Just what is a community foundation?  It’s a tax-exempt public charity created by and for the people in a local area.  A community foundation helps people with philanthropic interests to easily and effectively support the issues they care about – immediately, or through their will.

Donors can establish a charitable fund at the foundation by contributing a variety of assets and may also recommend grants – in their name, if they choose – to nonprofit groups they want to support.

Funds at a community foundation, most of which are endowed, are pooled for the long-term benefit of the community.  A common analogy is that a community foundation functions as a community’s “collective savings account.”  The economy of scale offered by a pooled body of funds helps maximize investment returns while keeping costs low.

Community foundations are the nation’s fastest-growing form of philanthropy, largely because they make good sense.  The first was founded in Cleveland in 1914, and today there are more than 700 community foundations across the country, collectively holding more than $31 billion in permanent charitable funds. 

For donors, community foundations make charitable giving easy, flexible and effective by connecting their interests and priorities to the needs of the community.  They offer an excellent way for people to participate in the “big pictures” in their community – efforts that will truly make a difference for this generation and those to come.