions you may have about key legal and tax considerations for private foundations including concerns regarding:

• Minimum distribution requirements and qualifying distributions
• Self-dealing considerations and transactions involving disqualified people
• Grants to organizations that are not public charities, including expenditure responsibility requirements

Whether you're wrapping up your foundation’s activities or preparing for a strong start to 2027, this is a great opportunity to get clarity.

Bring your questions! This session is designed to be interactive and responsive to your needs.

As 2026 winds down, we know that community foundations face one of their busiest periods of the year. Whether you have questions about gift acceptance and donor stewardship, grantmaking, or fund administration, we hope you’ll join us for an open office hours session where the Council’s Legal Resources team will be available to answer your questions about common topics that arise as we wrap up the year.

Bring any questions you have about:

• Qualified charitable distributions
• Gift timing and acknowledgment
• Recent legal developments relevant to community foundations in 2027

And explore our end-of-year frequently asked questions page for more guidance. Whether you're wrapping up your community foundation’s activities or preparing for a strong start to 2027, this is a great opportunity to get clarity.

Bring your questions! This session is designed to be interactive and responsive to your needs.

Join the Council’s Legal Resources team to learn how charitable assistance programs can support employees and communities facing disasters or personal hardships. This workshop will distinguish between qualified disaster relief and hardship assistance and outline legal requirements for employer-sponsored programs, including qualified disaster relief under IRC §139. Content will clarify eligible expenses, independent need-based selection, and prohibited uses.

Topics Include:

• Disaster relief vs. hardship assistance
• Employer-sponsored assistance programs
• Permissible forms of assistance
• Qualified disasters under IRC §139
• Recipient selection and independence requirements
• Public-charity partnerships
• “Needy and distressed” eligibility

Group Rate

Trainings are designed to be taken individually at a personal workstation, not in a group setting. Registration rates are per person. Group rates are for Council Members that send 5+ people from one organization, each person must be registered individually to attend. Email educate@cof.org to register a group. 

Cancellation Policy 

All registration cancellations must be submitted in writing to educate@cof.org. All cancellation refunds before May 24, 2027 will incur a 25% administrative fee per registration. No refunds will be provided after May 24, 2027.

During this session, expect to discuss:

• 2027-28 program schedule
• Curriculum
• Application Process
• Waldman Scholarship
• Program benefits, outcomes, and much more!

Details to Note:

• Come prepared with questions for the Q&A section
• This session will be recorded
• Applications for the Career Pathways 2027-28 Cohort are due March 2, 2027

For more information about the Career Pathways leadership development program, visit cof.org/careerpathways or email educate@cof.org.

Join the Council’s Legal Resources team to learn about legal requirements for scholarships and other grants to individuals. This workshop will address charitable-class requirements, objective and nondiscriminatory selection criteria, selection committee independence, qualified educational expenses, and potential tax consequences to recipients. Content will also include the special rules for employer-related scholarships, including employment conditions and limits on the percentage of recipients.

Topics Include:

• Individual-grant and scholarship requirements
• Selection Committee independence and conflicts of interest
• Employer-related scholarship rules and limits

Group Rate

Trainings are designed to be taken individually at a personal workstation, not in a group setting. Registration rates are per person. Group rates are for Council Members that send 5+ people from one organization, each person must be registered individually to attend. Email educate@cof.org to register a group. 

Cancellation Policy 

All registration cancellations must be submitted in writing to educate@cof.org. All cancellation refunds before July 25, will incur a 25% administrative fee per registration. No refunds will be provided after July 25, 2027.

Join the Council’s Legal Resources team for an overview of fund types commonly held by community foundations. This workshop will explore how community foundations structure and manage component funds, including agency funds, designated funds, field of interest funds, and scholarship funds. Participants will learn about legal ownership, board control, variance power, and material restrictions as they relate to component funds This workshop will also address three common geographic-affiliate models and will highlight key operational and governance considerations.

Topics Include:

• Component-fund requirements and material restrictions
• Agency-fund structure, ownership, and distribution issues
• Geographic-affiliate models and legal structures
• Governance, fundraising, fees, and other administrative issues.

Group Rate

Trainings are designed to be taken individually at a personal workstation, not in a group setting. Registration rates are per person. Group rates are for Council Members that send 5+ people from one organization, each person must be registered individually to attend. Email educate@cof.org to register a group. 

Cancellation Policy 

All registration cancellations must be submitted in writing to educate@cof.org. All cancellation refunds before May 23, will incur a 25% administrative fee per registration. No refunds will be provided after May 23, 2027.

Participants will leave with actionable tools, a refreshed understanding of compliance, and a blueprint for bringing policy work into your organization. The training will dive into practical strategies that blend direct services with advocacy, learning how to leverage available resources, from convening power to community partnerships, to create lasting, meaningful impact.

