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About CFC

Criteria for Membership in CFC

Community Foundations meeting the following criteria are eligible for membership in Community Foundations of Canada:

The Definition

A community foundation is a philanthropic organization focused on building permanent endowments to tackle long-term community challenges as well as meeting immediate needs. Specifically, members of Community Foundations of Canada must:

  • be officially registered as a charity and be designated by the Canada Revenue Agency as a tax exempt Public Foundation and, as such, be assigned a Business Number that reflects charitable status;
  • be independent and autonomous (not controlled directly or indirectly by government, corporations, associations, individuals, related family members, or particular religious, cultural or ethnic groups) and be governed by a body of volunteers, usually independently appointed, which strives to represent and be accountable to the community it serves;
  • maintain a broad grants program providing funding to many different grantees in a range of fields of interest and segments of the population. Grantees must be "qualified donees" as defined in the Income Tax Act;
  • be structured primarily as a growing collection of permanent and non-permanent endowment funds, which includes a pool of unrestricted dollars, that support the diverse charitable purposes specified by the governing body and by its donors;
  • describe itself as a "community foundation" without necessarily having the words "community foundation" in its legal name;
  • focus its grant-making and charitable services primarily in a defined geographic area;
  • be a prudent and responsible steward and investor of charitable funds, maintaining complete and accurate financial records;
  • regularly monitor its internal processes and activities with the goal of meeting the highest standards of practice in all its activities.

Trees

Community Foundations of Canada members must strive to:

  • provide a broad range of giving opportunities for donors, and a variety of services to help them achieve their philanthropic goals;
  • consult with the community to guide the foundation's grantmaking and other activities, and act as a catalyst for community action on issues of broad community concern.