The Ethiopian Heritage Foundation

What is a community foundation?

A community foundation is a Section 501(c)(3) public charity, overseen by a governing board of volunteers, that receives its funds from individuals, families, foundations, corporations and civic organizations in the community. By partnering with a community foundation, donors can accomplish their charitable goals strategically and effectively, while building permanent resources for the community.

For the donor, giving through a community foundation offers significant tax benefits and is more tax effective than establishing a private foundation; it's also less complicated. A community foundation can:

quickly establish a fund in your name
provide skilled investment management of your funds
offer ongoing access to professional philanthropic expertise
issue regular reports on investment performance
file necessary tax returns
process your grant recommendations on a flexible schedule

A community foundation also serves an important leadership role in the community by:

bringing attention to emerging community needs
making grants with discretionary funds to seed and strengthen vital community programs and services
facilitating strategic collaboration among like-minded funders to respond to particular challenges (in the medical research or social services arena, for example)
offering site visits and other educational opportunities to help make donors more effective philanthropists
becoming as a catalyst for change