Professional Development

Community Leadership for Community Foundations

In addressing critical community needs, community foundations have increasingly found their organizations being called upon to step into new roles that go beyond the traditional role of grantmaker—acting as convener, coalition-builder and community organizer.

So when does your community foundation play which role? What skills are needed? How does your foundation choose which community issues to take on?

The Center for Community Foundation Excellence can help you begin to address these questions and many others related to community leadership. We offer a comprehensive and interactive course, taught by experienced practitioners, who will help you learn more about this work in just a few days.

Detailed Agenda 

Overview

If you're involved in planning and implementing your foundation's community leadership activities, then this course is for you. You'll cover the different facets of community leadership, discuss how to use them effectively and learn about the 12 key internal and external elements of a strategic assessment. Throughout the course, you'll have opportunities to network with colleagues and begin developing a community leadership plan with realistic outcomes, strategies for engaging board and staff and methods for communicating the results. And when you head back home you'll have a resource book worth its weight in gold!

This course is designed for community foundation staff with at least two years experience in the field, who have an in-depth understanding of their foundation, the community foundation field and the civic infrastructure of their community. Staff of large and medium-sized foundations, as well as CEOs of smaller community foundations, will benefit from this course.

Taught by experienced fellow practitioners, this interactive course is designed to help you:

• Know more about the value-add of strategic community leadership activities
• Be more conversant about the various forms of leadership and learn when to apply specific leadership skills and strategies
• Have a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges community foundations face when undertaking leadership initiatives
• Find out about the tools available to conduct strategic assessments
• Learn about the delicate balance and interplay of departments and/or functional areas within a community foundation
• Better understand the implications and tradeoffs of leadership decisions

Courses

Community Foundation Fundamentals 

Community Leadership for Community Foundations 

Financial Administration for Community Foundations 

Making a Difference: A Community Impact Series 

Resource Development for Community Foundations 

Schedule of Center for Community Foundation Excellence courses 

Questions? Contact Sophie Dunbar at leaders@cof.org or 703-879-0768.