Philanthropic Families Partnering with Community Foundations

Community foundations can be a trusted resource and partner to philanthropic families. They help families solve practical issues such as geographic dispersion and can provide deeper support around issues such as community problem-solving and family succession planning. This NCFP Featured Search provides a range of examples of these partnerships. Know of other good resources to include here? Please let us know.

NCFP Webinars
June 11, 2015

Ten ways philanthropic families work with community foundations
[NOTE: Due to technical difficulties during the webinar, there is a short period of silence from 16:23 to 16:53 in the replay. Our sincere apologies!]   This special webinar as we count and describe the many ways that philanthropic families work with the more than 800 community foundations spread across North America. …
August 8, 2013

Families and Community Foundations Working Together
Families have a special connection to the communities in which they live, and families engaged in philanthropy often have lasting relationships with their local community foundation. Community foundations play many roles – convener, advocate, strategic grantmaker, and donor advisor, to name just a few. This webinar features three very different examples …

Stories and Profiles of Donors

Knowledge Philanthropy: Engaging Donors in Community Needs

 Article
The Calgary Foundation understands the importance of our 3 key roles: donor stewardship, effective grantmaker, community leader…but what’s our why? What do we believe? After sixty years of serving philanthropy for the benefit of community, we’ve learned our knowledge of community issues and needs represents the distinct value …

The Ansara Family Fund: Partnering Beyond Borders for Long-term Impact

 Article
When Karen and Jim Ansara contacted the Boston Foundation on January 14, 2010 to talk about how their family’s donor advised fund could best respond to the earthquakes in Haiti – which had happened less than 48 hours before – they were continuing both a longstanding commitment to international philanthropy, as well as a …

The Efroymson Family Fund: Commitment to Community

 Article
Jacob and Minnie Efroymson moved from Evansville, Indiana to the relatively young state capital of Indianapolis in 1872. The couple opened a small dry goods store on South Meridian Street, unaware they were beginning a family commitment to the city that would last for generations.

Painting a Family Philanthropy Canvas

 Article
Having just moved into their New York apartment, Barbara and Donald Jonas found themselves staring at a blank canvas. “About thirty years ago, we had moved into a lovely apartment with a lot of walls and we wanted to do something together,” says Barbara. “[My husband and I] thought that […

Community Foundation Youth Engagement Models

Igniting the Spark: The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta

 Impact Story
In 2001, The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta launched the Center for Family Philanthropy. The focus of the Center was two-fold: (1) to provide a higher level of services to philanthropists with donor advised funds of $250,000 or more, or a planned gift of $1M or more; and (2) to engage donors with families …

Igniting the Spark: Greater Worcester Community Foundation

 Impact Story
As a way to support the voice of youth in the community and engage donors, the Great Worcester Community Foundation adopted the Youth for Community Involvement (YCI) Program in 1999. YCI provides an opportunity for youth from schools across the area to build skills in leadership and philanthropy. The foundation set …

Igniting the Spark: YOUTHadelphia, A program of The Philadelphia Foundation

 Impact Story
In 2006, The Philadelphia Foundation established YOUTHadelphia to build youth leadership skills by empowering teens to give back to their community. YOUTHadelphia is a unique youth philanthropy model, with a defined focus on mentoring among the cohort of youth, centered around the fact that newer youth are mentored by returning youth …

Igniting the Spark: Foundation for Metrowest

 Impact Story
The Foundation for MetroWest, based in Natick, Massachusetts, has been committed to educating the next generation of community leaders through the Youth in Philanthropy (YIP) program since 1997. In that time, over 900 youth from MetroWest communities have funded nearly $700,000 in grants that support youth. This case study describes their history of …

Articles and Additional Resources

What Are Easy Ways to Involve My Children in Giving This Year?

 Article
Editor’s Note: Many families anticipating a generational board change ask the National Center for Family Philanthropy how to involve the next generation in their giving as they are getting ready to ascend to the board. Many families have begun to ask about easy ways to involve their children in …

Families and Community Foundations: Natural Partners, Enhanced Results

 Article
Family philanthropy has been at the heart of the community foundation field since its inception. In 1914, Frederick H. Goff and his family created the first community foundation in Cleveland, Ohio.  Since then, tens of thousands of families, individual donors and corporations—many of them family businesses—have helped to launch, …

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