For more than 30 years the Mott Foundation has supported the growth and development of the community foundation field at home and abroad. Simply put, community foundations are indigenous funders that collect and pool financial resources from local donors to respond to local challenges and opportunities.
Community foundations serve as leaders, advocates for positive change, and bridge builders that link the public, private and nonprofit sectors to work together for common goals. But no two community foundations look alike because each adapts to the culture and context in which it operates. To date, researchers have identified 1,441 community foundations located in more than 50 countries.
The ways in which the community foundation concept plays out around the world is the topic for the news features, interviews, and videos highlighted below.
NEW FEATURES
Global Fund for Community Foundations recognizes, validates "doing things in different ways"
Started in 2006 as a three-year pilot project by the World Bank Group, WINGS (Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support), and the Ford and Mott foundations, the Global Fund for Community Foundations (GFCF) was created to support community foundation development in transitioning and developing countries. GFCF, which became independent in 2009, supports local philanthropy by making small grants to community foundations in emerging economies and developing nations. [March 2010]
Community foundations: bridges, catalysts, conveners and grantmakers
Jenny Hodgson, director of the Global Fund for Community Foundations (GFCF) and Avila Kilmurray, a GFCF board member and also director of the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland, sat down for an interview with Communications Officer Maggie Jaruzel Potter during a visit to Mott’s home office in Flint, Michigan. They discussed GFCF’s work and the community foundation field more broadly. [March 2010]
RELATED NEWS
Fund seeks to grow community foundations worldwide
In the picturesque city of Tuzla, located on the slopes of the Majevica Mountains in Central/Eastern Europe, the Community Foundation-Tuzla (CFT) is involving Bosnian citizens in local projects and promoting community philanthrophy. It has received funding from the Global Fund for Community Foundations (GFCF). [Mott Mosaic, August 2007]
Community foundations expanding globally
The Healthy City Community Foundation (HCCF) was the first community foundation created in Central Europe after the fall of communism. People were surprised that the community foundation field would be as large as it is in Central/Eastern Europe, says HCCF's executive director. [Mott Mosaic, December 2004]
INTERVIEWS
Whether in Barcelona or Bombay, community foundations share common features
Shannon St. John is founder of Second Star Philanthropic Services and a Senior Advisor to The Synergos Institute. St. John led the Triangle Community Foundation in North Carolina for 21 years. During a visit to Mott’s home office in Flint, she sat down with Communications Officer Maggie Jaruzel Potter to share her thoughts about the community foundation field. [August 2008]
Expert on community foundations authors basic texts on field
Since 1998, Dorothy “Dottie” Reynolds has provided coaching and technical assistance to small and emerging community foundations in the U.S. as well as the United Kingdom, Central/Eastern Europe, Southern Africa and Mexico. In 2008, the Mott Foundation commissioned Reynolds to write a series of monographs, published as The Balancing Act: The Roles of a Community Foundation. [May 2009]
VIDEOS
View any of the four YouTube videos below recorded at an April 2008 symposium on African philanthropy. Held in Naivasha, Kenya, the gathering was co-sponsored by the Global Fund for Community Foundations and TrustAfrica, a grantmaker based in Senegal that seeks to strengthen African initiatives that address the most difficult challenges confronting the continent.
- Jenny Hodgson (Global Fund for Community Foundations), Bhekinkosi Moyo (TrustAfrica) and Narciso Matos (Foundation for Community Development, Mozambique) share their views. [April 2008 1:51]
- Kayode Samuel (writer and development expert), Wendy Mukuru (Acumen Fund), Tade Aina (Ford Foundation) and Bhekinkosi Moyo (TrustAfrica) share their views. [April 2008 3:12]
- John Ulanga (Foundation for Civil Society, Tanzania), Kofi Awiti, Kayode Samuel (writer and development expert) and Jenny Hodgson (Global Fund for Community Foundations) share their views. [April 2008 2:01]
- Jenny Hodgson (Global Fund for Community Foundations), Tade Aina (Ford Foundation) and Milagre Nuvunga (Ford Foundation) share their views. [April 2008 2:41]