Running November 12-18, the Eau Claire Community Foundation will join more than 700 similar organizations across across the country for Community Foundation Week. For 25 years, the effort has raised awareness about the increasingly important role of these philanthropic organizations in fostering local collaboration to address civic and economic challenges.

The Eau Claire Community Foundation currently holds over 170 funds and has allowed donors to distribute almost $400,000 in grants to Eau Claire area nonprofits so far in 2014.

“Community foundations impact lives, solve problems, and improve futures,” said ECCF Executive Director Sue Bornick in a press release this week. “As many residents grapple with limited resources and a growing need for services, we are more determined than ever to bring our community partners together to find innovative and effective solutions for some of our most challenging social problems.”

Community foundations are independent, public entities that steward philanthropic resources from institutional and individual donors to local nonprofits that are the heart of strong, vibrant communities. The Eau Claire Community Foundation currently holds over 170 funds and has allowed donors to distribute almost $400,000 in grants to Eau Claire area nonprofits so far in 2014.

Community foundations represent one of the fastest-growing forms of philanthropy. Every state in the United States is home to at least one community foundation – large and small, urban and rural – working to advance solutions on a wide range of social issues.