We are frequently asked about our five fields of interest, so we thought we would take the opportunity to share the origins of how those five areas came to be.
In 2014 the Community Foundation gave out approximately $10 million dollars in grants on behalf of our donors. About 80% of that amount was given through the generosity of individual donors and 20% was distributed from legacy gifts through Community Foundations’ grants programs.
Our grants programs are made up of several dozen legacy funds established by donors who recognized that the impact of their giving could be magnified by partnering with the Community Foundation and pooling their resources with other donors with shared interests.Our promise to these donors is that we will fulfill their charitable giving after their lifetimes.
Nearly all of our funds came to us with certain language from the donor defining how they would like the funds to be spent. In some cases the intent is broad, such as wanting to support homelessness; in other cases the donors are passionate about a very specific issue, such as providing services for people with breast cancer. After carefully reviewing the intent of each fund, similar funds are grouped into the broad categories that form our five fields of interest: Arts and Culture, Animal Welfare, Health and Human Services, Environment, and Education.
In our May newsletter, we’ll dive into the different types of grants we give from these five fields of interest, from competitive to invitation and initiative grants.
