what is a community foundation?
Community foundations aim to build stronger communities through the use and involvement of local people, local ideas and local solutions to meet local needs.
Community foundations are philanthropic organisations that build a community’s capacity for self-help; provide funds to address community needs and facilitate partnerships between groups within a community to find solutions to local issues.
Community foundations are community-based charitable organisations that develop the community’s capacity for independence and self-reliance.
They enable communities to help themselves through involving local people in:- Making grants to carefully selected local charitable projects; and
- Building long and shorter term philanthropic funds by developing philanthropy within and for the community; and
- Creating partnerships between community organisations, local businesses, government agencies and committed individuals for the benefit of the local community; and/li>
- Gaining skills and experience through participation in the foundation itself; via funded projects; and through training and pilot programs.
Also, community foundations:
- seek to improve the quality of life for all people in a defined geographic area;
- are independent from control or influence by other organisations, governments or donors;
- are community based, governed by a board of citizens broadly reflective of the communities they serve;
- make grants to other not-for-profit groups to address a wide variety of emerging and changing needs in the community;
- seek to build a permanent resource for the community, most often through the creation of endowed funds from a wide range of donors, including local citizens, corporations, governments, and other foundations and nonprofits;
- provide services to donors to help them achieve their philanthropic goals;
- engage in a broad range of community leadership and partnership activities, serving as catalysts, convenors, collaborators and facilitators to solve problems and develop solutions to important community issues;
- have open and transparent policies and practices concerning all aspects of their operations; and
- are accountable to the community by informing the general public about their purposes, activities, and financial status on a regular basis.