Principles for Community Foundations (Canada)
This guide offered by Community Foundations of Canada clearly articulates the need for community foundations and lays out ten principles which will allow foundations to best meet the needs of their communities. By using community engagement principles such as collaboration, diversity, capacity-building, and community dialogue, this guide stresses the urgent need for effective and imaginative grant-making by community foundations. Concise and clear, this is a valuable document for established foundations or for community members interested in starting one.

Click on “Starting a Community Foundation” in the left margin to read the CFC’s definition of a Community Foundation and find other helpful information.

Our Strength is Community Report (Canada)
This report describes the project The Calgary Foundation started as part of the national Our Millennium initiative. Called “Our Strength is Community,” the Foundation ran an extensive consultation process in Calgary to identify potential community-building projects. As a result of this consultation, they created ten strategic “pathways” to follow, all aimed at building the city’s capacity, engaging citizens in the process, and forging links between organizations. The Calgary Foundation’s website also describes their rigorous process for funding community-engagement projects.

Community Foundation Primer (USA)
This primer from the Council of Michigan Foundations is a complete guide to starting a community foundation, from setting out basic principles of community foundations to organizing, raising funds, and starting to make grants. It includes helpful glossaries for each chapter, questions to help you focus your thoughts, sample budgets and and specific tips for making a community foundation a reality where you live. Very helpful, and at over 200 pages, a comprehensive resource.

Have we missed something? Know a great resource we should include here? Email us at tamarack@tamarackcommunity.ca.

Back to top.