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Ten Ways for Community Foundations to Consider Diversity and Inclusive Practices
Publication
Please note: This resource was published in 2010.
This guide is designed to help foundations consider how more diverse and inclusive practices might advance their mission by making their work more effective and more reflective of communities served. By highlighting 10 ways community…
The Four Ps of Marketing: A Roadmap to Greater Visibility for Community Foundations
Toolkit
Visibility is vital to community foundations as they seek to gain credibility and attract new resources. But how can younger and smaller community foundations best use their limited marketing budgets? What audiences should they target first? How important is broad public awareness — and how much…
Community Foundation Field Guide to Impact Investing
External Resource
The interactive resource guides community foundations through the three main stages of the impact investing journey: Learn, Design, and Activate. At each stage, you can click on various topics to learn more about what the topic entails and how other community foundations have approached place-based…
Supporting Employee Volunteerism
Legal Compliance Guidance
Question: May a private company foundation support the volunteer activities of the sponsoring corporation's employees?
Answer: Company foundations sometimes play a role in coordinating volunteer activities of the sponsoring corporation's employees. The IRS has approved company foundations'…
Reporting Direct Charitable Activities
Legal Compliance Guidance
Question:
Our company foundation sometimes carries out its own charitable programs. For example, last year we organized a conference on the topic of evaluating program impact for our grantees and other nonprofits in one of our communities. Where does this information get reported on our Form 990-…
Public Disclosure of Form 990-PF
Legal Compliance Guidance
Question: Our staff just received a request for a copy of our foundation's Form 990-PF. Are we required to provide this information?
Answer: Yes. A foundation’s tax return on Form 990-PF provides a wealth of information about the organization including asset size, board members, salary information…
Private Foundation Excise Tax Rates
Legal Compliance Guidance
The Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA) increased the excise tax rates for violations of many of the private foundation rules. In most cases, the first-tier taxes were doubled. These changes are effective for private foundations upon the foundation’s first tax year beginning after August 17, 2006…
Planning for CEO Succession
Fundamentals
Many foundations may be uncertain about what’s involved when it comes to succession planning. Some wonder why they should worry about the future at all when they have so much work to do in managing their grantmaking, community leadership and development, and administrative duties.
Succession…
Membership Dues and Self-Dealing
Legal Compliance Guidance
Question: Why do Council on Foundations membership materials and invoices state that if my foundation and corporate giving program share a membership, dues must be paid by the corporation? Is this true for other memberships as well?
Answer: IRS self-dealing rules prohibit private foundations (…
Working with the Media
Fundamentals
Working with the media should be part of your overall communications plan. Even if you don't have a written communications plan, you still need to focus some attention toward the media. Working with the media—that is, public relations—establishes a strong public presence and image for your…
Mandatory Electronic Filing for Form 990 and 990-PF
Legal Compliance Guidance
Question: Are corporate foundations required to file electronically the 2006 Form 990 or Form 990-PF?
Answer: Whether or not a corporate foundation is required to file electronically depends on a number of factors. Generally, only foundations with a substantial number of employees or consultants…
Sharing Office Space
Legal Compliance Guidance
Question:
Can a company provide office space to the company foundation?
Answer:
A parent company can always provide the company foundation with office space as long as it does so free of charge. While it is even possible for the parent company and the foundation to share the cost of office space…
Handbook on Responsible Investment Across Asset Classes
External Resource
From the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship, this handbook on responsible investing provides the blueprint for foundation asset managers interested in multiplying their organization’s impact on society.
Case Study: Expanding Philanthropy - Mission-Related Investing at the F.B. Heron Foundation
External Resource
Prepared by the Southern New Hampshire University's School of Community Economic Development and available through Mission Investors Exchange, this case study explores the details of the F.B. Heron Foundation's rationale, exploration, and implementation of its mission-related investment strategy,…
Compounding Impact: Mission Investing by U.S. Foundations
External Resource
This report by FSG Social Impact Advisors provides the first comprehensive analysis of mission investing by U.S. foundations and analyzes the activity of 92 U.S. foundations, which have made a combined total of $2.3 billion of mission investments.
Mission Possible: Emerging Opportunities for Mission-Connected Investment
External Resource
From the New Economics Foundation, Mission Possible considers how foundations might more effectively use a proportion of their endowment in support of the change they set out to create – their mission. Starting from the premise that paths are made by walking, it explores the potential of ‘mission-…
About Council Resources
As a benefit of membership, the Council on Foundations attorneys and legal staff provide information and education to Council members regarding a variety of topics related to foundation operations and legal compliance. All information on this website, and all publications, articles, e-mail correspondence and telephone consultations provided by Council attorneys and legal staff are intended for informational purposes only and not as part of an attorney-client relationship. Council attorneys are not licensed in every state and cannot provide legal representation.
The information is not a substitute for expert legal, tax or other professional advice tailored to your specific circumstances, and may not be relied upon for the purposes of avoiding any penalties that may be imposed under the Internal Revenue Code. Council members may e-mail legal@cof.org with inquiries and for more information.
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