The concept of a Community Foundation is as ingenious as it is simple – it is a means to build, over time, substantial funds for the community through contributions. The Community Foundation is a hybrid. Unlike our cousin, the private foundation (whose financial base typically comes from a single donor, family or company), the Community Foundation garners its support from the public. It grows because individuals, corporations, other nonprofits and even government entities believe in it.

The Community Foundation is unlike other nonprofits that focus on specific areas of interest, such as health care, disaster relief and the arts, or specific causes such as poverty, heart disease and classical music.

The Community Foundation looks to the well-being of the total community, not just a part of it.