Community Development Philanthropy
The Community Strategies Group builds the number and capacity of community and region-focused foundations that are taking leadership on – and making a significant difference in – improving the economy and livelihoods in their places.
A growing number of community and regional foundations across the country are finding, creating and embracing opportunities to use the full range of their assets and tools in ways that generate better economic prospects and more broadly shared prosperity for their regions. In short, they are practicing Community Development Philanthropy (CDP).
Foundations practice Community Development Philanthropy when they address critical community issues and play integrating or missing roles to advance regional economic development in ways that build enduring prosperity and livelihoods for all, especially those at the margins.
Community and regional foundations are particularly well-suited to play these roles because they hold a longer-term perspective, are committed to and rooted in place, and, through their mission, shoulder a deep concern that development efforts should produce prosperity that is broadly shared.
Community and regional foundations have a wide range of assets and tools that they can call on to help build widely-shared regional prosperity: networks, convening power, endowed and non-endowed funds, investment resources and savvy, wide-ranging leadership connections and influence, deep knowledge of the community, the ability to make grants, loans and investments – and to run programs when no one else is there to do it. They can use those assets flexibly to help generate a local economy that is driven by the many for the benefit of the many. They are in a unique position to connect the dots, fill gaps, unleash energy and leverage different kinds of economic development action.Community and regional foundations have a wide range of assets and tools that they can call on to help build widely-shared regional prosperity: networks, convening power, endowed and non-endowed funds, investment resources and savvy, wide-ranging leadership connections and influence, deep knowledge of the community, the ability to make grants, loans and investments – and to run programs when no one else is there to do it. They can use those assets flexibly to help generate a local economy that is driven by the many for the benefit of the many. They are in a unique position to connect the dots, fill gaps, unleash energy and leverage different kinds of economic development action.
For more than 20 years, CSG has worked with place-rooted community and regional foundations – and place-focused national and regional foundations – to better understand the wide range of assets and tools they can develop and deploy to strengthen local communities and economies. We have engaged one-on-one with foundations in strategic planning, board development, community analysis, program design and geographic affiliate and fund development. We have organized and facilitated nearly a dozen multi-year peer-learning clusters for community foundations in that time – including several Community Leadership Networks with CFLeads for foundations taking leadership on critical issues in their communities. In 2015, CSG began a partnership with the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship to advance Community Development Philanthropy – helping community and regional foundations play new and stronger roles building family, community and regional prosperity.
