Community Foundation receives national re-accreditation from National Standards

QUINCY — The Community Foundation Serving West Central Illinois and Northeast Missouri recently received re-accreditation with the nation’s highest standard for philanthropic excellence.

National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations establish legal, ethical, effective practices for community foundations everywhere.

In a press release, Randy Royster, board member of the Council on Foundations, said, “Meeting the National Standards benchmarks is a rigorous, comprehensive process. This accreditation is a significant accomplishment that indicates the Community Foundation demonstrates a commitment to transparency, quality, integrity and accountability as it carries out its mission.”

The Community Foundation initially received accreditation in 2006 and has since upheld the standards required by the National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations program, which requires community foundations to document their policies for donor services, investments, grantmaking and administration. The program is designed to provide quality assurance to donors, as well as to their legal and financial advisors.

“This is highly important to our donors,” said Lance Grady, Community Foundation board chair. “When people make a charitable bequest or establish a fund, they are putting their trust in us. They are counting on us to manage the investment wisely, and honor their charitable wishes. The National Standards accreditation says our house is in order.”

The Community Foundation offers a range of charitable funds, allowing donors to advance a cause, support an individual organization, provide flexible support for community needs or recommend individual grants. In addition to affirming the organization’s philanthropic services, the re-accreditation validates the Community Foundation’s grantmaking practices for the nonprofit community.

“We are grateful for the trust that our donors, our grantees, and our communities place in the Community Foundation,” Community Foundation CEO Catherine Bocke Meckes said. “It is our privilege to connect passion to purpose each and every day, and our responsibility to do so with the highest standards and the greatest care.”

National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations is the first program of its kind for charitable foundations in the United States.

The Community Foundations National Standards Board is a supporting organization of the Council on Foundations and is responsible for the quality, value and integrity of compliance with National Standards. For more information on the National Standards Board, visit its website at www.cfstandards.org.

The Community Foundation Serving West Central Illinois and Northeast Missouri builds permanent charitable funds to assist area nonprofits and communities. The Community Foundation has made more than $15 million in grants since 1997. It serves 12 counties: Adams, Brown, Hancock and Pike in Illinois and Clark, Lewis, Marion, Ralls, Pike, Knox, Shelby and Monroe in Missouri. 

The Community Foundation has IRS 501(c)(3) status, and contributions made to the Community Foundation generally qualify for the maximum allowable deductions for income and estate tax purposes.

For more information, call 217-222-1237, go to mycommunityfoundation.org, or www.facebook.com/mycommunityfoundation.