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This definition is part of an occasional series about the community foundation field and the Mott Foundation’s role in supporting and strengthening it. The series reports on what is occurring in Mott’s major geographic focus areas — Central/Eastern Europe and Russia, South Africa, and the U.S. — as well as providing information about how the field is expanding globally. Mott’s goal is to inform the public about the latest trends in the community foundation field in advance of its 100th anniversary year in 2014.

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• An indigenous grantmaking institution that accumulates financial resources from a variety of donors, including local individuals and companies, diaspora populations, government bodies, and international funders.


• An institution that, when possible, pools sufficient resources to develop a permanent asset base in the form of an endowment.


• An institution in which local people and groups respond to local challenges.


• A grantmaker that provided funds to local groups to address a range of local needs, such as education, poverty alleviation, youth and women’s programs, health, community development, and others.


• A bridge builder that helps create links between different sectors, particularly when there is a climate of public distrust in institutions.


• An advocate that takes a leadership role with local or national authorities on sensitive social issues.


• A steward that accumulates and pools resources for the public good – for today and in perpetuity – and distributes those resources in an open and transparent way.

Source: Global Fund for Community Foundations