The CCSF report is the field’s most comprehensive and authoritative study on investment and governance policies and practices. The 2020 CCSF studies 260 private and community foundations that represent $115.4 billion in assets.
Funds Management
Community foundations generally maintain a variety of fund types from donor advised funds to agency endowment funds to designated and field-of-interest funds. Community foundations and other charitable organizations may also have relationships with supporting organizations. Learn more about the particular characteristics, management and legal requirements of these giving options and find information to help determine the best structure for your donors.
In-Depth knowledge on Funds Management
The CCSF report is the field’s most comprehensive and authoritative study on investment and governance policies and practices. The 2019 CCSF studies 265 private and community foundations that represent $104.7 billion in assets.
We surveyed 250 foundation leaders and conducted more than a dozen in-depth interviews to assess how the sector is changing in three ways: resourcing, priorities, and internal operations. Across all three, we found shifts in practices yet few examples of increases in power sharing.
This Strategy Guide invites you to reflect more deeply on how your foundation chooses to balance the four factors of Purpose, Conditions and Trends, Time Horizon, and Assets for Mission, especially in times of greater crisis or opportunity. It leaves the final decision to you, without judgment for your payout amount, lifespan, or mission.
Operating endowments can provide stability and long term sustainability for community foundations. They can also provide resources that enable foundation leaders to play a stronger leadership role in the community and direct resources to the most pressing issues. Developing and executing an endowment building campaign brings its own complexities and challenges and can often require a different engagement strategy with potential donors. This conference call featured conversation with respected development and community foundations leaders with firsthand experience building operating endowments as they shared an overview and analysis of a successful campaign.
Community foundation administrative fee structures and frequently asked questions about administrative fees for funds.
Historical information around non-component and donor-directed funds.
Raising money for community needs is the central function of community foundations. No surprise, then, that we receive more questions about fundraising than about any other topic. Following are some common inquiries we receive by telephone and e-mail and the replies we give.
Nonprofit Mergers
A look at some of the legal and non-legal aspects of merging one charitable program or organization with another.
This document outlines the basics of component funds, field of interest funds, donor advised funds and restrictions around these funds.