Community foundations (CFs) are instruments of civil society designed to pool donations into a coordinated investment and grant making facility dedicated primarily to the social improvement of a given place.
Community foundations are a global phenomenon with 1700 existing around the world, of which over 700 are in the United States.
Community foundations are independent registered philanthropic institutions serving geographically defined territory, typically a city or administrative area (county, region and the like).
Families, individuals, businesses, and nonprofit groups establish funds within community foundations into which they can contribute a variety of assets to be used for charitable purposes.
In Indiana, the Lilly Endowment funded a program that has spurred development of community foundations in each of the state's 92 counties.