Council on Foundations

By Elizabeth Watkins

Graduate Student, Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University

Definition

The Council on Foundations is a nonprofit membership association of grantmaking foundations and corporations in the United States and other countries. The Council's mission is to serve the public good by promoting and enhancing responsible and effective philanthropy. Through an array of services, the Council helps grantmakers to be more effective by strengthening their grantmaking and community involvement programs. Membership is comprised of community foundations, corporate foundations, family foundations, independent foundations, operating foundations, public foundations, and non-U.S. based grantmakers. In the year 2001, membership totaled 1,947 members.

Historic Roots

The Council on Foundations' history is closely tied with the history of U.S. community foundations that operate within and for the benefit of specific geographic areas. The predecessor to the Council on Foundations, the National Committee on Foundations and Trusts for Community Welfare, was founded in 1949 as a membership organization of community foundations. The committee was interested in promoting responsible and effective philanthropy. Representatives on the initial 22-member board came from social service agencies and community trusts (organizations that are granted gifts to benefit a community).

The committee was renamed the National Committee on Community Foundations in 1954; and three years later, the organization was officially incorporated as the nonprofit National Council on Community Foundations. Membership began with forty-one foundations. With financial support from the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations, the National Council was renamed the Council on Foundations and the by-laws were changed to admit family and corporate foundations.

Importance

Council on Foundations members receive a broad range of services, including information and referral; management, governance, development and grant-making assistance; legal counsel and information; educational programs; representation before legislative and regulatory authorities, the media and the general public; a comprehensive Web site that delivers current information; and conferences that address issues in philanthropy. Many council members are also members of one or more affinity groups, bringing valuable resources and information to their fellow council members. Affinity groups represent a variety of different issues and population groups; they are a resource for up-to-date grantmaking information in members' areas of interest.

Ties to the Philanthropic Sector

The Council on Foundations provides leadership to the philanthropic sector. Naturally, the Council provides extensive benefits to its members. It also represents the interests and concerns of grantmakers before Congress, the Internal Revenue Service, Treasury Department and the media.

Key Related Ideas

Organized Philanthropy
Through their subscription to a set of "Principles and Practices for Effective Grantmaking," council members provide public accountability for the field of organized philanthropy. In 1973, the Council on Foundations distributed to its members "Principles and Guidelines for Grantmaking Foundations," stressing the importance of full disclosure and accountability. Today, the council requires all members to agree to these beliefs and practices as a condition of membership.

Community Foundations
Community foundations exist to benefit a specific geographic area. They operate within the area and are governed by a group of members representing various community interests. The funds used by community foundations come from a variety of donors.

Other Related Ideas

• Corporate Foundations
  
  
• Family Foundations
  
  
• Grantmaking
  
  
• Independent Foundations
  
  
• PublicFoundations.

Important People Related to the Topic

Wilmer Shields Rich (1903-1979) was the first full-time executive director of the Council on Foundations. She served as executive director for 11 years beginning in 1957. She was a veteran of the Bryn Mawr School of Social Work, and a friend of Eleanor Roosevelt. Rich was the wife of Raymond Rich who headed both the World Peace Foundation and the firm Raymond Rich Associates which specialized in public relations and fundraising for nonprofit organizations.

Related Nonprofit Organizations

The Chicago Community Trust
The Chicago Community Trust provided office space in 1949 for the National Committee on Foundations and Trusts for Community Welfare "” the predecessor to the Council on Foundations. Frank Loomis, retired director of the Chicago Community Trust, became the first part-time executive. http://www.cct.org/index.html

The Philanthropy Roundtable
The Philanthropy Roundtable began in the late 1970s, when conservative donors left the Council on Foundations to protest the council's adoption of "The Principles and Practices of Effective Grantmaking," a statement intended to encourage council members toward greater public openness and accountability. The goal of the Philanthropy Roundtable is "to promote greater respect for private, voluntary approaches to individual and community betterment."
http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/history.html

The Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers (RAGs)
The Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers (RAGs) is a supporting organization to the Council on Foundations and housed within their offices. It is a national service association for philanthropy with twenty-nine member regional associations of grantmakers (RAGs) across the country. Established in 1996, their mission is "to promote philanthropy by inspiring and enhancing the leadership and capacity of RAGs and their members in promoting the public good." http://www.givingforum.org/

Bibliography and Internet Resources

Council of Michigan Foundations. "About Community Foundations" [online]. Available: http://www.cmif.org/About_Overview.htm. (4 May 2002).

Council on Foundations [online]. Available: http://www.cof.org. (4 May 2002).

Council on Foundations. "For the Greater Good: Moments in the History of Philanthropy and the Council on Foundations." Washington, DC: Council on Foundations, 1999.

Kiger, Joseph C. Philanthropic Foundations in the Twentieth Century. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. ISBN: 0313312230.