Global Fund for Community Foundations

Public benefits

The Global Fund for Community Foundations (GFCF) exists to strengthen and promote institutions of community-based, local philanthropy around the world in order that they can mobilise private and public charitable donations that will be used to improve the quality of life for the most disadvantaged. The direct beneficiaries are individuals and

organizations that work to develop community-based philanthropy institutions in order to advance the objectives listed in our purposes in their own geographical area of operations. The benefits which flow from the purpose of the GFCF include enhanced local area infrastructure (in the form of community foundations, women’s funds, environmental funds, and local multi-stakeholder community philanthropy organizations) to effectively manage charitable donations and assets which will be re-distributed, and allocated for public benefit. In pursuit of its specific purposes of the GFCF, the GFCF will (i) work on the prevention or relief of poverty by supporting community philanthropy that works both with and for individuals and groups in poverty in order to prioritise and alleviate the impact of financial hardship through grant-making and development programmes; (ii) work to support the mobilization and identification of specific philanthropic resources that support human rights defenders in local communities and both groups and individuals that are promoting conflict resolution, reconciliation and religious and/or racial harmony through grantmaking, as well as providing support to the institutional development of women’s funds for the purpose of promoting equal opportunities and diversity; (iii) work to enhance the ability of local community funds to engage with their communities in order to ensure active citizenship and community participation in both grantmaking decisions, priorities, outcomes and the management of sustainable local assets for the long-term benefit of the most disadvantaged local communities; (iv) enhance the ability of community philanthropy organizations to play a strategic role in disaster/emergency preparedness, relief and rehabilitation in the event of disasters occurring in their areas, together with identification and grant-making response to community-based health issues in cooperation with other institutional stakeholders; (v) support local community philanthropy organizations to both work with development aid agencies and to mobilise assets to respond to individuals, households and communities that are in need by various reasons as identified through both appropriate grant-making and development initiatives; (vi) highlight the potential for community philanthropy organizations to promote and advance educational opportunities for groups within the community that are most excluded from education, by the mobilisation of assets to provide bursaries, scholarships and grant-making support to community-based educational activities; and (vii) be prepared to identify and prioritise such other charitable purposes at community level that will benefit the public through the effective use of community philanthropy approaches across diverse communities and contexts. The purposes of the GFCF may lead to increased competition for the available charitable donations, however this will be out-weighed by the work undertaken to heighten public awareness about both the need for, and the positive contribution of, charitable giving and philanthropy. The benefits of GFCF will be demonstrated by the collection of evidence compiled through survey and reporting feedback from the community philanthropy organizations alongside independent evaluation of GFCF programmes. The only private benefit flowing from the purpose of GFCF is the remuneration of staff and the payment of direct and verified Trustee expenses, which is incidental and necessary to the effective running of the organization and the application of its work on a global basis.

What your organisation does

The GFCF provides seeding grants to both establish and strengthen community philanthropy organisations across the global. It also organises peer learning networking and convenings between local philanthropy activists, while drawing evidence based learning to share with international donors with a view to influencing their funding policies.