Learning to Give

Foundations exist either in trust form or as corporations. They receive their own funds originally from individuals, families, corporations, or other nonprofits and usually create endowments, with grants being made from the income earned from investing those endowments. Their donors are entitled to certain charitable tax deductions.

What Are the Major Types of Foundations?
The IRS classifies foundations either as:
private foundations, which receive the bulk of their support from a single donor or a few donors, or as
public grantmaking charities, which receive a significant portion of their support from the general public.

Private foundations include the following:

• Family foundations are usually founded by an individual or a family and are generally operated by members of that family. Examples include: The Paul G. Allen Charitable Foundation, The Annenberg Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation, Inc.).
   
  
• Corporate foundations are created and funded by companies as separate legal entities, but (are) operated by a board of directors composed of company officials. Some corporate foundations are endowed, but most receive an annual contribution form their supporting company for the purpose of making grants. Some companies form corporate contributions offices, which, unlike corporate foundations, are under the full control of the company and are not required by law to follow the same IRS regulations as corporate foundations. Many companies maintain both corporate foundations and corporate contributions offices. Corporate foundation examples include: Dow Chemical Company Foundation, Daimler-Chrysler Corporation Fund and the Ford Motor Company Fund.
   
  
• Independent foundations operate independently from their original donors or original source of funds. They may have been started by a family, but the family has ceased to serve on the board, or they may have been formed through the assets of an entity such as a disbanding HMO. Independent foundation examples include: W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Hudson-Webber Foundation, Kresge Foundation, and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

Public grantmaking charities include community foundations as well as some other entities.

• Community foundations are operated by and for the benefit of a specific geographic region. They receive their funds from a variety of donors and provide a vehicle for donors to establish endowed grantmaking funds without incurring the costs of starting a private foundation. Community foundations are administered by a governing body representative of community interests.

Other public grantmaking charities also exist, including some service club foundations such as a local Rotary Foundation. They generally have a somewhat narrower grantmaking focus than do community foundations and may or may not have endowed funds.

Besser Foundation "…to help institutions to help themselves." — Jesse Besser	Carnegie Corporation "The man who dies rich dies disgraced." —Andrew Carnegie	Dow Foundation "She offers us all a fine example of daily living and...'loving thy neighbor as thyself.'" —On Grace Dow's death in 1953	Duke Endowment "I have endeavored to make provision…for the needs of mankind along physical, mental, and spiritual lines." — James B. Duke
Ford Foundation "Philanthropy, like everything else, ought to be productive. If human sympathy prompts us to feed the hungry, why should it not prompt us to go further and make hunger in our midst impossible?" —(Quote found in "From These Beginnings" William Greenleaf, Wayne State University Press: Detroit, 1964.)	Frey Foundation Edward and Frances Frey's genuine interest and involvement in progress and social change helped bring growth, culture, and educational opportunities to the Grand Rapids community	Robert Wood Johnson Foundation ...he created one of the world's largest private foundations.	W. K. Kellog Foundation "Use the money as you please so long as it promotes the health, happiness, and well-being of children." —W.K. Kellogg to his Foundation Board of Trustees
Kresge Foundation Sebastian S. Kresge wanted to... "leave the world a better place than he found it"	John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation "I figured out how to make the money. You fellows will have to figure out how to spend it." —John D. MacArthur to his Foundation's first directors	McGregor Foundation "To relieve misfortune and promote the well-being of mankind." —McGregor Fund Mission Statement	Mott Foundation "In [a] larger sense, every man is in partnership with the rest of the human race in the eternal conquest which we call civilization."
Skillman Foundation A quiet woman, Rose Skillman never sought publicity for her charitable works, but let her donations speak for themselves.	Charles J. Strosacker Foundation The foundation he began in 1957 remains today, "small in design and primarily local in nature."	Towsley Foundation "...its mission later became focused on programs promoting education, health care, shelter, and nutrition for children."	Frederick S. Upton Foundation When asked why he spent his life giving and serving in his community, Frederick Upton replied, "Because it's home."