Taos Community Foundation is a Community Accredited Foundation!

Taos Community Foundation recently received accreditation with the nation’s highest standard for philanthropic excellence. National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations® establish legal, ethical, effective practices for community foundations everywhere.

Taos Community Foundation offers a range of charitable funds, allowing donors to advance a cause, support an individual organization, provide flexible support for community needs or recommend individual grants. In addition to affirming the organization’s philanthropic services, the accreditation validates Taos Community Foundation’s grantmaking practices for the nonprofit community.

Through philanthropic services, strategic investments and community leadership, Taos Community Foundation helps people support the causes they care about, now and for generations to come.

For more information on Taos Community Foundation, please visit www.taoscf.org.

“Meeting the National Standards benchmarks is a rigorous, comprehensive process,” said Randy Royster, board member of the Council on Foundations. “This accreditation is a significant accomplishment that indicates Taos Community Foundation demonstrates a commitment to transparency, quality, integrity and accountability as it carries out its mission.”

The National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations® program requires community foundations to document their policies for donor services, investments, grantmaking and administration. With over 500 community foundations already accredited nationwide, the program is designed to provide quality assurance to donors, as well as to their legal and financial advisors.

“This is important to our work in community,” said Lisa O’Brien, Taos Community Foundation Director. “When people make a charitable bequest or establish a fund, they are putting their trust in us. They are counting on us to manage the investment wisely, honor their charitable wishes. The National Standards accreditation says our house is in order and that we are operating above and beyond what the law requires.”

Taos Community Foundation connects people, and opportunities, generating resources to build a more creative, caring, and thriving community.

“Grantmaking is an important investment in community” said O’Brien. “Our integrity in doing this work with accreditation, demonstrates we are a reliable partner, as we work together to meet the changing need of our community”.

National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations® is the first program of its kind for charitable foundations in the United States.

The Community Foundations National Standards Board is a supporting organization of the Council on Foundations and is responsible for the quality, value and integrity of compliance with National Standards.

For more information on the National Standards Board, visit its website at www.cfstandards.org.