Fund Development at Community Foundations

Strengthen your core fund development skills and deepen your impact at your community foundation. In this engaging two-hour session, you’ll get oriented to the language of advancement while gaining a clear, practical understanding of the key trends and forces shaping the field today. Led by David Bennett, author of Understanding Community Foundations, this session will jumpstart your expertise in this specialized area of community foundation work.

Please note that if you attended our 2025 Community Foundation Development Intensive, some of this training content will overlap.  

What you’ll take away 

• Key advancement concepts within a community foundation.  
• Clarity on types of gifts to a community foundation and key terminology in the field.  
• Better understanding of policies and fees that underpin community foundation fund creation.  
• Insight into the tax and policy environment and how it affects your development work.  

Who should attend 

• Donor development and services staff at community foundations with less than two years of experience.  
• Community foundation staff who want to build broader understanding of development functions.  

Module 1: Fund Development at Community Foundations

• Fund Development at a Community Foundation 
• Understanding Your Strategic Direction 
• The Importance of Professional Advisors 
• Different Types of Gifts 
• Lifetime Gifts 
• Estate Gifts 
• Qualified Charitable Distributions 
• Donor Advised Funds at Community Foundations 
• DAFs and Bunching 
• Limitations on DAFs 
• Fund Agreements – Creation and Modification 
• Gift Acceptance Policies 

Module 2: Gifts, Taxes and Fund Development – A Deeper Dive

• The Tax Environment in 2026 
• Federal Income Taxes 
• Federal Estate Taxes 
• Administrative Fees on Funds 
• Accepting Real Property