Strengthening Communities
Rallying Support for Rural Schools
Lessons Learned
Julie Leeth, Executive Vice President for the Community Foundation of the Ozarks says many lessons emerged from the effort to develop and sustain the Rural Schools Partnership.
Here are some of her takeaways about how to get strong alignment and support behind a major initiative…
President's Budget Proposes Key Domestic Investments
President Obama unveiled his Fiscal Year 2015 Budget yesterday, which sets forth the Administration’s spending and policy priorities for the coming year. The Budget presents a fiscal plan oriented around three White House priorities: accelerating economic growth, expanding opportunity for all…
How Data Can Unearth Innovative Solutions to 'Wicked' Problems
The Community Foundations of Canada’s Vital Signs is an annual community check-up, conducted by community foundations across Canada – and now around the world – that uses data to measure the vitality of our communities.
The effort started in the late 1990s at the Toronto Community Foundation (TCF…
2014 Annual Conference Call for Sessions
Call for Sessions
Be a part of the 2014 Annual Conference: Philanthropy Exchange!
The Council is issuing a Call for Sessions to leading civil and social innovators. We are looking to you for well-developed sessions that offer diverse perspectives, concrete solutions, and fresh insights into our…
What’s Next for Community Knowledge
This post is part of the #CF100 Series of blog posts. The Council on Foundations is marking the 100th anniversary of the nation’s first community foundation, The Cleveland Foundation, by highlighting the roles of community foundations with this series.
Last fall I joined community foundation…
Registration is Now Open for the 2014 Annual Conference: Philanthropy Exchange
A brand new conference experience – Philanthropy Exchange – supercharges the Council on Foundations' Annual Conference with enhanced networking opportunities, an inclusive perspective on the shared values of the field, and a focus on the issues that matter to you.
Join over a thousand of your…
This Week at the Council - January 31, 2014
State of the Union Edition
This Week at the Council, all eyes were on President Obama's fifth State of the Union Address, though a few of us were distracted by our ever-charming Vice President. In his speech, the President declared a "Year of Action" for himself, Congress, and private citizens. He…
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…
Community Foundations Centennial
In 2014, the Council marked the 100th anniversary of the nation’s first community foundation, the Cleveland Foundation, by celebrating the impact of the first century of community philanthropy and looking ahead to the next 100 years.
The centennial offered a unique opportunity to reflect on the…
What Happens to Them Determines the Future of the Us
“Many people who are being left behind are from communities being left behind. If we don’t come to terms with the racial divide, we will cause a generational divide,” said Angela Glover Blackwell. Wow. What a great way to get the blood pumping at the morning plenary. Well spoken, politely heard,…
The Work of Philanthropy in Crises–Part II
Foundations in New Orleans, Los Angeles, and Detroit have faced conditions before and after crises that are all but unimaginable. For example, Detroit has enough vacant and unused land to fit inside San Francisco, more vacant land than any city in the U.S. except for post-Katrina New Orleans, a…
The Work of Philanthropy in Crisis Conditions—Part I
If there is an epicenter of the decline of a city and its loss of an economic base, the candidates start with Detroit, where the population has plummeted 25 percent in the last decade to 714,000–this for a city whose population was 1.85 million in 1950. The city now has an extraordinarily high…
Paving the Way for Philanthropic and Public Policy Partnerships
This year’s Paul Ylvisaker Public Policy Award winner, Linda Reed, president and CEO of the Montana Community Foundation, delivered a formal talk on the relationship of rural philanthropy and public policy. Given that Reed was talking about Montana, where there are only three communities with…
The L.A. Narrative
“Los Angeles: America, Only Sooner”
John Deasy, our dynamic new superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), recently used that phrase to describe Los Angeles at a recent convening of funders.
It is true that because of our size, diversity, and global leadership position that…
New Web Tool Responds to Call from Philanthropy, Encourages Partnership in HUD Grant Programs
Responding to Demand
It can be frustrating to look for useful bits of information on grantees and strong programs inside an agency that produces large amounts of data each and every day. Since its inception two years ago, our Office for International and Philanthropic Innovation (IPI) has fielded…
Make It Happen! Individuals Can Make Positive Community Change
by Matt Charles
Do you know how to make your community a better place to live? Do you have an idea that would touch a large population or wide area? These are questions that Danville Regional Foundation (DRF) posed to those within its service area. To turn their ideas into reality, DRF launched its…