About Certification
What makes Wisconsin’s Certified Community Foundations such trustworthy partners?

Wisconsin is a national leader in the community foundation field. Wisconsin’s community foundations, coordinated by the Donors Forum of Wisconsin, are the first in the nation to develop a certification process for community foundations.

History
After the Council on Foundations established National Standards for U.S. Foundations in 2000, Wisconsin’s Community Foundations developed a stringent review process to assure compliance, which is now serving as a model in other states. Coordinated by the Donors Forum of Wisconsin, this intensive review process evaluates community foundations in five key areas: mission, governance, stewardship and accountability, donor services and grantmaking. Only those community foundations which can prove compliance through established policies and procedures and an on-site review are certified.

Certification Process
Three steps comprise the certification process.

First, a Community Foundation’s Boards of Governors must pass a resolution declaring its intent to comply with the National Standards.

Next, Community Foundation staff execute an extensive internal review of policies and procedures, preparing a compliance directory. The directory contains the organization’s policies and procedures. It is evidence the organization is complying with each of the 44 standards.

Finally, after reviewing the compliance directory, two leaders from the Community Foundation field visit the organization to review the standards and compliance directory. This critical evaluative tool involves a lengthy review of a Community Foundation’s organizational documents, by-laws, operating policies and procedures. More importantly, the site visit includes an extensive interview with the Community Foundation’s leader. This interview, coupled with the compliance directory, determine whether a Wisconsin community foundation is certified.

Standards of Excellence
Certification is granted only to Community Foundations who are deemed to meet each of the 44 standards of operating excellence. When certification is not granted, Community Foundations are provided with an explanation and recommendations for improvements. Such improvements must take place within a one-year period to gain certification.

The standards certify that a community foundation has a single minded devotion to effective philanthropy. The community foundation must demonstrate that it is an accountable, nonprofit organization that connects irrevocable gifts from donors with a wide range of charitable needs within its community, while honoring the charitable intentions of the donors and reporting the results to them.

NEXT: Defining Community Foundations