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The first community foundation was established in Cleveland, Ohio. Within five years, community foundations formed in places like Chicago, Boston, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Rhode Island, and Buffalo.
In the years that followed, other local community foundations were established, and hundreds of thousands of individuals across the United States – from all economic backgrounds – joined with their local community foundations to create permanent charitable funds to meet the needs of their communities.
The first Donor Advised Fund was established by a community foundation in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
While many factors contributed to the rapid growth of community foundations, one strong impetus was the Tax Reform Act of 1969. These changes resulted in private foundations becoming more strictly regulated and made community foundations a more attractive option for many donors, primarily because:
- Lifetime gifts of certain kinds of appreciated property, such as real estate and interests in closely-held businesses, to a community foundation can be deducted at full fair-market value.
- The annual deduction limit for individual gifts is higher for a community foundation gift than for those to a private foundation.
Community foundations also are free from excise tax and other requirements that apply to private foundations, enhancing their appeal to many donors.
There are more than 650 community foundations serving urban and rural communities throughout the United States. Collectively we hold approximately $31 billion in combined assets and make local grants of approximately $2.6 billion annually. And we're growing fast!
The community foundation concept is also rapidly expanding worldwide with over 365 community foundations in 37 countries outside the United States. Find out more at www.wings-cf.org.
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