What is a Community Foundation

A community foundation is a gathering of assets and ideas that serve a defined geographical area.

Conceived in 1914 as a vehicle for managing charitable bequests and remainder trusts dedicated to the betterment of a particular community, the community foundation concept has expanded and matured.

Today, community foundations offer opportunities for donors to invest in the present and future needs of their communities and accomplish philanthropic objectives that are difficult to achieve acting alone.

There are more than 650 such foundations in the United States established to increase the private charitable resources of the areas they serve.

Community Foundations are designated "public charities" rather than "private foundations" by the Internal Revenue Service because they raise a significant portion of their resources from a broad cross-section of the public each year.

For further information on the community foundation field, please visit the Council on Foundations website, www.cof.org.

To help you better understand the language of the foundation world, please consult this glossary of terms.