Community foundations
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.
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 following is a list
of community foundations in Massachusetts:
Berkshire Taconic Community
Foundation, Inc.
Contact: Jennifer Dowley, President
271 Main Street, Suite 3
Great Barrington, MA 01230-1749
Phone: (800) 969-2823 Fax: (413) 528-8158
Email: jd@berkshiretaconic.org
Website:
http://www.berkshiretaconic.org/
Boston Foundation
Contact: Paul S. Grogan, President & CEO
75 Arlington Street, 10th Floor
Boston, MA 02116-3936
Phone: (617) 338-1700 Fax: (617) 338-1604
Website: http://www.tbf.org/
Brookline Community Foundation, Inc.
Contact: Molly Paul, Executive Director
40 Webster Place
Brookline, MA 02445-7937
Phone: (617) 566-4442 Fax: (617) 232-6261
Website:
http://www.brooklinecommunity.org/
The Cambridge Community Foundation
Contact: Robert S. Hurlbut, Jr., Executive Director
99 Bishop Richard Allen Drive
Cambridge, MA 02139-3428
Phone: (617) 576-9966 Fax: (617) 876-8187
The Cape Cod Foundation
Contact: Elizabeth Gawron, President
259 Willow Street
Yarmouthport, MA 02675-1762
Phone: (508) 790-3040 Fax: (508) 790-4069
Email:
egawron@capecodfoundation.org
Crossroads Community Foundation, Inc.
Contact: Heather Jack, Director of Programs
21 Eliot Street
Natick, MA 01760-6085
Phone: (508) 647-2260 Fax: (508) 647-2288
Website:
http://www.foundationformetrowest.org/
Essex County Community Foundation
Contact: David Tory, President & CEO
15 Cherry Street
Danvers, MA 01923-2833
Phone: (978) 777-8876 Fax: (978) 777-9454
Email: d.tory@eccf.org
Website: http://www.eccf.org/
Greater Lowell Community Foundation, Inc.
Contact: David Kronberg, Executive Director
169 Merrimack Street, 5th Floor
Lowell, MA 01852-1723
Phone: (978) 970-1600 Fax: (978) 970-2444
Website:
http://www.glcfoundation.org/
Community Foundation for Nantucket
P.O. Box 204
Nantucket, MA 02554
Phone: (508) 825-9993
Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts
Contact: Philip M. Grzewinski, President
285 John Fitch Highway Suite #1
Fitchburg, MA 01420-5998
Phone: (978) 345-8383 Fax: (978) 345-7683
Permanent Endowment Fund for Martha's Vineyard
c/o Dukes County Savings Bank Trust Department
Contact: Deborah L. Hale, Chair
P.O. Box 602
West Tisbury, MA 02575-0602
Phone: (508) 645-2898 Fax: (508) 693-0171
Website:
http://www.permanentendowmv.org/
South Shore & Neponset Valley Community Foundation, Inc.
430 Adams Street
Quincy, MA 02169-1704
Phone: (617) 471-3332 Fax: (330) 472-5580
Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts, Inc.
Contact: Craig Dutra, President
227 Union Street, Suite 609
New Bedford, MA 02740-5946
Phone: (508) 996-8253 Fax: (508) 996-8254
Website: http://www.cfsema.org/
Watertown Community Foundation
P.O. Box 334
Watertown, MA 02471
Phone: (617) 924-1490
Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts
Contact: Kent W. Faerber, President
1500 Main Street, Suite 2300
P.O. Box 15769
Springfield, MA 01115-1000
Phone: (413) 732-2858 Fax: (413) 733-8565
Website:
http://www.communityfoundation.org/
Woods Hole Community Foundation, Inc.
Contact: Peter L. Collom, President
P. O. Box 603
Woods Hole, MA 02543
Phone: (508) 540-3816
