International Giving

Disaster Overview In December 2017, nearly 9,000 wildfires tore through the State of California, burning 1.2 million acres of land, destroying more than 10,800 structures and killing at least 46 people. Source: Washington Post Member and Partner Resources The Council co-sponsored a funders phone…

Monday’s blog kicked off Community Foundation Week (#CFWeek) and highlighted our inaugural North American Community Foundation Summit. Next February in Mexico City, we will explore bold and innovative approaches to address the multifaceted issues impacting our local communities, highlighting how…

The Council on Foundations is thrilled to co-host the first-ever North American Community Foundations Summit in Mexico City. I am excited to think creatively and collaboratively with philanthropy peers from across North America to ensure that our changing communities leave no one behind. There are…

Zero, in the context of a healthy world, is the most ambitious number of all. If the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were about making progress to achieve a healthy planet and people, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are about getting to zero, or as close to it as possible. The Global…

Disaster Overview Mexico experienced two major earthquakes in September 2017. The first, hitting the southern coast of Mexico on September 8th, was one of the biggest ever recorded in the area at a magnitude of 8.1. Only eleven days after this first major disastor, on September 19th, Mexico was hit…

In collaborative partnership, Global Impact, Blackbaud, Council on Foundations and Foundation Center developed a new resource to support organizations in aligning and tracking charitable giving to the United Nations (U.N.) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). More specifically, the creation of “…

In the Council’s recently published Community Foundation Business Model Disruptions in the 21st Century, Kevin Murphy cited a debate simmering in the community foundation field about the future of community foundation business model. At the Council, we have seen a growing trend in community…

Recently, Council staff traveled to Albuquerque, New Mexico to join more than 50 funders to discuss how the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are relevant to local challenges facing communities across the Southwest. The gathering was the sixth city in a series of national conversations about the…

Members, View the Recording Are you a corporate foundation that makes grants internationally?  Do you make grants to organizations that are not 501(c)(3) public charities?  If so, you will want to learn more about expenditure responsibility and equivalency determinations, and understand…

The Council on Foundations wrote to the Department of Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)  to urge them to prioritize several regulations and guidance documents that impact our members. Each year, the Priority Guidance Plan identifies and prioritizes those tax issues that…

For the last three years, I’ve noticed a growing trend in community foundations asking for support to make international grants, often from donor or corporate advised funds. We’ve never had data on how many community foundations are making global grants, which is why I’m delighted to share that…

Since I joined the Council in early 2016, I have fielded many requests from community foundations (CFs) seeking support and guidance in facilitating international grants, often due to growing interest from members of their community in supporting causes overseas. At the Council, we’ve witnessed…

The Council’s Global Team is excited to welcome a new addition! Nicolette Gerald is a graduate of George Mason University with a bachelor’s degree in government and international politics. She will be spending the next two months with us as a summer intern before beginning her graduate studies in…

Strengthening Local Communities to Achieve Global Goals Overview There are significant challenges facing communities in the Southwest, including racial inequality in education, economic opportunities and health outcomes. The Council on Foundations, Philanthropy Southwest, and Albuquerque…

Council staff are back in D.C. after a whirlwind Annual Conference in Dallas last month, where we were joined by more than 1000 attendees from around the world. You can see conference highlights at cof.org/2017annual. Thank you to all of our global speakers and especially to our global conference…