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Community Foundations

Community Foundation Week 2012

November 12–18, 2012

Community Foundation Week (CF Week) is a prime opportunity to highlight your foundation’s critical role in supporting a thriving local community. As in years past, it coincides with National Philanthropy Day on November 15, which is sponsored by the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

In 2011, the Council on Foundations worked closely with community foundations to leverage CF Week as an opportunity to promote community philanthropy. Using media relations, social media, and government relations were great ways to tell the stories of community foundations and their impact. CF Week was mentioned in Congress and is now part of the congressional record, thanks to Reps. Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Schumer (D-N.Y.)

The Council on Foundations promotes CF Week through a variety of national channels and offers a toolkit to help participants spread the word locally.

If you have questions, contact Shanee Helfer of the Council’s Community Foundations Services department at shanee.helfer@cof.org or 703-879-0729.

Tell Philanthropy's Story

The Council is spearheading an aggressive, proactive campaign to communicate philanthropy’s story to federal lawmakers. The more you participate, the more effective the campaign will be, so please start sharing your stories today.

Social Media

Twitter
Please use the hash tag #CFWEEK when tweeting about CF Week activities.
Blogs
The Council invites community foundation members to send blog posts about initiatives, challenges, or successes you have experienced this year. Please send your 300-word story with a .jpg headshot to lana.williams@cof.org. Your post will appear on our RE: Philanthropy blog during CF Week and be distributed as part of our Philanthropy in the News RSS feed. We also tweet about the blog and mention new posts on the Council’s Facebook page.
Philanthropy in the News
CF Week is an ideal time to highlight news from our members. If you have a current item you would like to include in Philanthropy in the News, please e-mail it to mediarequests@cof.org. (Please note that we cannot include press releases. All submissions must be clips from a media outlet.)
Facebook
Help us highlight the work of community foundations on our Facebook page during CF Week. Please continue to share your stories by posting on our page.
YouTube
Have a video, ad, or PSA you use to promote your community foundation? Please share it with us on the Council’s YouTube channel.

Template Materials

To help you spread the word about your community foundation’s accomplishments, the Council has created an online media kit. Please use these materials to promote your foundation in the local media—cohesion helps us amplify the voice of community foundations. This year, you will see a common message across all communications: Community foundations invest in our communities to impact lives, solve problems, and improve futures.

Op Ed template
Press release template
Radio public service announcement
Community foundation facts and figures
CF Marketplace, a cross-referenced, searchable database of articles and links to other resources submitted by community foundations across the United States

Government Relations

CF Week provides a unique opportunity to reach out to your elected officials, Mayors and Governors to talk about the important role you play in their respective states and districts. The Council will ask the chairs of the House and Senate Philanthropy Caucuses to read floor statements for the Congressional Record.
Congress is scheduled to be in session during the week of November 12-16. This is a prime opportunity, especially during an election year to ask your elected official, to recognize your community foundation’s contributions by making a statement for the Congressional Record.

The Council’s government relations team is available to assist you in outreach to your elected official’s Washington, DC office and in placing a statement in the Congressional Record. For assistance, contact Tim Huber at hubet@cof.org.

We’ve also drafted sample proclamation language for you to send to your Mayor and Governor that encourages them to publically recognize your foundation’s contributions and important work in the community.