About Community Foundations
A community foundation is a charitable, nonprofit vehicle for people of all means to make a lasting difference in their community. It is an endowment for the entire community which, generally, invests contributions and uses the earnings year after year for grants to charities in the local area. The central purpose of a community foundation is to serve the needs and philanthropic aims of donors who wish to better their community, now and in the future. Community foundations do this by providing donors with flexible, efficient and tax-effective ways to ensure their charitable giving achieves the greatest possible impact. Over 750 community foundations in the United States offer donors many services and benefits. They routinely work with families, individuals, estate planners and attorneys to design gift plans that fit every economic situation so donors can receive the most benefit from their charitable contributions and ensure that their philanthropic dollars are used to the fullest extent. Community foundations range in size from assets nearing $2 billion to some with assets of $100,000 or less (The Community Foundation of the Verdugos has about $7 million in assets). All share the common goal of serving donors, non-profits and the community as a whole. Endowments
An endowment is a fund of grant money kept in perpetuity to supply interest and dividend earnings to provide continuing support for the benefit of a charitable cause. Six Common Traits
The concept of a community foundation is as ingenious as it is simple -- a means to build a substantial amount of money over time from contributions, both large and small, using the income from these funds to meet the community's charitable needs -- both now and in the future. Unlike other institutions which directly provide services to those in need, a community foundation's impact comes from its support for effective ideas and programs designed to directly provide services and address the changing needs of the community. Community Foundations across the United States share six basic characteristics:

• A flexible, yet permanent collection of funds supported by a wide range of donors.
• The relative independence to determine the best use of those funds to meet community needs.
• A governing board of volunteers, knowledgeable of their community and recognized for their personal involvement in civic affairs.
• An organizational commitment to provide leadership on pervasive community problems.
• A commitment to assist donors in creating funds and distributing proceeds in accordance with the donors' intent.
• Adherence to a sense of "community" that overrides individual interests and objectives.

Serving the Community
All community foundations uniquely serve three publics: donors, the nonprofit sector, and the community at large. While the focus and degree of service may vary from one foundation to the next, each must, by structure and regulation, serve all three. Donors are served by our offering a variety of fund options and ways of giving to help streamline their charitable giving. The Community Foundation does not ask that people give because of what WE want to do. The Community Foundation asks that you give because of what YOU want to do. Facilitating YOUR charitable goals and objectives is a large measure of the Community Foundation's mission. The nonprofit sector is served mainly by the grants that we make from unrestricted, donor-advised, endowed, or designated funds. These grants help to meet the special needs of local nonprofit agencies and encourage their new and creative problem solutions. The community-at-large is served by our being a proactive catalyst, initiating new projects to meet the growing and changing needs of the community. One of the special functions of community foundations is to evaluate and help coordinate the services in their communities so that charitable gifts are used effectively to fulfill the most critical current and future needs. We encourage and promote philanthropy among individuals, businesses and corporations within the community. We serve as the community's charitable savings account.