Finding Community and Family Foundations' Philanthropic Funding

A. What is philanthropic funding?

Many corporations, professional associations, nonprofit organizations, community foundations, and family and individual trusts engage in philanthropy by donating money to a wide range of causes. Their philanthropy is usually managed by and disseminated through a public or private foundation. Foundations often distribute their funds to other nonprofit charitable organizations, community foundations, schools, colleges, universities, and tribes. Foundations may offer competitive grants, scholarships, donations, or employee matching opportunities. 

B. Community Philanthropy through Community Foundations

A community foundation is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charitable organization that manages public and private funds on behalf of multiple donors to support the needs of a specific geographic area, such as a city, county, region, or statewide. Donors are often local businesses, but donations may also come from individual community members. Community Foundations fundraise so you don’t have to. 

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Community foundations exist in almost every state and in the major cities or regions within a state. Learn as much as you can about them. If they offer workshops or webinars, attend. Find out if anyone on your Board of Directors or Tribal Council serves on the board of your state or local community foundation. Ask if you may have an appointment to introduce your college or tribe to one of the Community Foundation’s Development Officers. Let them know about your funding needs. If an appointment is not an option, write a Letter of Inquiry. A “How-To” Guide is provided as a separate tool in this series.

Winning grant funding from a community foundation is just as competitive as federal or state agency grantmaking. The primary difference between the two is that you may have the opportunity to develop a working relationship with a community foundation because your organization is part of the community they want to support. Federal or state funding agencies do not usually permit you to develop a relationship with their grant officers.

Community Foundations typically offer multiple grant opportunities throughout the year, depending upon their funding priorities and the needs of the communities they serve. Community foundations may also partner with corporations and provide grants on their behalf. Learn about their funding opportunities, priorities, and deadlines by researching community foundation websites and regularly visiting their social media platforms on Facebook or other channels. If an opportunity has closed, mark your calendar for next year’s solicitation.
Examples of community foundation grantmaking opportunities from specific states are provided in this Guide. These states include: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Idaho, Illinois; Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.
 

C. Corporate Philanthropy through Corporate Foundations

A corporate foundation is a legally independent nonprofit entity established and primarily funded by a for-profit business to manage its charitable giving, typically by making grants to support specific causes. Corporate foundations are typically set up as private foundations, which means they are not open to public donations and are funded primarily by the parent company. A company foundation is often managed by a Board of Directors who invest a portion of the company’s profits for the specific purpose of philanthropic giving. The Board makes decisions about how to distribute these funds as they see fit. Some corporate foundations will run their own grant competitions, while others may distribute philanthropic funds to qualified public charities, nonprofits, or state and local community foundations. Some corporations may provide matching gifts or sponsorships rather than offer grants. 

Keep in mind that some corporate foundations geographically restrict their philanthropy. They may restrict their grants or donations to organizations that only exist within the state of the company’s headquarters, or they may restrict their philanthropy to places in the country where they maintain a corporate presence. Each corporate foundation operates differently. You will have to research them to determine if your organization is eligible to apply.

Examples of corporate foundation grantmaking opportunities are provided in a separate Guide titled Corporate and Private Family Philanthropic Funding.

D. Educational Philanthropy through College and University Foundations

A college or university foundation exists to serve the needs of the institution. Students, faculty, and alumni contribute to the school’s foundation, as do businesses associated with the college. Like corporate foundations, educational foundations invest their donors’ contributions, which are typically used for scholarship programs, buildings, capital improvements, research, salaries, and cultural activities. Their net worth will vary widely. As an example, Harvard University has the largest university foundation (or endowment) in the United States and the world, holding over $51.98 billion in assets as of its most recent fiscal reporting. The University of Texas Foundation is in second place with approximately $47.46 billion in endowment assets reported at the end of the 2024 fiscal year. Conversely, smaller institutions of higher education are likely to have much smaller endowments, well below several million dollars.

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If you are an alum of a college or university, or if one of your Board members is, or if a college or university is located in your community, consider asking whether their foundation would be interested in funding your project. Until you ask, you won’t know.

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Examples of university and college foundations are not provided in this Guide.
 

E. Finding Philanthropic Funding

In the same way that you learned how to research federal funding, invest time in learning about philanthropic funding available from corporate and community foundations. Investigate their funding priorities and determine whether you or your organization is eligible to apply. Some foundations will restrict funding to specific types of applicants or geographic locations. Other foundations may only permit you to apply if they invite you to do so. Consider sending them a Letter of Inquiry. Check out the Resource Guide on How to Write a Letter of Inquiry.

Most foundations focus their grantmaking on very specific priorities such as education, homelessness, literacy, arts and culture, or job training. It is important to understand their priorities before submitting an application for funding. Be aware that some foundations may hold specific political, social, cultural, or religious views. If your views do not align with theirs, it is not advisable to apply for their funding opportunities.

As with finding federal grant funding, you will have to do your homework to find a good match between your needs and a foundation whose philanthropic work supports them. There are many ways to research foundation funding and their grantmaking activities. They are discussed in greater detail below.