Greetings Friend,

It’s an exciting time at Community Foundations National Standards (CFNS)! But before you learn more about that, I want to introduce myself — I'm Austin Dickson, the CEO of the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, and I’m honored to be the new CFNS board president.

I want to thank outgoing President Susie Nelson for her guidance over the last four years. Susie provided strong leadership as CFNS went through significant transformation. Under Susie’s tenure, CFNS completed a comprehensive review of all compliance elements, including donor-advised fund policies, to ensure your community foundation’s accreditation addresses the latest changes in the field and reflects adherence to best practices. CFNS also completed an updated branding process including a new seal to display on your materials. If you’re thinking of applying, CFNS has reduced the average review time to just over 40 days.

I’m excited to work with the rest of the board, and hundreds of community foundations across the country, to build on these achievements. In the year ahead, we’re looking forward to further expanding CFNS’s best-practice resources, like the recently released Board Nominations Toolkit. Forthcoming Values-Aligned Philanthropy tools from CFNS will help ensure that your grantmaking aligns with your values.

In addition, CFNS is proud to welcome two new board members — Christopher Goett, President & CEO of the Santa Fe Community Foundation, and Carol Bradford Worley, Senior Counsel at the California Community Foundation.

If you have any questions about the CFNS program, please reach out to the Executive Director, Kevin van Bronkhorst, myself, or any of our other board members. And if you haven’t yet, please consider joining our community of over 450 accredited foundations.

Best,

Austin Dickson
Board President, Community Foundations National Standards
CEO, Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country

Upcoming Events

Unpacking Community Foundation Trends: FY22 Annual CF Insights Survey Results

February 20 | Virtual | Webinar

Foundations on the Hill

February 25-28 | In-person, Washington, D.C. | Conference

Virtual Meet-Up: Community Foundation Donor Services

February 28 | Virtual | Peer Discussion

Legal Matters for Community Foundations

March 6-7 | Virtual | Training

National Standards Monthly Zoom Session

March 13 | Virtual | Peer Discussion

Global Grantmaking Essentials

April 10-11, 16 | Virtual | Training

Building Together 2024

May 6-9 | In-person, Chicago | Sector Event

Practice and Purpose of Policy: A Training for Community Foundation Leaders

May 21-22 | Virtual | Training

New Member Spotlight

Welcome to the community foundations that have joined as new Council members since our last newsletter! We're excited to have Central Kentucky Community Foundation, The Community Foundation of NC East, Community Foundation of Nevada County, The Dallas Foundation, Fairbault Foundation, Sandusky County Communities Foundation, and North Texas Community Foundation as new members.

Resources You Can Use

Legal Question of the Month with Ben McDearmon, Director of Legal Resources

Question: We have a donor who recently established a large DAF with our foundation and is now wanting to make grants to a private non-operating foundation. This is outside of our DAF policy.

Is there a way for the donor to establish a separate fund (designated fund?) that can support a private non-operating foundation? Do you have any resources for how to set up a fund that would be able to make grants to a private non-operating foundation?

Answer: In addition to checking whether this would be allowed under your foundation’s DAF policy, you should also confirm whether your general grantmaking policies and/or governing documents permit you to make grants to private non-operating foundations at all. 

While there are no legal restrictions that prevent a public charity like a community foundation granting to a private non-operating foundation — except for the additional requirement to exercise expenditure responsibility if the grant is coming from a DAF — there are other reasons a community foundation might choose not to grant to a private foundation. Contributions to public charities are treated more favorably from a donor’s tax perspective than those made to private non-operating foundations, so a donor using a public charity to subsequently pass funds through to a private non-operating foundation could be seen by the IRS as an attempt by the donor to circumvent the lower deduction limitations on contributions to private non-operating foundations by taking advantage of the higher limits for contributions made to public charities. 

Assuming your internal policies don’t prohibit you from awarding grants from, for example, a designated fund to a private non-operating foundation, then you could at least consider this option. 

Council members are able to send their questions to our Legal team for expert advice and analysis. You can take advantage of this member benefit by becoming a member today.

Unpacking Community Foundation Trends: FY22 Annual CF Insights Survey Results

Interested in delving further into the most recent CF Insights survey of community foundations? Curious about ways your community foundation can make the most of the data? Join us on Tuesday, February 20 to discuss the latest findings from the FY22 CF Insights Annual Survey, and learn about how to use the CF Insights benchmarking tool directly from David Rosado, the Council’s Senior Advisor for Community Philanthropy. RSVP to join the webinar.

Bridging Differences Leadership Cohort

Applications for the Bridging Differences Leadership Cohort are due February 23 at midnight PT. This facilitated virtual learning experience will offer research-based strategies for bridging differences with colleagues, peers, and grantees. Find out more and submit your application today.

Philanthropy Exchange Conversations for You

• Affiliate MOU
• Annual Board Giving Metrics
• Bylaws Updates

News Articles

• Inside Philanthropy: Four Things Philanthropy Should Do Differently This Black History Month
• Alliance Magazine: US philanthropy promoting democracy sees dramatic rise since 2016
• Associated Press: Silent Donor platform offers anonymous donations to the mainstream, as privacy debate rages
• Devex: The legal case threatening to upend philanthropy's DEI efforts

Keep in Touch!

Share your organization’s impact story with us at
cofcommunications@cof.org.

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