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Engaging Donor Advised Funds in Impact Investing
Toolkit
A Toolkit for Community Foundations
“Impact investing” is the practice of investing for social and environmental impact while generating financial return. For community foundations, impact investing represents a new, complementary tool for achieving community change. Community foundations are…
How to Avoid Commingling
Legal Compliance Guidance
Question
The same company representatives serve on our company foundation board of directors and our Corporate Contributions Committee. Can we hold the meetings for both programs simultaneously?
Answer
No. While it is possible to hold the meetings for the corporate giving program and company…
Honoring Grant Commitments amid Difficult Corporate Finances
Legal Compliance Guidance
Question:
In light of current economic conditions, the corporation has asked whether the company's private foundation may honor grant commitments already made by the corporate giving program. Can the private foundation make these grants?
Answer:
Maybe. The facts and circumstances surrounding the…
Corporate Foundation Grants to Government
Legal Compliance Guidance
Question: May corporate grantmakers make grants to units of government such as public schools or local parks departments?
Answer: Yes, both corporate giving programs and corporate foundations may make grants to units of government as long as the grants are restricted to charitable purposes.
What…
Corporate Foundations and Grants to Non-Charities
Legal Compliance Guidance
Question: May our corporate foundation or corporate giving program provide a grant to an organization that is not a charity?
Answer: Yes, but the process required to make a grant to a non-charity depends on the type of corporate giving vehicle used to make the grant. Private foundations must…
Grantmaking Options for Corporate Philanthropies
Legal Compliance Guidance
Question: We are trying to decide how to structure our grants programs between our direct-giving program and our corporate foundation. Are there any general guidelines to help us?
Answer: Many factors influence how to allocate grantmaking programs between a corporate giving program and a…
Getting Started with Evaluation
Fundamentals
As different as foundations can be from one another, they all share the need to know what works and, especially, what works well. The more foundations can show how their grants are making a difference, the more value they can bring to their communities.
To know what works, foundations must…
Getting Started With Social Media
Fundamentals
Social media is an increasingly prevalent part of our world. Whether it’s on the news, sitting in traffic, or talking with colleagues, you’ll be hard-pressed to avoid mention of Facebook or Twitter. Is there a good way for your foundation to become involved?
Perhaps your board chair suggested that…
Funding a Dissolving Nonprofit
Legal Compliance Guidance
Question: Our foundation has been funding a local nonprofit for the last ten years. The nonprofit has one full-time employee and an annual operating budget of about $300,000. The nonprofit recently requested a $50,000 grant for operating expenditures or it will have to close down immediately. Even…
FAQ: Fiscal Sponsors
Legal Compliance Guidance, Fundamentals
We just received a grant request from a group that is not a public charity. The request states that the group has a “fiscal sponsor” and the grant agreement is countersigned by the fiscal sponsor? Can we make this grant?
Yes. A grant to a public charity serving as a fiscal sponsor is treated like…
First 100 Days of the Program Officer: Advice from the Field
Fundamentals
Note to the Program Officer
The scope of the program officer job description has evolved. Where it was once primarily tactical—reviewing funding requests and developing requests for proposals—the program officer’s role more commonly includes strategic activities. Program officers must master three…
Grant Evaluation Approaches and Methods
Fundamentals
One of the greatest challenges encountered in thinking about evaluation is that there usually is more than one acceptable way to evaluate a given grant, project, or program.
The form that an evaluation takes and the products that it yields will depend on choices made about the following issues…
Establishing a Scholarship Fund for Corporate Employees
Fundamentals, Legal Compliance Guidance
Question: Our corporate foundation is planning to establish a scholarship fund for our employees' children. What do we need to keep in mind and what steps do we need to follow to ensure we are complying with the legal requirements?
Response: The granting of scholarships, fellowships, and…
Providing Quality Donor Services to Keep Donors Engaged
Fundamentals
Keeping donors interested and excited about their philanthropy is a fundamental task for a community foundation. After all, donors are your best source for additional gifts and larger “legacy” gifts in the future.
Community foundations provide donor services to achieve two main goals - to keep…
Discretionary Grants by Corporate Foundations
Legal Compliance Guidance
Question:May a corporate foundation allow corporate board members who do not sit on the foundation’s board to designate grants from the corporate foundation?
Answer:No. All grants from the corporate foundation must be approved by the corporate foundation’s board of directors. No individual—…
Sample Disclosure and Confidentiality Statement for Staff and Board Members
Sample Document
You can use this document to guide the development of your disclosure and confidentiality statement for staff and board of directors.
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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