A community foundation works to identify community issues and opportunities and acts as a leader and convener, using its human and/or financial resources to address immediate and long term community issues and opportunities.
Grantmaking and Community Leadership - Standard V. Part E.

The Standard

A community foundation works to identify community issues and opportunities and acts as a leader and convener, using its human and/or financial resources to address immediate and long term community issues and opportunities.

Underlying Rationale

As a vital resource where many points of view can come together to address the wide range of community quality of life issues, a community foundation is positioned with a unique perspective. It has the advantages of ”seeing” the big picture, and possessing a broad, and often comprehensive, range of relationships and partnerships with the community’s key players. These position the foundation for effective leadership on broader-scale problems and opportunities, both short- and long-term.

Potential Outcomes

1. Greater impact on major community issues.
2. Make a difference on a limited grantmaking budget.
3. Increase the effectiveness of grantmaking.
4. Bring together community factions that would not otherwise meet to address issues of common concern.
5. Increased incidence of donors jointly supporting projects.
6. Enhance the stature and reputation of the community foundation.
7. Increase skill and expertise of community foundation.
8. Attract new donors.
9. Increase giving.