Frequently Asked Questions
What is a community foundation?
A community foundation is a local grantmaking organization which seeks to accumulate contributions from a variety of local sources and, where possible, to create a permanent asset base in the form of an endowment. (Further information on community foundation development globally can be found on the WINGS website)
What is a support organization?
Within the framework of the Global Fund, the following types of organizations can be considered support organizations:
- Independent, non-profit service providers to the civil society or philanthropic sector which demonstrate a strong understanding of the community foundation concept and sufficient technical expertise to assist community foundation development
- Associations of community foundations which can provide services to and organize convenings for its members and other aspiring initiatives;
- Established community foundations whose authority, professionalism and asset base put them in a strong enough position to provide support to less developed community foundations in their country.
My organization is involved in community development but we do not make grants. Are we eligible for a grant?
No. Grantmaking is a defining characteristic and a key value of a community foundation. By making grants to others, the community foundations empower local organizations and groups to address their own needs and problems by themselves.
My organization has managed re-granting funds on behalf of an international donor. Can we apply for a grant?
The Fund greatly values local grantmaking as a development tool: local grantmakers tend to be familiar with the local context and, by making small grants to community based groups and organizations which are normally out of the sights of larger institutional donors, they allow funding to get much closer to the ground and to the people who best know how to address their needs. However, community philanthropy development is not only about grantmaking: it is also about tapping and accumulating local resources to address social and economic needs and to support community development. Inquiries from this type of organization will be treated on a case-by-case basis, but any application should demonstrate that some thought has been given to local resource mobilization for grantmaking.
My organization is not a community foundation in the strictest sense, but we are a local grantmaker and have raised funds from a variety of local sources. Can we apply for a grant?
The Fund recognizes that communities need not always be geographically defined and that women’s funds and environment funds, for example, which are more interest-based, not only represent a form of “community” but frequently operate in a way not dissimilar to a community foundation (developing a long-term asset base, making grants etc). Applications from such institutions will be considered on a case by case basis and the Fund will only consider supporting activities that strengthen capacities in the core areas of grantmaking, asset development, governance etc, rather than activities that are programmatically based.
Furthermore, in regions where the formal philanthropic sector as a whole is undeveloped, and where there may only be one or two community foundations, the Fund would regard networking among and building linkages between different types of local grantmaking foundations – particular in the areas of skills development and the overall strengthening of the sector – to be of strategic value.
