Starting a Community Foundation

There are a number of steps involved in creating a Community Foundation.

The first step is a feasibility study to decide if the community wants to have and can support a foundation. Decisions must also be made about the geographic area to be served and whether to develop a stand alone foundation or affiliate with an established one, taking into account the size of the population and the ability of the community to fund the costs of operating the foundation.

Key people must be recruited to a steering committee to guide the foundation through the formative stages. By the end of the first stage of development, the community foundation will have a trustee company as a legal entity with a board of directors and a Public Fund which has income tax exemption and Deductible Gift Recipient status.