But community philanthropy is a truly foreign concept in many places, and the citizens who try to organize foundations confront barriers that don t exist in the United States. For instance, there may not be enough wealth locally to generate the donations that eventually become grants. Some of these communities have 25 or 30 percent unemployment, said Lea Rosenbohm, a program associate at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, which sponsors a community foundation exchange program. That makes local fundraising, the cornerstone of community foundations in the U.S., extremely difficult. Plus, most countries tax codes don t encourage giving the way American tax law does, Ms. Rosenbohm said.
Exchange programs are one way to strengthen fledgling foundations.
Executive Director Mary Jalonick was invited to join the Transatlantic Community Foundation Network, which brings together American and European foundation staff to share information, experience and ideas. Ms. Jalonick has visited Germany, Poland and Italy as part of the network. The Bertelsmann Foundation of Germany and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation in the U.S. funded the exchanges. Associate Director Michelle Monse worked in Europe this summer during a three-week exchange funded by the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the King Baudouin Foundation of Belgium. The community foundation fellowship includes five Americans and five Europeans each year.