The value-added of community foundations

Quoth Gifthub:

Unless Community Foundations add more more value, and emphasize relationships, local presence, and ideals, they will find Fidelity and other financial intermediaries tough competition.

Bingo. The philanthropic landscape has evolved in ways that many community foundations--indeed, many charities--have yet to grasp. While charities are redefining themselves in commercial terms, the most successful businesses are highlighting their noncommercial values. The result is a market environment in which charity all too often appears ill-adapted on both fronts, with business-speak unmatched by business savvy and a nonprofit identity that seems compromised.

If a charity is to compete, its value-added lies in being both more effective and transcendent. A difficult and delicate task, to be sure, but one we ignore to our peril.