A community foundation is a philanthropic organization, organized and operated primarily as a permanent collection of endowed funds, the earnings of which are used for the long-term benefit of a geographically defined community. A community foundation is tax-exempt, incorporated, not-for-profit, organizationally autonomous, and cannot be controlled directly or indirectly by government at any level, corporations, associations and their members, or individuals.



What is a community foundation?



Community foundations are volunteer-driven, non-profit organizations that aim to strengthen communities by:



Pooling the charitable gifts of many donors to create permanent, income-earning endowment funds that benefit local communities.



Making grants from the earnings of these funds to support a wide range of local initiatives, from health, education and social services to arts, culture and the environment.



Providing leadership to their communities by bringing people together from all sectors to identify and address local issues.



What does a community foundation do?



it provides grant support to a wide range of local community programs - from health, education and social services to arts, culture and the environment



it pools the gifts of many donors into permanent, income-earning endowment funds - the community foundation makes grants from the interest on the funds; the principal is not touched



it provides leadership to its community by bringing people together from all sectors to identify and address local issues