Aspen Community Foundation is a

community foundation Community foundations (CFs) are instruments of civil society designed to pool donations into a coordinated investment and grant making facility dedicated primarily to the social improvement of a given place. Community foundations are a global pheno ...

that serves the Roaring Fork and

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...

Valleys of Western Colorado. Founded by the

Aspen Skiing Company The Aspen Skiing Company, known locally as Ski Co, is a commercial enterprise based in Aspen, Colorado. The Aspen Skiing Company operates the Aspen/Snowmass resort complex, comprising four ski areas: Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands, Buttermilk, ...

in 1980 to promote

philanthropy Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

in the community, the Aspen Foundation, as it was originally named, raised funds by distributing ski passes to donors: a similar tradition that exists to this day. The introduction of

Donor Advised Funds In the United States, a donor-advised fund (commonly called a DAF) is a charitable giving vehicle administered by a public charity created to manage charitable donations on behalf of organizations, families, or individuals. To participate in a don ...

in 2000 further guided the Community Foundation towards fiscal and administrative self-reliance. Aspen Community Foundation currently holds about 150 different types of funds and annually distributes about $5 million in grants through its donor advised,

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

s, organization and unrestricted

grantmaking A grant is a fund given by an end entity grant – often a public body, charitable foundation, or a specialised grant-making institution – to an individual or another entity (usually, a non-profit organisation, sometimes a business or a local ...

funds.

External links

Aspen Community Foundation
- official site Community foundations based in the United States Non-profit organizations based in Colorado