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. The people or organizations that establish the funds can then recommend that grants be distributed, in the name of the fund or anonymously, to qualified nonprofit groups and schools. The donor receives a charitable deduction in the year that gifts are made into their funds.
The assets of community foundations are pooled and invested, with donors typically having a choice of investment products.
The funds established at community foundations can be expendable funds (i.e., grants can be made in any amount at any time) or they can be endowments, which limit distributions to the interest earned on the assets. Endowments last in perpetuity.
The first community
foundation was set up in
Cleveland in 1914 by Frederick Goff and
operating now as the
Cleveland Foundation. Others soon followed including
the
California Community Foundation and the
Chicago Community Trust.
Community foundations
are now a global phenomenon. There are at least 700 in
the United States and perhaps 1000 more around the world
with numbers growing rapidly.
The above definition is from Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_foundation
The following is a list
of community foundations in Alaska:
The Alaska Community Foundation
301 W. Northern Lights Blvd. Ste. 408
Anchorage, AK 99503
Phone: 907-334-6700 Fax 907-334-5780
Contact: Marcia Hastings, Deputy Director
Email:
mhastings@alaskacf.org
Website:
http://www.alaskacf.org
Alaska Conservation
Foundation
441 W. Fifth Avenue, Suite 402
Anchorage, AK 99501-2340
Phone: 907-276-1917 Fax: 907-274-4145
Contact: Nick Hardigg, Executive Director
Email:
nhardigg@akcf.org For
general information email:
tadair@akcf.org
Website:
http://www.akcf.org
The Homer Foundation
P.O. Box 2600
Homer, AK 99603-2600
Phone: 907- 235-0541 Fax: 907- 235-0542
Contact: Joy Steward, Executive Director
Email:
jsteward@homerfund.org For
general information email:
info@homerfund.org
Website:
http://www.homerfund.org