CF Insights Moves to Foundation Center Press Release Released by Foundation Center

CF Insights Moves to Foundation Center

Transition From FSG Will Enhance Important
Community Foundation Resource

New York, NY, and Boston, MA — February 19, 2015. Today Foundation Center, the leading source of information about philanthropy worldwide, and FSG, a mission-driven consulting firm supporting leaders creating social change, have announced that CF (Community Foundation) Insights is now operating under the auspices of Foundation Center. This transition from FSG to Foundation Center, effective January 1, 2015, positions CF Insights to have an even greater impact as a service to its foundation members and a resource for the broader social sector.

Through CF Insights, community foundations can improve performance and sustainability — individually and collectively. CF Insights was created in 2006 by the community foundation field as a partnership between FSG and the Council on Foundations. With FSG at the helm, it has achieved its initial vision of helping community foundations make more informed, effective decisions about their operation models. Today, the CF Insights network includes more than 150 U.S. community foundations.

“We have always prioritized innovation and collaboration, and that forward-thinking tradition continues with the decision to entrust CF Insights to Foundation Center,” said Rebecca Graves, a managing director at FSG and the former executive director of CF Insights. “Foundation Center’s depth of expertise in benchmarking, knowledge services, and data that drive decision making make it the ideal organization to take CF Insights to the next level.”

CF Insights is driven by the potential and promise of a single question: What if each community foundation could know what all community foundations collectively know? To that end, CF Insights offers a wide range of tools, knowledge, and connections — from research reports to peer learning opportunities — which are all available atcfinsights.org. Members can also access custom dashboards to see how they compare to other community foundations and use that information to analyze their own work, gauge their performance, and plan for the future. These services build on the legacy of the Columbus Foundation, which conducted a hallmark community foundation survey on behalf of the field from 1988 through 2007.

“Foundation Center is honored to take the reins of an initiative with such a rich history and strong track record within the community foundation field,” said Bradford K. Smith, president of Foundation Center. “Community foundations grow stronger when their decisions are based on timely, accurate, and complete information, and Foundation Center will provide the knowledge tools they need to do just that.”

In the months and years to come, Foundation Center will leverage its 58 years of knowledge and experience in the social sector to enhance the benefits and resources available through CF Insights. Enhancements may include: layering in grants data, improving data visualization tools, expanding the CF Insights web platform, and creating a wider range of benchmarking and knowledge sharing opportunities.

“Stronger community foundations mean stronger communities,” said Clotilde Perez-Bode Dedecker, president of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo and a member of the Boards of Trustees of both FSG and Foundation Center. “By taking steps to be more strategic and effective in their work through services like CF Insights, these foundations are setting an example within the broader field of philanthropy and contributing to the effectiveness of the sector as a whole.”