The Yuma Community Foundation's philosophy is that local youths are among our community's most powerful resources.

Because of that, it has chosen three area high school students to serve alongside adults on the YCF Advisory Board: Ruth Megui and Bryan Benitez of Yuma High School, and Maura Martinez of San Luis High School.

"Our youth board members bring enthusiasm and a new perspective to our work," said YCF regional manager Judy Gresser. "These young people are our community's next leaders, and we are delighted to help them prepare for future roles as decision makers."

Celebrated Marin photographer Pirkle Jones, a colleague of Ansel Adams and Dorothea Lange whose photographs of the Black Panthers caused a furor when they were exhibited at San Francisco's de Young Museum in 1968, died March 15 at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Rafael. He was 95...

In recent years, Mr. Jones was honored with retrospectives at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Berkeley Art Museum and the Marin Community Foundation, among other institutions. In 2003, the city of Mill Valley honored him with its Milley Award for achievement in the arts.

The Community Foundation for Southwest Washington will award over a quarter of a million dollars in grants to nonprofit organizations and schools in Clark, Cowlitz and Skamania counties on Thursday, March, 19, 2009 at the Hilton Vancouver, Washington. Local nonprofit leaders, philanthropists and Community Foundation Board and Grants Committee members will attend the Awards Event that will commence at 9:00 a.m.

Twenty-seven nonprofit programs will receive a total of $243,946 from the Community Giving Fund and the Children’s Trust Fund. In addition, the Community Foundation continues to allocate over $30,000 annually for the Principal’s Checkbook Program.

The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) released its most recent report, Criteria for Philanthropy at Its Best: Benchmarks to Assess and Enhance Grantmaker Impact. The paper discusses how philanthropic institutions are timid when providing for the greater good.

These organizations have under minded the beneficial impact that they can achieve by improving the overall condition of many communities in need. The article aims to answer the following questions. ”

1. What differentiates an exemplary foundation from the rest of its peers?
2. What can foundations do to improve its relevance to nonprofits, the economically and socially underserved Americans and society as a whole?”

This article provided a set of guidelines to improve charitable giving and focused on the idea that private institutions should direct more of their attention to the needs of impoverished populations.

A community foundation reinvents an indicators report with a 20-year history to engage an entire region in strategic responses to major issues. In recent years, The Spartanburg County Foundation has extended ownership of the report—and a resulting community-wide strategic plan—through partnership with the local chamber of commerce, United Way, a state university, and local government.

via Community Indicators Report @ The Spartanburg County Foundation « We’re Better Together.

The number of residents lacking the basic needs of food, clothing and shelter has risen to crisis levels in Rochester in the recession, say representatives with area nonprofits.

The Rochester Area Community Foundation hopes to spur more local funding for these emergency services through a $100,000 challenge grant offered through the United Way of Greater Rochester's 2009 campaign.

The foundation will match dollar for dollar every new or increased individual donation earmarked for the United Way's "Supporting People in Crisis" impact area.