Community foundations as partners in corporate responsibility

Community foundations all over the world are proving themselves as knowledgeable local grantmakers. In the UK many companies are finding it effective to channel their investment in the community through a community foundation. But this is not just happening at the local level. Both companies and government are beginning to experiment with national-level partnerships to deliver local grantmaking.

The community foundation network in the UK now includes nearly 60 local community foundations at various stages of development. With endowment reaching a combined total of £92 million (US$138 million), investment income along with flow-through funds enabled these foundations to support grantmaking programmes of £22 million ($33 million) last year.

Local-level partnerships with business

It is community foundations' well-researched knowledge of local needs that can be valuable to corporate donors. A company’s business investment will be based on research, market information and experience, and their community investment needs to be based soundly too. One effective way of achieving this is through partnership with a community foundation, which can often identify a range of projects, small and large, that address areas of need that may not be 'visible' to a corporate donor.

This can save companies with relatively small charitable budgets having to employ a community affairs manager: the donor services offered by a community foundation provide a cost-effective alternative. To take one example, Hewlett-Packard Bristol, Arthur Andersen, Bristol Port Company and AXA Sun Life are all corporate fundholders with the Greater Bristol Community Foundation. These businesses can indicate the areas of need they wish to support but leave the Foundation to identify appropriate projects, manage the grantmaking process and report back to the companies. This enables a national or multinational company to operate multi-locally in its charitable giving.

By creating a named endowment fund in a foundation, a company can build up a permanent relationship with the local community. Cumbria Community Foundation was launched last year with £100,000 from British Nuclear Fuels, the first instalment of £1 million that BNFL is giving over five years towards a named fund. This permanence clearly appeals to many corporate donors.

National-level partnerships

Companies with offices across the UK can use the network. GEFCO, a London-based distribution company, has several main sites in the UK. After initial work with one local foundation the company now supports local community projects through foundations based around its five main sites. PricewaterhouseCoopers, after establishing links with three local community foundations, decided to involve Community Foundation Network. We are now in the process of identifying ten different areas where local partners and community foundations, stimulated by a contribution from the national charitable budget, can develop partnerships.

In late 1999 the Active Community Unit of the Home Office asked Community Foundation Network and the Community Development Foundation (a national organization that supports good community work practice) to run an experimental fund to test out the effectiveness of small grants to very small community groups. Twenty-two community foundations were selected to run 30 small funds for three years, targeted at some of the most disadvantaged areas of England, urban and rural. Evaluation of the first year of  the Community Resource Fund has shown that community foundations can reach even the smallest, newest groups and that sums as small as £300-500 can be a lifeline to such groups if they are given unbureaucratically and speedily at the point when they are most needed.

All over the country community foundations are leading the grantmaking in multi-sector regeneration partnerships – in Health Action Zones, single regeneration budget programmes, New Deal for Communities and many others. South Yorkshire Community Foundation with other partners piloted the idea of a Key Fund whereby European funding can be pre-matched and paid in advance to smaller voluntary organizations.

Gaynor Humphreys is Director of Community Foundation Network. She can be contacted by email at ghumphreys@communityfoundations.org.uk

For more information, please contact Community Foundation Network.
Tel +44 20 7422 8611
Fax +44 20 7422 8616
Email network@communityfoundations.org.uk