National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations
The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation demonstrated its leadership by being recognized as one of the first community foundations in the nation for having organizational and financial practices that are in accordance with The Council on Foundations' National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations.
National Standards were developed in 2000 by a group of community foundation practitioners to serve as a roadmap for legal, ethical, and effective practices that would show the foundations' transparency and financial responsibility in light of the increased public scrutiny of foundation practices. In order to achieve compliance with National Standards community foundations are required to undergo an extensive review of their organizational and financial policies and procedures.
Approved and adopted by the Community Foundation Leadership Team in late 2000,
the National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations are philanthropy's most
rigorous. Developed as a blueprint for internal development and as a
tangible set of benchmarks for external assessment of performance, the 43
National Standards address six key areas of community foundation operations:
mission, structure and governance, resource development, stewardship and
accountability, grantmaking and community leadership, donor relations, and
communications.
Since the standards were adopted, hundreds of community foundations of all sizes, ages, and locations have committed to operational excellence.