ABSTRACT
The founding of the first community foundation in 1914 by visionary Cleveland banker Frederick Goff, once-novel class of institution continues to grow and thrive. The original idea is to pool charitable resources to permit a focuses on the underlying causes of urban problems, as opposed to charity as a mere palliative, dealing only with the symptoms of distress. The Boston Foundation finds our opportunity to build a distinctive franchise in a progression from a quiet grant maker to a vocal and visible civic leader. The civic leadership model does just that for community foundations. The field faces unprecedented external pressures and competition, and it has not done a good enough job explaining the value of philanthropy and the nonprofits sector. It is success in attracting support from a large number of the most prominent and respected citizens of Boston, many of whom were not previously donors to the Boston Foundation.
