What is a Community Foundation?

A community foundation is a charitable tax-exempt, nonprofit organization that builds and manages permanent endowment funds to support charitable causes in a specific geographic area. It enables individuals, families, and businesses to contribute to the long-term wellbeing of their community by pooling gifts and investing them to generate income for grants and scholarships. A community foundation helps people of all means make a lasting impact in their community. It allows donors to support causes they care about through tax-deductible, permanently endowed gifts. These contributions are invested, and the income they generate is used to support local nonprofits and community needs—forever.

Community foundations typically do not run their own programs. Instead, they support the work of other nonprofit organizations, based on donor intent or evolving community priorities. Donors can create named funds or contribute to existing ones, with as much or as little involvement as they wish.

The Adams County Community Foundation was established in 2019 with a $100,000 gift from a local couple. Our general endowment, the Adams County Community Foundation Fund, along with over 12 other endowment funds, help increase local impact as they grow. As endowment assets increase, so do the charitable dollars available for Adams County.

Ohio is home to the first community foundation, created in Cleveland in 1914. Today, there are more than 900 community foundations in the U.S., including over 200 in Ohio. We are proud to count Adams County among them—building a stronger future, together with support from our partner, the Scioto Foundation.