More Information About Community Foundations

Answers to some common questions...

What is a Community Foundation?

A Foundation is an organization managed by a volunteer Board of Directors to accept funds, invest and manage them for maximum return and dispense the interest regularly, based upon requests. The grants are distributed under established guidelines designed to enrich the quality of life of the community. Foundations are charitable non-profit organizations.

Foundations consider the community as a whole, in their support of not-for-profit charitable, educational and educational organizations. Foundations enrich the quality of life in the community. Foundations think and plan in the long term.

What do Community Foundations do?

Pool the charitable gifts of many donors into permanent, income-earning endowment funds that benefit local communities.
Make grants from the earnings of these funds to support a wide range of local initiatives--from health, education and social services to arts and culture and the environment.
Provide leadership to their communities by bringing people together from all sectors to identify and address local issues.

Canada's Community Foundations hold combined assets of nearly $1 billion. During 1997, they made over $50 million in grants to support local priorities across the country.

Who gives to Community Foundations?

All kinds of people. Many types of gifts--cash, real estate, stock, artwork and insurance--are contributed to community foundations. Donors can choose to support their hometown broadly or designate a favourite cause or charity. Flexibility is key. Community foundations provide many services to donors to help them make the most of their charitable gifts.

Many charities also place their endowment funds with community foundations in order to benefit from greater returns on their investments.

Why a local Community Foundation?

Governments cannot, nor indeed should not be expected to, provide support for all the activities that make communities special. The funds generated by a local Foundation would stay in the community and benefit its citizens directly. While grants are not designed to support operating budgets, they are supportive of special needs of local groups. Grants are based upon applications which are reviewed regularly by the Board of Directors. The Board is comprised of members of the immediate community.

A local Community Foundation would not compete with either the Donors' Association, or the Hospital Foundation. Both of these organizations, and others like them, are designed to support specific recipients. In the case of the Donor's Association, funds are directed to the specified charity to disburse as deemed necessary. Funds raised by the Hospital Foundation are managed by the Directors of that specific corporation. The Community Foundation would disburse grants based solely upon specific independent grant requests by a qualifying organization.

What is the source of funds?

Funds are raised, or donated as tax-deductible contributions. The preferred form is a permanent endowment that has no restriction or designation.

Funds donated are pooled to gain the maximum investment return. Only the interest received from these investments is available for grants. The invested principal is managed by a committee of the Board of Directors.

How are Community Foundations structured?

Winnipeg established the first community foundation in Canada in 1921. Today, they span the country from Vancouver Island to Prince Edward Island, serving large and small urban centres and rural communities. Their endowment funds are professionally invested in diverse portfolios to ensure that they are managed wisely and profitably.

Each community foundation is autonomous and governed by a volunteer board of local leaders. Yet they are linked and supported by Community Foundations of Canada's strong national network.

Under the direction of Ernestine McKenna, the Community Foundation Grey Bruce was established in 1994 (as the Owen Sound & Area Community Foundation) with the Eva Leflar pledge of $50,000. The Community Foundation has grown and now manages over $600,000 in assets.