Company Profile
The Cleveland Foundation
Company Overview
The Cleveland Foundation, a public charity dedicated to improving the quality of life in Greater Cleveland, is the oldest and third-largest community foundation in the nation. Its establishment in 1914 is cited as one of ten events that most heavily influenced the development of the nonprofit sector in the 20th century and it continues to be a leader in its field.
The foundation has assets of approximately $1.8 billion and annually awards about $80 million in grants and low-cost loans to Cleveland-area nonprofit organizations. The foundation is made up of more than 1,300 funds created by individuals, families, organizations and corporations. We are stewards of donor dollars, protecting and growing assets and ensuring that the wishes of our donors are carried out while maximizing income, gift and estate tax benefits.
Company History
Banker and lawyer Frederick H. Goff was a “mover and shaker” in Cleveland long before that phrase became part of the American lexicon.
Today, 85 years after his death, the moving and shaking that Goff began with his most revolutionary idea have become a benevolent worldwide rumble. And its greatest reverberations are still here in his adopted home town.
Goff was already an elite professional and former mayor of what had been the city of Glenville when he hatched the idea of a “community trust.”
His vision was to pool the charitable resources of Cleveland's philanthropists, living and dead, into a single, great, and permanent endowment for the betterment of the city. Community leaders would then forever distribute the interest that the trust’s resources would accrue to fund “such charitable purposes as will best make for the mental, moral, and physical improvement of the inhabitants of Cleveland.”
From that revolutionary idea, the Cleveland Foundation was born on January 2, 1914. Within weeks, the foundation began reshaping the way community members care for one another not just in Greater Cleveland, but around the nation and the world.
By the end of that decade, a series of sweeping, reform-minded studies the foundation launched were bearing fruit. One laid the groundwork for the creation of the Emerald Necklace of the Cleveland Metroparks. Another shook up a corrupt and “Dickensian” justice system. Another spearheaded sweeping public school reforms and gave support to the radical notion that girls were worthy of equal education.
The foundation had also spawned a global movement. Within five years, community foundations had sprung up in Chicago, Boston, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and Buffalo, N.Y.
Now, some 700 community foundations in the United States collectively manage more than $40 billion in assets and distribute some $2 billion a year to community needs. Moreover, the idea has emigrated: Some 365 community foundations now thrive in 37 other countries.
Here at home, Goff’s dream has grown into a $1.8 billion civic-progress fund – an engine of collective betterment, collaborative partnerships, and courageous leadership. The foundation has evolved from an institution funded by the wealthy to one endowed by people of all income levels. It serves the region, not just the city. And it has firmly reinforced its commitment to serve as an active and visionary community agenda-setter, not a mere grantmaker.
Along the way, the Cleveland Foundation has bestowed more than $1 billion in grants. The grants, and the expertise of the foundation’s professional staff and partners, have touched millions of lives. Those resources have invigorated our region’s health care, arts and culture communities, neighborhoods, schools, economic development programs, and more.
And it is only a start.
Benefits
Summary of Benefits Provided to All Eligible Cleveland Foundation Staff
• Medical Coverage
• Dental Coverage
• Elective Vision Coverage
• Flexible Spending Plans
• Group Term Life Insurance
• Short-Term Disability Coverage
• Long-Term Disability Coverage
• Elective Life Insurance
• Retirement Plan – 403(b) - 9% employer contribution
• Vacation - 15 days in first year; 20 days thereafter (exempt)
• Sick Time – 12 days per calendar year
• Floating Holiday Time – 2 days per calendar year
• Foundation-recognized holidays – 9 per calendar year
• Continuing Education
• 529 College Savings Plan
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Comprehensive, award-winning Wellness Program
...and many others...