About GCF
Gloucestershire Community Foundation (GCF) is here to serve our community. GCF was established in 1989 to build a permanent and sustainable endowment, a community asset which will continue to support our communities in Gloucestershire for life. Today, we have built a community asset worth more than £7 million and are growing this continually for generations to come. We also raise funds through important campaigns such as "Poverty Hurts" and receive one off donations that go straight to the charities we serve or deliver funds effectively on the behalf of others. Currently we manage 50 funds, donor advised funds, several revenue funds, and in the last two years alone we provided grants to over 280 community groups. In order to grow our community assets we need your help.
Our Vision & Mission
OUR VISION: Gloucestershire is a place where people and communities are empowered to become resilient and strong
OUR MISSION: Increase our capacity through philanthropy, grant making and developing partnerships, to help strengthen the capabilities of our communities in order that they are able to thrive
How we do this: We know our communities’ needs through our annual Vital Signs research as well as our work to support grassroots community groups. We offer unique insights into addressing some of society’s most complex issues and work with key partners who can deliver solutions locally and we act as a trusted broker between donors and the voluntary and community sector in Gloucestershire.
Our membership to UK Community Foundations means we’re quality accredited to high standards and give the best in philanthropy advice for Gloucestershire.
We address today’s issues and take a longer-term view of upstream interventions that will make a difference to future generations.
In order to deliver our vision, we believe in strong partnerships with like-minded organisations that take a strategic and innovative approach to tackle deep-rooted problems. An example of this is the launch of the INVEST programme, where we now have a funded mentoring programme for Charity Leaders, read more here…
Therefore, whether you are an individual, family, a professional advisor, business or public sector organisation, we can help you develop your giving strategy.
What is a Community Foundation?
If you’ve ever wondered why Community Foundations exist, here’s a short film to explain what we do.
Why work with us?
While many people feel motivated to give something back to the place where they live or work, they are unsure about where to start. That’s where our close relationship with Gloucestershire’s voluntary sector will help. Statutory provision cannot serve all. Our charities are so desperately needed to fill the gaps where statutory provision cannot reach. Without our voluntary sector so many people would suffer. We must support the Third Sector (voluntary sector), who are so often the ones protecting our NHS and other services.
There are many reasons to work with a community foundation. Our model is tried and tested, providing the very best investment and charitable giving for our donors.
Working with philanthropists and donors to manage their charitable giving, we are committed to providing the best investment strategy and performance; low administrative fees and costs; and unrivalled leadership in the community.
Our board of trustees oversees the work we do. The mandate set by the board for the fund managers is RPI+4%. With volatile stock markets the fund value varies quarterly but taking a 3-5 year view the mandate has been achieved consistently.
Our professional team carry out the due diligence and assessments, manage payments, monitor grants and provide reports to let you know how your generosity has helped. We keep our overheads and costs low, making us one of the most cost effective Community Foundations in the UK. We have streamlined our processes, leading the sector in information gathering, due diligence and the delivery of grants. This not only makes us more efficient but also gives us more time to build relationships with donors and the communities we serve.
Please take some time to look at the services we provide. Every donor portfolio is different, please get in touch to discuss how we might be able to work together.”
Talitha Nelson, CEO Gloucestershire Community Foundation, 0755 747 8855
“Our model is tried and tested, providing the very best investment and charitable giving for our donors.”
