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 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 Maryland:

The Baltimore Community Foundation
Contact: Thomas E. Wilcox, President & CEO
2 E. Read Street, 9th Floor
Baltimore, MD 21202-6903
Phone: (410) 332-4171     Fax: (410) 837-4701
Website: http://www.bcf.org/


The Community Foundation of Carroll County, Inc.
Contact: Audrey S. Cimino, Executive Director
255 Clifton Boulevard
Westminster, MD 21158
Phone: (410) 876-5505     Fax: (410) 871-9031
Email: acimino@carrollcommunityfoundation.org
Website: http://www.carrollcommunityfoundation.org/


Community Foundation of Charles County
Contact: Gretchen E. Heinze, Executive Director
3055 Old Washington Road
Waldorf, MD 20601
Phone: (301) 885-0108
Email: gretchen.heinze@charlescommunityfoundation.org
Website: http://www.charlescommunityfoundation.org/


Community Foundation of the Chesapeake
Contact: Bess Freedlander, Executive Director
914 Bay Ridge Road, Suite 211
Annapolis, MD 21401
Phone: (410) 280-1102     Fax: (410) 266-8837
Website: http://www.cfaac.org/info-url4834/info-url.htm?cat_id=1684


The Columbia Foundation (MD)
Contact: Barbara K. Lawson, President & CEO
10227 Wincopin Circle, Suite G-15
Columbia, MD 21044-3491
Phone: (410) 730-7840     Fax: (410) 715-3043
Website: http://www.columbiafoundation.org/


Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore, Inc.
Contact: Spicer Bell, Ed.D., President
1324 Belmont Avenue, Suite 401
Salisbury, MD 21804
Phone: (410) 742-9911     Fax: (410) 742-6638
Website: http://www.cfes.org/


Foundation for Community Partnerships Inc.
Contact: Michael Roger Clark, Administrator
P.O. Box 418
320 Pennsylvania Avenue
Centreville, MD 21617
Phone: (410) 758-6677     Fax: (410) 758-6904
Email: MClark@qac.org


The Community Foundation of Frederick County, MD, Inc.
Contact: Elizabeth Y. Day , President
312 E. Church Street
Frederick, MD 21701-5611
Phone: (301) 695-7660     Fax: (301) 695-7775
Website: http://www.cffredco.org/


Mid-Shore Community Foundation, Inc.
The Bullitt House
Contact: F. Graham Lee, President
102 E. Dover St.
Easton, MD 21601-3002
Phone: (410) 820-8175     Fax: (410) 820-8729
Website: http://www.mscf.org/


Montgomery County Community Foundation (MD)
c/o The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region
Contact: Sally Rudney, Executive Director
8720 Georgia Ave., Suite 302
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3658
Phone: (301) 588-2544     Fax: (301) 588-0263
Email: srudney@cfncr.org


Community Foundation of Washington County Maryland, Inc.
Contact: Bradley N. Sell, Executive Director
33 W. Franklin St. Suite 203
Hagerstown, MD 21740
Phone: (301) 745-5210     Fax: (301) 791-5752
Website: http://www.cfwcmd.org/