About Us: Overview

Welcome to Community First Foundation.
We improve quality of life in the seven-county metropolitan Denver community. We use our resources to fund vital community initiatives, support nonprofit organizations, and assist individuals with charitable giving. We help donors support charitable causes through planned giving and Donor Advised Funds, and offer grants, fund management and fund-raising education to nonprofits. We have been serving the community since our founding in 1975.

We invite you to explore the About Us section to learn more about our mission, history, board members and staff who make our organization thrive.

For summary information, see our Fact Sheet. 

What is a Community Foundation?
A community foundation is a nonprofit, tax-exempt and publicly-supported organization designed to improve community well-being. It accepts its funds from donors and makes distributions back to the community in the form of grants.

Community foundations are overseen by governing boards that represent the community served. This governing board is responsible for defining the mission, vision, policies and direction of the foundation. It works with the foundation’s staff to address the community’s needs.

Features of a Community Foundation

 • Funds are pooled for cost efficiency

Community foundations pool a large number of funds created by individuals, families, corporations, businesses and nonprofit organizations. The funds are pooled to maximize investment returns and decrease administrative costs.

 
 • A variety of options are available to meet your charitable goals
Donors can establish a variety of funds to meet their charitable goals and avoid incurring the administrative and legal costs of developing independent foundations. 

 • Community needs are continually assessed
Staff and board members actively assess the needs of the community in order to make efficient and appropriate distribution of funds. 

 • Donor assets are stewarded responsibly
Donor assets are carefully invested and appropriate oversight is provided. 

 • Allows for maximum income tax deductions
A community foundation is a 501 (c)(3) public charity that provides tax incentives for donations as allowed by law.

What is Philanthropy?
The origin of the word “philanthropy” comes from the Greek language. It means “love of mankind” through giving and receiving. For Community First Foundation, philanthropy is our business. We believe that philanthropic acts can make all the difference in the well-being of our community. In fact, it means so much to us that we use the phrase the Power of Philanthropy to express how enthusiastically we support it.