Community Foundations - The Philanthropic Initiative

Excellence in Family Philanthropy Convenings

TPI is working with a cohort of 20 community foundations committed to helping their family donors become more strategic and satisfied, and to creating resources and tools for the community foundation field at large. This first-ever initiative, launched by TPI in 2006, meets several times a year to offer participating community foundations an opportunity for professional development and peer learning. Most recently, the group met at the Council on Foundations' Annual Conference for Community Foundations in San Francisco this September.

In advancing our mission to increase the impact of philanthropy in society, TPI is committed to supporting community foundations as they increase their capacity to address key challenges and opportunities in their community. We have consulted directly with many community foundations as well as supported a number of ground breaking efforts to strengthen the field of community philanthropy through:

Individual Consultations for Community Foundations

Individual consultations have included the following types of engagements, each customized to the needs and context of the particular foundation:

Strategic planning and restructuring efforts to help community foundations clarify their missions and core values, craft strategies to implement their program priorities and developmental work, and position themselves as their region’s key resource for philanthropy. These engagements often include interviews with trustees and staff, analysis of internal assets and synergies, and external discovery with community stakeholders.

Training and educational programming for staff and trustees in a range of areas integral to the growth, sustainability and vitality of community foundations including: donor needs and services, working with professional advisors, serving family philanthropies, and the role of trustees in strategic recruitment of new donors. These engagements have included seminars, workshops and co-development of marketing and management tools.

Educational programming for donors and professional advisors aimed at inspiring both about the potential of strategic philanthropy and the role that the community foundation can play in helping donors realize their philanthropic goals and passions. For donors, programming includes a rich portfolio of donor education workshops. For professional advisors, programming includes reviews of TPI’s extensive research on professional advisors and the win-win possibilities of a community foundation partnership.

Research on programmatic needs and opportunities in the community foundation’s home community, nationally and abroad. TPI has extensive programmatic experience and capability in issue areas ranging from education to environment and homelessness that we bring to these engagements, and offers a national perspective on best practices.

Capacity-building Efforts for the Field

TPI has catalyzed and carried out capacity-building efforts for the community foundation field since our inception. Examples of our field building work include the following:

TPI is serving as secretariat for this exciting effort to support the development of tools and templates, training curriculum and a peer learning agenda for community foundation staff who work with families. Twenty community foundations experienced with and committed to working with families are participating in the initiative throughout 2007. The third convening of this first-ever initiative, launched by TPI in 2006, will be held in June 2007 and offer participating community foundations an opportunity for professional development and peer learning.

TPI created a 2-day pilot learning program to build the capacity of community foundation staff who work with families. Participants at this pioneering workshop contributed to the design of the subsequent Excellence in Family Philanthropy Initiative. (2005)

In partnership with the National Center for Family Philanthropy, TPI convened 21 community foundation CEO’s for a national summit on the opportunities, concerns and needs of the community foundation field with regard to the explosive growth of family philanthropy. (2004)

TPI provided training on marketing of services and new donor outreach to the leadership of emerging community foundations in Central and Eastern Europe. (European Foundation Center and the Bertelsman Foundation, 2001.)

TPI was engaged to conduct a state-wide survey of the advisor market regarding knowledge of philanthropic practices, networks and services. (The Council for Michigan Foundations and the Kellogg Foundation, 1996.)

A primer on how community foundations could strategically target the upcoming intergenerational transfer of wealth. This represented one of the first calls to community foundations to formalize and expand their connections to professional advisors (Kellogg Foundation, 1994.)