Community Foundation Week Sample Op-Ed

Replace all bracketed and highlighted text with your foundation’s information before distributing.

When We Feel Pulled Apart, Generosity Brings Us Back to the Table/ Community Foundations are supporting...

[BY-LINE]

[OPEN WITH A SPECIFIC STORY. DESCRIBE ONE PERSON, FAMILY, OR ORGANIZATION, THE CHALLENGE THEY FACED, AND WHAT CHANGED. NAME THE OTHER PARTNERS WHO HELPED — THE RESIDENTS WHO ASKED FOR IT, THE LOCAL AGENCY THAT CAME ALONGSIDE. YOUR FOUNDATION SHOULD BE ONE PART OF THE STORY, NOT THE HERO OF IT.]

Stories like this demonstrate how community foundations and the American tradition of generosity are inextricably linked. In good times and hard ones, generous Americans have shown up for one another. Community Foundation Week, November 12 to 18, gives us a chance to celebrate that tradition and the people and organizations carrying it forward.

[YOUR FOUNDATION NAME] is one of more than 980 community foundations across the country that bring donors and residents together to take on their communities' most pressing challenges. We help the people who live here support the places they call home.

That work matters more than ever. Many Americans struggle to find common ground with their neighbors, even as they want to work together. Research shows that 89% support working across differences, and 80% believe foundations have a role in modeling how to do it. Community foundations, rooted in the places they serve, are well positioned to lead that work. Generosity is a value we share, and it belongs to everyone.

[YOUR FOUNDATION NAME] is built for this moment. Because we are rooted in community, we can bring together people who might not otherwise share a table: longtime residents and newcomers, business and nonprofit leaders, neighbors who disagree but care about the same community. [DESCRIBE A TIME YOUR FOUNDATION BROUGHT PEOPLE TOGETHER ACROSS DIFFERENCES AND WHAT CAME OF IT.]

That work rarely makes headlines, but it is how communities stay strong. When people come together around what they share, they build trust that lasts long after any single project ends.

We like to say that community foundations are “here for good.” At [YOUR FOUNDATION NAME], we are thinking about the next generation, and the one after that.

During Community Foundation Week, I hope you will join us in celebrating what this community has built together and in building what comes next. We all have a role to play. [CLOSE WITH A SPECIFIC INVITATION: AN EVENT, A WAY TO GIVE, A WAY TO GET INVOLVED.]

For more information on Community Foundation Week, visit cof.org/cfweek and follow #CommunityFNDWeek.