About CFSA

A community foundation is a grantmaking public charity that connects the generosity of individuals, families, and businesses with local nonprofits. It supports a wide range of causes while addressing both urgent needs and long-term challenges. Community foundations partner across sectors to create positive change, serve a defined geographic area, and are classified as public charities supported by a broad base of donors.

Mission: To build a thriving Southern Arizona through philanthropy.

Vision: A vibrant and equitable community for all Southern Arizonans, now and forever.

Values:

• Adaptability – We meet the community's needs as they change.
• Community – We are bold in our aspirations and actions for a better Southern Arizona. As a civic backbone organization, we understand that transformative impact takes time and trust. We promote inclusion and dignity for all.
• Generosity – We support, celebrate, and amplify donors' generosity, and build community through giving.
• Savvy – We cultivate expertise in philanthropy and collaboration as well as deep practical knowledge of our communities and the nonprofit sector. We create impact through partnerships and smart investments of time and resources. We pursue our mission strategically for the long run.
• Trust – We prioritize relationships with our partners, listen actively, and grow from our mistakes. We partner with others toward shared goals. We trust our communities to understand their needs and how to meet them. We are here for the long term.

At the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona, we believe that diversity, equity, and inclusion are central to our purpose, are a fundamental tenet of our work, and are critical to improving the lives of future generations in Southern Arizona. We seek to challenge and change the practices, norms, and structures that create or perpetuate past, present, and future inequities.

We believe philanthropy is a vehicle for creating equity.

Our interactions with all individuals and communities are characterized by humility, respect, and transparency. We know that communities are experts regarding their own needs and solutions, and that it is our role to be active listeners. We invest in developing leadership capacity within all of Southern Arizona’s diverse communities, and we trust that those communities are capable of creating systemic change.

We believe that diversity and inclusion drive innovation.

We courageously confront racism and discrimination and establish practices that embed our values at the core of who we are. We actively recruit participation and inclusion from Southern Arizona’s diverse cultural and social groups in all our activities, at all levels of policy development, and throughout all decision-making processes.

We believe in doing better.

We engage in continuous, intentional self-evaluation across all levels of the organization and openly solicit feedback from Southern Arizona’s diverse population. We acknowledge that growth requires change, and we are committed to transformation.

Grantmaking + Diversity

Awards made by CFSA’s various grant panels support organizations that do not discriminate in their employment practices, volunteer opportunities, or delivery of programs and services based on race, religion, gender, or gender identity (including gender nonconformity and status as a transgender individual), gender expression, sexual orientation, age, ancestry, citizenship, ethnicity, familial status, socioeconomic status (economic circumstances), color, creed, sex (including pregnancy), phases of parenthood, national origin, marital status, veteran status (past, current, or prospective service in the armed forces), genetic information, physical characteristics or appearance, mental or physical disability, or any other status prohibited by applicable law.

The Community Foundation for Southern Arizona seeks to build a thriving Southern Arizona through philanthropy. To achieve our mission, we partner with individuals, families, businesses, and nonprofits to respond to the needs of our community through grantmaking and the establishment of charitable funds.

We honor the fundamental value and dignity of all individuals and thus will support nonprofit and faith-based organizations other than those whose primary purpose is to promote animosity, hostility, and malice against persons belonging to a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/national origin that differs from that of the members of the organization.

The diversity of our region strengthens us, and we invite you to join CFSA in creating an equitable and vibrant community for all of us.

Investment Philosophy

The Community Foundation for Southern Arizona’s Board of Trustees follows the economically proven philosophy that markets cannot be timed, nor will individual managers beat the overall market in the long term. CFSA invests for the long term through a diversified portfolio consisting of different global asset classes. CFSA governs the investment of assets through an Investment Policy Statement (IPS) that is annually approved through its Board of Trustees. Performance is monitored throughout the year by an Investment Committee.

The Investment Committee employs an Investment Consultant who recommends Investment Managers (Fund Managers) and ensures they comply with all applicable laws. The Investment Consultant also provides ongoing analysis of Investment Managers, including recommendations for termination and/or replacement. They create and present quarterly reports that monitor asset allocations, and the performance of investment managers, and compare fund performance to established Investment Policy Statement benchmarks.

Investment Oversight

The Board of Trustees of the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona is responsible for overseeing CFSA's investments in accordance with its Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation. The Board of Trustees annually approves CFSA’s Investment Policy Statement from a recommendation of CFSA’s Investment Committee. The Board of Trustees also selects Investment Committee members and monitors the performance of CFSA’s investment pools.