Helping you make more good possible.
Join a powerful collective of donors making a positive impact across the South Puget Sound. Here’s how the Community Foundation of South Puget Sound helps make more possible in Lewis, Mason, and Thurston counties.
What is a community foundation?
Community foundations bring together people who care about their communities to support critical needs, respond to disasters, create opportunities, and build a stronger future.
The Community Foundation of South Puget Sound manages charitable gifts from individual donors, families, businesses, and nonprofits. The proceeds from these funds generate grants and scholarships today, while preserving resources for tomorrow’s priorities across our region.
Partnering with our knowledgeable staff helps identify where your charitable gifts will have the greatest impact. Together, we co-create charitable funds that help meet community challenges. Then, guided by what you care about, we invest and administer those funds, awarding scholarships to local students and grants to organizations that make more possible across Lewis, Mason, and Thurston counties.
What do Community Foundations accomplish?
Every day, generous people like you are making a difference through community foundations. And, together, they are making a huge impact on lives across the U.S.
- Community foundations are the fastest growing sector of philanthropy in the U.S. The Council on Foundations estimates that there are currently 900+ community foundations across the country, and they operate in every U.S. state and territory.
- Annually, community foundations grant about $26.2 billion to nonprofits.
- During the COVID-19 pandemic, community foundations raised and granted about $1 + billion to communities that were impacted through timely and responsive grantmaking programs.
- Annually, community foundations raise about $262 million through giving day campaigns.
The Community Foundation Awareness Initiative includes more than 160 community foundations in nearly all 50 states working together to educate the public about how we’re improving communities. Learn more about the impact community foundations are having nationwide through our partnership with the Community Foundation Awareness initiative here.
How do community foundations work?
Unlike private foundations—which often rely on the contributions of an individual or family—community foundations are about the power of giving together.
Everyday people who care about their communities invest together in supporting local causes, working in partnership with the community foundation’s expert team to invest in projects and organizations that are truly making a difference. Community foundations specialize in working with you to learn what you care about and help you make informed decisions about your philanthropy.
What makes Community Foundations different?
There are many different ways to do good. But if you’re looking to make informed decisions in the place you call home, your local community foundation can help you make more good possible with your giving.
We are trusted partners that bring together individual donors with other partners in the community to address challenges and capture opportunities at scale.
Do you have to be wealthy to give through a community foundation?
We believe everyone can be a philanthropist, regardless of wealth, and we offer a flexible range of giving tools. Whether you’re looking to make a difference by sharing your time and expertise, by giving money or property today, or making a pledge for tomorrow, we can help you achieve your goals!
Interested in learning about giving through the Community Foundation? Read more at Ways to Give.
Why give through a community foundation?
Giving through a community foundation, like the Community Foundation of South Puget Sound, has a number of benefits:
You can make an immediate or a long-term impact—or both!
A community foundation’s goal is to create lasting change by supporting effective local nonprofits. But they’re also connected to people who are doing the work every day, so they’re in a position to direct gifts to organizations meeting in-the-moment needs. The staff at a community foundation can work with you to ensure that your gift will help give immediate relief, be part of a long-range plan to make a difference, or both.
Your giving experience is flexible.
There are many paths to giving. You decide what stipulations will—or will not—apply to your gift, whether or not to remain anonymous, what kind of assets to give, and which organizations you’d like to partner with.
Gifts may qualify for tax advantages.
Because the Community Foundation of South Puget Sound is a nonprofit corporation under tax code 501(c)(3), your contribution is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.