COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONS | FUNDERS | MANAGING PARTNERS

COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONS

COMMUNITY FOUNDATION TRAITS

Community foundations are non-profit, non-governmental, local, grant-making organizations. The Community Foundations of the US-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership coincide — or are planning to develop within this partnership — the following characteristics (taken from the Community Foundation section of the Worldwide Initiative for Grantmaker Support — WINGS-CF and adapted for the purposes of the purpose of the BPP):

• Dedication to improving the quality of life in low-income communities in a defined geographic area;
• Independence from the control of influence by other organizations, governments, or donors;
• Governance by a board of citizens broadly reflective of the community;
• Purpose to support through grant-making other non-profit groups;
• Commitment to address a range of community leadership and partnership activities, serving as catalysts, conveners, collaborators and facilitators to solve problems and develop solutions to important community issues;
• Goal, over time, to build local endowment funds;
• Plan to assist donors in achieving their local philanthropic goals; and,
• Accountability to the community.

Community foundations are not a new concept. The first US community foundations were established in the early 20th century. However, it has been only in the past two decades that a significant surge in the number of community foundations operating within the States and especially within Mexico has materialized. The community foundation movement has brought about a tremendous amount of opportunity for local leadership to address quality of life issues within local communities. It has also, however, brought about a growing need to develop communities and networks of organizational and institutional support and assistance for emerging community foundations.

A community foundation's primary function is to mobilize local financial and human resources in support of the activities of local non-profit organizations. Characteristically, community foundations pursue the building of an endowment fund which acts as a perpetual source of financial support for the foundation's grantmaking activities. Additionally, community foundations act as a key source of technical and human support for local, program-focused non-profit organizations.

Ideally, responsibility for monitoring the broader community needs, assets and the services being rendered by the area's non-profits falls on the community foundation. This is particularly so because, once it has effectively established itself, the community foundation is often the institution with the best capacity to provide such a service.