Rather, they are designed to provide local donors the opportunity to engage in philanthropy in a variety of ways. They provide the way to achieve excellent investment yields through pooling of funds. And they provide benefits to the many communities and charitable purposes that they serve. A community foundation supports charitable activities for long-term benefit of a defined geographic area. A community foundation seeks new contributions of permanent endowment from a wide range of donors.
Gifts can range from simple cash donations to the giving of one's estate.
Community foundations usually encourage donors to make unrestricted gifts - allowing flexible and broad use of generations of donor dollars for effective community benefit. Using earnings from invested assets, a community foundation functions primarily as a grant-making institution supporting a broad range of charitable activities that creatively address emerging and changing community needs. A community foundation may also provide leadership on pervasive community problems and provide technical advice to area nonprofit agencies. The governing body of a community foundation represents the broad interests of the community. Its members serve limited terms without compensation.