Training Hours

• Tuesday, October 19: 1:00-5:00 p.m. ET
• Thursday, October 21: 1:00-5:00 p.m. ET

Course Concepts

• Why engaging in policy advocacy is essential for foundations to achieve their goals
• A refresher on legal rules governing grantmaker funding and actions
• How staff roles across the foundation can support advocacy, and how to build internal buy-in for this work
• Characteristics of grantmaking that support effective policy advocacy
• How to leverage a foundation's assets, including reputation and relationships, to advance policy
• Vocabulary and framework to discuss risk strategically, moving from a binary "safe/unsafe" view to a "managed risk" mindset
• Funding vehicles that support effective policy advocacy
• Building strong, effective relationships with nonprofit partners and grantees
• How to evaluate partner contributions and navigate real-life challenges
• Action planning for integrating these strategies into your foundation's work

Who Should Attend

• Private foundation staff with a basic understanding of policy work.
• Foundation staff of all experience levels that incorporate policy advocacy into their work - such as those in leadership, communications, grants management, or strategic planning.

Please note, this course is limited to foundation staff and Board members only.

Group Rate

Trainings are designed to be taken individually at a personal workstation, not in a group setting. Registration rates are per person. Group rates are for Council Members that send 5+ people from one organization, each person must be registered individually to attend. Email educate@cof.org to register a group. 

What to Expect

Hear from Remy Barnwell, the Council's Senior Staff Counsel and co-presenter of Essentials of Policy Advocacy for Grantmakers, as she shares insights into the training and how policy advocacy can help amplify your foundation's impact.

Cancellation Policy

All registration cancellations must be submitted in writing to educate@cof.org. All cancellation refunds before September 19, 2027 will incur a 25% administrative fee per registration. No refunds will be provided after September 19, 2027.

Workshop Hours

• Tuesday, June 8: 1-3:30 p.m. ET
• Thursday, June 10: 1-3:30 p.m. ET
• Wednesday, June 16: 1-3:30 p.m. ET

Government policies and programs, at the federal, state, and local level, affect almost every aspect of our lives, from housing, healthcare and the environment to education, transportation, and safety.  For foundations striving to create equitable, inclusive, and widely prosperous communities, it is necessary to focus on strengthening and reimagining policies and systems.

Participation in advocacy is an essential strategy to advance the mission of community foundations. Yet a lack of understanding of the rules of advocacy and lobbying, confusion about the appropriate governance and risk management, as well as a dearth of tools and internal capacity needed to be successful prevents many community foundations from engaging in public policy. 

This learning opportunity is intended for staff from community foundations of all sizes that are committed to getting more involved in policy and advocacy work.

This training will provide community foundations across geographies and of all sizes with:

• Increased understanding of the importance of public policy to improve outcomes
• Improved policy practice
• Increased advocacy action

In this training, participants will:

• Understand a comprehensive picture of community foundation strategies to engage in effective public policy advocacy at the local, state, and federal levels, that advances the greater good
• Understand the complex dynamics around foundation staff’s relationships with policy advocacy organizations and explore the optimal relationship for your foundation
• Learn how to build support for advocacy among your foundation’s staff and board
• Learn how to improve your foundation’s grantmaking to more effectively participate in policy advocacy

Group Rate

Trainings are designed to be taken individually at a personal workstation, not in a group setting. Registration rates are per person. The Pair Registration rate is available if sending 2+ people from one organization, each person must be registered individually to attend. Email educate@cof.org to register a group. 

Cancellation Policy 

All registration cancellations must be submitted in writing to educate@cof.org. All cancellation refunds before May 8, will incur a 25% administrative fee per registration. No refunds will be provided after May 8, 2027.

Offered in partnership with: 

Join the Council’s Legal Resources team for an overview of donor-advised funds (DAFs) and the federal rules governing their operation. This workshop will cover the legal definition of a DAF and explain permissible distributions, prohibited donor benefits, and potential tax penalties under IRC Sections 4958, 4966, and 4967. Participants will learn about IRS Notice 2017-73 and its guidance on using DAF funds for event tickets, donor pledges, and public-support calculations.

Topics Include:

• DAF definitions, exceptions, and eligible grantees
• Taxable distributions and expenditure responsibility
• Prohibited benefits and associated penalties
• Notice 2017-73 guidance and regulatory considerations

Group Rate

Trainings are designed to be taken individually at a personal workstation, not in a group setting. Registration rates are per person. Group rates are for Council Members that send 5+ people from one organization, each person must be registered individually to attend. Email educate@cof.org to register a group. 

Cancellation Policy 

All registration cancellations must be submitted in writing to educate@cof.org. All cancellation refunds before March 28, will incur a 25% administrative fee per registration. No refunds will be provided after March 28, 2027.