Frequently Asked Questions

Question:

What else is there to know about community foundations?

Answer:

The Community Foundation Movement: The origin of community foundations

The first community foundation was created in Ohio in 1914 by Frederick Goff, a well-known banker in Cleveland, which had a rich history of charitable activities and organizations. Within five years, community foundations had formed in Chicago, Boston, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Rhode Island, and Buffalo, New York. Today there are more than 700 community foundations in urban and rural areas throughout the United States. The community foundation model has expanded from America to Europe to Australia, and is growing steadily in Africa. The Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support estimates that 1,175 community foundations are currently at work in 46 countries, with more foundations continuing to form.

What is the personality profile of a community foundation?

* Community foundations are uniquely positioned to take a leadership role in public life because they are guided by a commitment to improve the quality of life in a community.
* Their principled-based leadership is inclusive and nonpartisan, allowing them to transcend a single-issue orientation.
* Their endowments put community foundations in a stable position to focus on long term, sustainable results rather than stop-gap measures to address a problem.
* Because they work with both providers and recipients of services, they are among the first to understand the changing needs of a region as it grows and evolves.
* Community Foundations are increasingly becoming the hub where the expertise, efforts, and energy of citizens converge to create solutions to issues of concern.