Higher Standards

<February 27, 2017>The Community Foundation for Muskegon County has recently been awarded re-accreditation by National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations®—the highest standards for philanthropic excellence.

We work to support the causes our community cares about, from supporting the arts and cultivating gardens to summer recreation, expanding literacy, and downtown development. National Standards says that we meet the most rigorous standards in philanthropy and is a promise to our community that we’ll continue to do this good work together, right here in Muskegon County.

National Standards is not mandatory. We chose to go above and beyond by affirming our commitment to excellence and accountability. Our accreditation provides assurance that we have sound policies and best practices in place. In short, it means we meet the highest standards for local giving.

The Foundation received it’s original accreditation from National Standards in 2005 and, every five years since, has applied for a re-accreditation review. In 2016, we submitted our  policies and procedures to a rigorous review by a panel of national community foundation experts against 41 standards in six key areas of community foundation operations, including donor services, investment management, grantmaking and administration. We received notification on February 15, 2017 that our re-accreditation was affirmed.

“The National Standards accreditation says this house is in order” said Chris McGuigan, Foundation president/CEO. “It is excellent validation of the work we do on behalf of our donors and our community.”

The National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations® program was established in 2000 in cooperation with the Council on Foundations. For more information about National Standards, visit www.cfstandards.org.