ABSTRACT
The community foundations that now have assets in excess of $250 million are Cleveland; the New York Community Trust; and the San Francisco Foundation, the largest. All three are structured according to the basic tenets of Frederick H. Goff's plan. The resurrection of Cleveland from the shambles of the 1970s was due to the collaboration of many factors: businesses, banks, universities, neighborhood groups, and others. But there is general agreement that the Cleveland Foundation played a powerful catalytic role. The New York Community Trust, founded in 1923, took a somewhat different route. Because New York is the financial and business capital of the country, the trust has been the pacesetter among community foundations in providing philanthropic services to corporations. The San Francisco Foundation, the third and largest of the big three, was established in 1948 in the early phase of the post-World War II resurgence of interest in community foundations throughout the country.
