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GLOBAL TRAINING
Global Grantmaking Essentials
Join us for a thorough overview of the laws governing global grantmaking. This training offers practical solutions for foundation staff responsible for making grants abroad.
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The 2026 Grantmaker Salary and Benefits Report contains the most comprehensive and up-to-date data on U.S. philanthropic sector salaries, benefits, and demographic details, with information presented by grantmaker type, foundation type, asset size, and geographic location. The 2026 Grantmaker…
The 2026 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 2026 Grantmaker Salary and Benefits Survey and presented…
Tickets, tables, and gala invitations may seem like a simple perk of philanthropic giving. For foundation managers, however, they are often far more complex than they appear. If you manage a family, corporate, or community foundation, you have probably faced the question, "Can we use these?" The…
What are the legal requirements for private foundations wishing to make cross-border grants?
What is equivalency determination?
What is expenditure responsibility?
How do I decide whether to use equivalency determination or expenditure responsibility?
What are the legal…
The 2025 Grantmaker Salary and Benefits (GSB) Administrative and Program Expense Tables provide foundations the benchmarking data needed to measure administrative, program, service, and qualifying distribution expenses against peers in the field. Containing data collected through the Council’s GSB…
Private foundations wishing to make a cross-border grant must ensure that:The grant is clearly for a charitable purpose, andThe grant counts as a qualifying distribution for the purpose of meeting the foundation’s annual distribution requirement.The easiest way for a private foundation to satisfy…
https://cof.org/content/grants-organizations-donor-advised-funds-expenditure-responsibility-required
Use this flowchart to determine if grants from donor-advised funds require expenditure responsibility.
Expenditure responsibility is a five step procedure that is designed to ensure that foundation funds are used for exclusively charitable purposes.
The five basic steps that are required for completing expenditure responsibility include:
Conducting a pre-grant inquiry including a reasonable…
This page outlines the range of purposes that qualify an organization for tax exemption under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. It explains how the IRS and courts interpret key terms — especially "charitable" — and how those interpretations shape eligibility.
Permissible Exempt…