Community Foundations
Community foundations are grantmaking public charities that are dedicated to improving the lives of people in a defined local geographic area. They bring together the financial resources of individuals, families, and businesses to support effective nonprofits in their communities. Community foundations vary widely in asset size, ranging from less than $100,000 to more than $1.7 billion.
Community foundations play a key role in identifying and solving community problems. In 2017, they gave an estimated $5.48 billion to a variety of nonprofit activities in fields that included the arts and education, health and human services, the environment, and disaster relief. The Community Foundations National Standards Board confirms operational excellence in six key areas—mission, structure, and governance; resource development; stewardship and accountability; grantmaking and community leadership; donor relations; and communications. Foundations that comply with these standards can display the official National Standards Seal. Currently, over 500 community foundations have earned the seal.
More than 900 community foundations operate in urban and rural areas in every state in the United States; currently, approximately 350 are members of the Council on Foundations. The community foundation model also has taken hold around the world. Community foundations have participated in the growth of international giving by U.S. foundations in recent years, with international giving by community foundations more than tripling, from $103 million in 2011 to $315 million in 2015, and community foundations' share of overall international giving by U.S. foundations more than doubling, from 1.4 percent in 2011 to 3.4 percent in 2015.
You can use our Community Foundation Locator to view a list of community foundations in the United States.
Below is everything on our site for community foundations. We highly recommend that you use the navigation or our search feature to find what you're looking for on our site. Please also visit cof.org/community-foundations for curated community foundation content.
Thank You for a Great Year!
As 2019 comes to a close, I’m reflecting on my first year at the Council on Foundations. I’m proud of the strides we’ve made in forging strong relationships across the sector, moving our policy agenda forward, supporting the professional growth of members and reimagining both our membership model…
CFUnited Conference Highlights
This webinar is canceled. The CFUnited Conference is being postponed due of the COVID-19 outbreak. For more information, please see the official conference statement.
Learn More
2020 CFUnited Conference: Power of Place is designed to bring together the field of community foundations for the…
Career Pathways: The Unintended Consequences of Leadership Development
I’ve just finished a year-long program that aims to bring more diverse senior leadership to the philanthropic sector. My time with Council on Foundations’ Career Pathways program was transformative and will, no doubt, have an impact on my thinking and career trajectory in ways that I can’t yet even…
2019 Chapman Prize Awarded to Opportunity Fund, a Leading Nonprofit Microlender
The Council on Foundations and the Daniel and Barbara Chapman Trust today announced Opportunity Fund as the recipient of the 2019 Chapman Prize.
For more than 25 years, Opportunity Fund has served as a trusted partner to small business owners in underserved communities by providing access to…
2020 CFUnited Conference: Power of Place - CANCELLED
The CFUnited 2020 Conference is cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. For more information, please see the official conference statement.
Learn More
In January 2019, The Council on Foundations joined AdNet, Comma and ProNet as the fourth partner under the CFUnited umbrella to bring the…
Community Foundations at the Heart of Building Broader Communities in Americas
A Mexican American Linguist describes that in U.S. we would say “why has one of us stolen a television?”.
In Mexico, it would be, “one of us has stolen a television, why have we done this?”
The emphasis is not on punishing the individual at fault but recognizing our collective failure to support…
Community Foundation Excellence (CFE) Fundamentals Course - Dallas, TX - CANCELLED
Due to rapidly escalating health concerns relating to the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus), the Council on Foundations has decided to cancel this Community Foundation Excellence (CFE) Fundamentals Course. This decision was made out of concern for the health and well-being of our attendees.
We…
Nonprofit Law in Ethiopia
Legal Compliance Guidance
Current as of August 2022 | Download print version (PDF)
This describes the legal framework of nonprofit organizations (also known as non-governmental organizations or NGOs) in Ethiopia, along with translations of legislative provisions relevant for a foundation or advisor undertaking an…
Legal Matters for Community Foundations - Charlotte, NC - CANCELLED
This event is canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. We will work to find an alternate date to offer the course, subject to the containment of COVID-19 and ability to travel.
Council Coronavirus Resource Hub
Led by the Council on Foundations Legal Team and Brad Ward, Lead Straegist of…
Inclusive Economic Prosperity White Paper
In 2018, the Council on Foundations introduced a series of summits on inclusive economic prosperity. These summits were designed to help foundation leaders better understand the leading role that philanthropy can play in developing inclusive economic prosperity outcomes locally.
Given the…
Mo Data Mo Problems
Members, View the Recording
When the credit reporting agency Equifax announced in 2017 that it was breached, the personal data of 143 million people was exposed. The company subsequently agreed to a global settlement worth up to $425 million. Cyber attacks do not only occur in the private sector.…
Community Foundation Week Resources
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…
Membership Renewal 2020: Calling All Community Foundation Members
Members, View the Recording
The Council launched a new approach to membership to better reflect the diversity of the field, but what does that mean for you? Join this members-only conference call to hear more about the model, understand the new renewal process and get your questions answered by…
Community Foundation Week 2019
#COMMUNITYFNDWEEK
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 approach to working with the public, private, and nonprofit sector.
Annually,…
Philanthropy and the SDGs: Practical Tools for Alignment
External Resource
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors' guide for philanthropists to align your practices with the SDGs.
Pagination
- First page
- Previous page
- …
- 52
- 53
- 54
- …
- Next page
- Last page