CMF Membership Eligibility

An individual member is one who supports the mission and work of CMF, has no current private foundation or donor-advised fund at a community foundation and provides financial philanthropic support in an organized, systematic manner. Individuals interested in starting a private or public foundation are also invited to become CMF members under this category. 

Individual membership is designed for those who would like access to CMF’s current educational opportunities. The following services are not designed for individual members: Ask CMF, impact investing consultation and legal services. 

Individuals who support philanthropic organizations are also invited to join CMF’s membership option for professional advisors. Please see the Professional Advisor section to read the description of this member type and related criteria. 

Individuals with a donor advised fund at a CMF member community foundation may receive member benefits on behalf of the community foundation. The community foundation should submit a request for such access on an individual’s behalf.

A corporation may use a corporate (private) foundation or establish a corporate giving (direct giving) program as their method for providing philanthropic support. In some cases, a corporation may have both a giving program and a foundation. A corporate giving program established and administered within a profit-making company and a separate private foundation with a 501(c)(3) nonprofit status are each qualifying entities for this category. 

Corporate Foundations 

To qualify for membership in CMF, a corporate foundation must meet the following criteria: 

• Be a legally registered 501(c)(3) private operating/non-operating foundation. 
• Grantmaking should be the primary purpose of this organization, not to solely fund the organization. 

Corporate Giving Programs 

For a corporate giving program, grants go directly to charitable organizations from the corporation. A corporate giving program does not have a separate endowment. Grantmaking is planned as part of the company’s annual budgeting process and it is usually funded with pre-tax income based on the profitability of the company. 

To qualify for membership in CMF, a corporate giving program must meet the following criteria: 

• Contributions are made by the corporation, not by employees. 
• Grantmaking should be a minimum of $5,000 annually. 

Corporate Foundations and Corporate Giving Programs 

For those corporations that have both eligible corporate giving programs and corporate foundations, CMF recommends joining as one entity based on the combined grantmaking of these organizations. This will allow employees of both organizations to access and maximize CMF member benefits. 

Note: IRS self-dealing rules prohibit private foundations (including company foundations formed as private foundations) from entering into a range of financial transactions with disqualified persons, including transactions that provide a tangible economic benefit to a disqualified person. Since a corporation is virtually always a substantial contributor to the foundation it sponsors, it is considered a disqualified person. For that reason, if the foundation and a corporate giving program share a membership in CMF where both could receive tangible benefits, CMF recommends that membership dues be paid by the corporation to remove the legal complexities of self-dealing issues that are otherwise possible. 

Private foundations are charitable organizations that are classified as such by the IRS. In practice, they are 501(c)(3) organizations established with funds from a single source or specific sources, such as family or a corporation. Although contributions to private foundations are technically tax deductible, most of these organizations do not accept donations from the general public. 

To qualify for membership in CMF, a private foundation must meet the following criteria: 

• Be a legally registered 501(c)(3) private operating foundation or non-operating foundation. 
• Have an endowment. 
• Except for private operating foundations, grantmaking should be the primary purpose of this organization. 

Professional advisors support the philanthropic community. Examples of support include legal, financial, strategic and philanthropic advising. Advisors may join CMF either individually or as a firm. CMF highly recommends a firm membership for organizations with more than one person supporting the philanthropic community and if there is a desire to have two or more individuals access CMF membership benefits. An individual membership cannot be transferred to different individuals throughout the year. 

To qualify for membership in CMF, a professional advisor must meet the following criteria: 

• Serve clients eligible for CMF’s membership.  
• Serve clients within the state of Michigan. (This does not require the individual or the firm to be located in Michigan.) 

The term "public foundation" refers to a 501(c)(3) organization that has been determined by the IRS not to be a private foundation. Like other public charities, public foundations generally receive their funding from multiple unrelated donors, which may include private foundations, individuals and government grants. 

To qualify for membership in CMF, a public charity must meet the following criteria: 

• Be a legally registered 501(c)(3) public charity. 
• Grantmaking to more than a single beneficiary should be the primary purpose of this organization.