In the United States – where the community foundation concept originated – the community foundation can be described in clear legal terms (involving strict requirements around managements and disbursal of resources) and in terms of field-wide standards defined by various different umbrella and membership organisations. As the concept has spread around the world, the model Western structure of community foundations has been reshaped to reflect the needs and contexts of different societies and to describe a larger family of “community philanthropy organisations’ that include community foundations as well as community funds, women’s funds, environmental funds and other grassroots grant makers. As efforts are made to expand and support the field, this more inclusive approach is reflected in a looser use of terminology (community foundation and / or community philanthropy organisation) that points to a set of organisations that are strengthening community capacities and voice, building assets and strengthening social capital within and across communities.
Published in Chapter:
Subnational Governance and Development: A New Perspective
Jenny Hodgson (Global Fund for Community Foundations, South Africa), Peter McKinlay (McKinlay Douglas Ltd., New Zealand), and Barry Knight (CENTRIS, UK)
Copyright: © 2017
|Pages: 25
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-1645-3.ch019
Abstract
This chapter examines how the practice of governance, especially at a subnational level, has been evolving since the 1990s, focusing on the implications for “community governance”. An overview of recent thinking on the nature of governance opens up the question of whether “governance” may be exercised through institutions entirely separate from government. Examples are considered from Australia's experience with “community banking”, and from trusts and foundations that have emerged from major public sector restructuring. The chapter considers the work of the Global Fund for Community Foundations as an important civil society contribution to subnational governance in developing countries, examining the role of foundations in building capacity and capability in disadvantaged communities through a new approach grounded in an understanding of “community governance”. Overall the chapter argues for a broadening in the understanding of governance, from what governments do to encompassing how our communities come together to shape their own futures.