Community foundations are nonprofit organizations established to meet the current and future needs of local communities. Community foundations offer donors all the tax advantages of charitable giving, the long-term benefits of endowment funding, and the ability to establish a legacy fund in the name of a family or a loved one.
Community foundations help build and strengthen community and bring people and organizations together that want to make a positive impact in the world. They are tax-exempt public charities that guide philanthropy and are dedicated to improving the quality of life in the areas they serve. Individuals, families, businesses and organizations work with community foundations to create permanent charitable funds that help meet the challenges of changing times. The foundation invests and administers these funds.
For donors, community foundations offer a range of charitable giving options and philanthropic advice that help fulfill donors' charitable and financial goals. For the geographic region they serve, community foundations provide leadership, expertise and capital to address social issues and serve as a resource for nonprofit, civic, government and philanthropic organizations.
HCF provides a simple, powerful, and highly personal approach to giving.
Three special features of a community foundation:
You receive personalized service.
Community foundations provide personalized service, helping individuals, families, businesses, and nonprofit organizations achieve their charitable and financial goals by offering tools and resources that make giving easy, flexible, and effective. Our donors can create personal legacies via named funds, teaching future generations the value of giving back. Uniquely, with Hudson Community Foundation, the donor can choose to remain with their trusted advisor to manage their charitable investments, regardless of the account size. Donor Funds can be as large as you choose, with a minimum of $5,000. Grants can be made to any tax-exempt public charity anywhere in the country.
We create giving solutions that fit every situation.
You access local expertise. Your community foundation is a local organization staffed by people from your community and led by a local board of directors. This group of people has an in-depth knowledge of the issues, opportunities and resources that shape your community, enabling them to play a key role in solving community problems, while helping donors learn more about local needs in order to make their giving as effective as possible.
We help donors make a difference where it is needed most.
HCF plays a key role in addressing community needs, now and in the future. We act as a community catalyst, bringing diverse voices and groups together to address local issues, and fostering greater giving and volunteering in our communities. We build endowments to ensure grants support the community forever. We are governed by leaders with strong ties to our communities. Our work focuses on that of nonprofits; we foster the development of new organizations and programs, support high-impact opportunities, and re-direct funds as community needs change.