Baltimore Community Foundation

Baltimore Community Foundation, Inc.
Formation 1972
Type Non-Profit Community Foundation
23-7180620
Location
Coordinates 39°17′59″N 76°36′56″W / 39.2998027°N 76.615487°W / 39.2998027; -76.615487
Area served
Greater Baltimore, Maryland
Method Donations and Grants
31
Key people
Staff
36
Website www.bcf.org
Member of the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations

The Baltimore Community Foundation (BCF) is a private community foundation created by the community of Baltimore to serve the current and future needs of the Baltimore region.

BCF offers donors customized support for their individual philanthropic goals, expert assistance in learning more about the causes they care about, and the opportunity to join others with similar interests to learn and give together.

The Baltimore Community Foundation distributed $20 million in 2016 to hundreds of nonprofit organizations in the Baltimore region and beyond[1]. BCF comprises more than 800 different charitable funds created by a diverse group of individuals, families, and corporations.[1]

Recognized as one of the country’s most civically engaged community foundations, BCF’s role as advocate was highlighted in FSG Social Impact Advisors’ report, Raising Money While Raising Hell.[2]

History

In 1972, leaders of Baltimore’s five major banks of that time joined together to establish the Community Foundation of the Greater Baltimore Area. Inspired by the success of the nation’s first community foundation in Cleveland, Ohio, and a rapidly growing network of community foundations nationwide, co-founder Robert Levi of Mercantile-Safe Deposit and Trust, who would become the fledgling organization’s first chairman, felt strongly that Baltimore needed “a philanthropic organization that was a gathering of all people—no color line, no religious affiliation, no special cause.”[3]

BCF is one of a growing number of community foundations across the U.S. and the world. The Council on Foundations provides a community foundation locator map[4] as well as information and statistics about one of the fastest growing sectors in philanthropy.[5]

Governance

BCF is governed by a 31-member board of trustees, selected to represent diverse community interests.[6] The foundation’s staff includes professionals in community investment, donor services, development, finance and administration, and communications.[7]

Initiatives

A number of key initiatives of the Baltimore Community Foundation are:

  • Neighborhood Sustainability is an umbrella for several projects including Cleaner, Greener Baltimore and the Baltimore Neighborhood Energy Challenge.[8][9]
  • Middle Grades Partnership offers academically promising Baltimore middle school students the opportunity to excel in the city's most challenging high schools by providing them with comprehensive summer and after-school learning opportunities.
  • Central Maryland Transportation Alliance is a coalition of Greater Baltimore’s business, environmental and community leaders dedicated to improving travel efficiency in Central Maryland.

References

  1. 1 2 "About the Baltimore Community Foundation". www.bcf.org. Retrieved 2017-07-03.
  2. ↑ Kania, John, et al. Raising Money While Raising Hell. FSG Social Impact Advisors, Fall 2009, p. 2-3.
  3. ↑ Levi, Robert H. Interview with Suzanne Wolff. 28 February 1994.
  4. ↑ "Community Foundation Locator | Council on Foundations". www.cof.org. Retrieved 2017-07-03.
  5. ↑ "Community Foundations | Council on Foundations". Retrieved 2017-07-03.
  6. ↑ "BCF's Board of Trustees". www.bcf.org. Retrieved 2017-07-03.
  7. ↑ "Staff of the Baltimore Community Foundation". www.bcf.org. Retrieved 2017-07-03.
  8. ↑ "Baltimore Energy Challenge". baltimoreenergychallenge.org. Retrieved 2017-07-03.
  9. ↑ "BCF makes a difference: Grants, initiatives, advocacy". www.bcf.org. Retrieved 2017-07-03.
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