Marketing & Communications
Effective communication should align with your foundation’s mission and clearly convey the meaningful impact of your work. The Council has created a number of tools and resources to help you improve the way you share your foundation’s story with key stakeholders.
Philanthropy's New Voice: Building Trust With Deeper Stories and Clear Language
Publication
United States foundations are an essential element of America’s social sector, supporting causes from public libraries to groundbreaking research, to new approaches to building a more equitable world. But despite their reach, foundations have an identity problem. From small towns to Washington, D.C…
Better Stories, Better Language: A New Voice for Philanthropy
The Council on Foundations and the Center for Public Interest Communications have recently completed a scan of the dominant narratives around foundations. Our findings, in short: We need better stories and better language if we really want to lift up the positive impact of our work, push back…
Community Foundation Week 2024 Resources
Toolkit
Celebrating National Community Foundation Week November 12-18: Engage with Your Local Community Today!
Community Foundation Week, created in 1989 by former president George H.W. Bush, recognizes the important work of community foundations throughout America and their collaborative and innovative…
Webinar Recording: Words Matter: Getting Your Communications Ready for #CFWeek
Recording
With Community Foundation Week (#CFWeek) just days away, this midday webinar is the perfect time to brush up on communications tips around pitching press releases, creating marketing email campaigns that click with your audience, navigating social media, and showcasing your foundation's work…
Community Foundation Marketing Toolkits
Toolkit
Through partnership and with the leadership of Council of Michigan Foundations, the Council on Foundations is excited to share customizable marketing tools repackaged from the original portfolio created by the National Marketing Action Team (NMAT).
Whether you need to jumpstart your…
Charitable IRA Portfolio
Toolkit
The Charitable IRA Portfolio is a collection of tools designed to help communicate the exciting giving opportunities available to donors.
Revised to reflect recent legislative changes, the portfolio includes:
Talking points, a fact sheet, and Web content
An event presentation
Tools that…
Giving Days
External Resource
2014 marked the 100th anniversary of the founding of the first community foundation, The Cleveland Foundation, in Cleveland, Ohio. Since then over 700 community foundations have been created in the United States and countless more globally. The Council recognizes the critical and unique role of…
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…
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…
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…
Annual Reports
Fundamentals
An annual report is your foundation's report to the community—a year-end summary of your activities, a record of grants and issues funded, and a description of donor contributions. The annual report is likely your community foundation's most important public relations tool and part of your larger…