A deep understanding of local communities

Community foundations are experts in their local communities. They understand local need and the organisations working on the ground to address the most pressing issues.

Practical action, rooted in research

Understanding the needs of a community and the issues it faces is the first step to being able to solve them. Community foundations undertake research, including Vital Signs, an initiative spearheaded by Community Foundations of Canada, to bring together funding data, statistics and first-hand interviews to get a detailed picture of key issues affecting communities. This research informs funding decisions and conversations with potential partners and donors so they can be confident their giving is contributing to important local causes.

Two women sat talking and workingBeyond the Page, supported by the Kent Community Foundation

Find out more

See why the community foundation model made it possible to distribute thousands of emergency grants to local charities and organisations within weeks of the first lockdown in The Community Foundation Response to Coronavirus.

The Value and Impact of the UK Community Foundation Network looks at how the 46 accredited community foundations operate and examines how they strengthen communities across the country.

We published the Vital Signs and the UK Voluntary Sector report, bringing together research from community foundations from 2013-2017.

If you want to find out about the latest needs analysis in your area, please contact your nearest community foundation.

Our network

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Working for UKCF

Make a difference and become part of the UKCF team. Learn more

Disaster Response

Community foundations are there for communities in times of disaster. Learn more

Sharing our data

We are publishing our data on 360Giving in our commitment to sharing transparent data. Learn more