Communications

Communicating with the public it serves is vitally important to the Community Foundation for the Twin Tiers (CFTT) in building trust in the organization and the work it does. Community Foundations have been called one of philanthropy's best kept secrets. Because we play so many roles in the community – fund developer, donor service provider, grant maker and leader – it can be puzzling for people to understand the exact "niche" community foundations fit.

Communications in its simplest sense means delivering a message. To communicate, you need two things: an audience and a message. Community foundations use communications to:

• Share information with current and potential donors, grantees and the community.
• Build relations and trust.
• Demonstrate accountability and transparency.
• Share new ideas and lessons learned with other grant makers, regional associations of grant makers and national philanthropic and nonprofit organizations.
• Heighten awareness about community foundations and philanthropy among the general public.
• Educate public policy leaders.
• Help identify and define community needs.
• Stay aware of emerging philanthropic trends.

In this section you will find our attempts at communicating with you.