Community Foundation of Singapore

What Community Foundation of Singapore does

The Community Foundation of Singapore (CFS), established in 2008, is Singapore's first and oldest community foundation, structured as a Company Limited by Guarantee with Institution of a Public Character (IPC) status renewed through 21 September 2028. CFS operates as a philanthropy advisor and grantmaking intermediary, connecting high-net-worth donors, family offices, corporations, charities, and government agencies. Its core products comprise three Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) variants — Flow-Through, Endowment, and Investible Flow-Through — with a minimum establishment amount of S$200,000; Community Impact Funds including the FUN! Fund (seniors) and Sayang Sayang Fund (COVID-19 response); Collectives for Social Impact such as the Collective for a Stronger Society (21 programmes, S$8M+ raised in year one); Legacy Giving services via legacygiving.sg; and Charity Grantmaking Services across programme, CAPEX, capability, and research grants.

Underlying technology centres on the CFS Donor Portal (giving.cf.org.sg), a digital platform currently in limited release that enables donors to view fund details, make donations, and recommend grants online, alongside an online grant application system for charities, digital operations replacing paper-based workflows, and Know-Your-Donor compliance checks. CFS holds ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials certifications and an Equivalency Determination from Candid/NGOsource.

The revenue model rests on three streams: support fees on DAFs (structured as tax-deductible donations to CFS, deducted directly from fund assets, with no set-up fees); government grants as a registered IPC; and service fees for fund administration, governance, and philanthropy advisory. GTM is sales-led through dedicated philanthropy advisors and a financial-and-legal-advisor referral network, supplemented by content marketing, thought leadership, and a Giving.sg marketplace channel for Community Impact Funds. CFS manages 316 funds, has raised over S$386 million in donations including legacy gifts, and has disbursed over S$244 million in grants to 400+ vetted charities across Singapore.

Name

Community Foundation of Singapore

Legal name

The Community Foundation of Singapore

Website

https://cf.org.sg

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Community Foundation of Singapore is a non-profit community foundation, established in 2008, providing donor-advised funds, philanthropy advisory, community impact funds, legacy giving, and grantmaking services to high-net-worth individuals, families, corporations, and charities across Singapore.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Philanthropy Services and Charitable Fund Management

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB)

Keywords

• Donor-advised funds
• Philanthropy advisory
• Community impact funds
• Charitable grantmaking
• Legacy giving services

Headquarters

HQ city

Singapore

HQ country

Singapore

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Support Fees from Donor-Advised Funds: CFS charges support fees for managing donor-advised funds. The support fee is considered a donation to CFS and is deducted directly from the donor's donor-advised fund. It qualifies for tax deduction as specified by IRAS. No set-up fees are charged.
2. Government Grants: CFS receives government funding to support operating expenses as a registered charity and Institution of a Public Character (IPC).
3. Service Fees: Fees charged for services provided, including fund administration, governance and advisory services for philanthropic giving.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

The Community Foundation of Singapore (CFS) operates as a philanthropy advisor and charitable fund administrator. It provides donor-advised funds (Flow-Through, Endowment, and Investible Flow-Through variants), community impact funds (including the FUN! Fund and Sayang Sayang Fund), collectives for social impact (such as the Collective for a Stronger Society), charity grantmaking services, and legacy giving services. Personalised advisory from dedicated philanthropy advisors is bundled with fund administration and disbursement to vetted charity partners.

Product overview

The Community Foundation of Singapore (CFS) operates as a philanthropy advisory and grantmaking organization offering a suite of charitable giving products. Its core offerings include Donor-Advised Funds (DAF) — available as Flow-Through, Endowment, and Investible Flow-Through variants — and Community Impact Funds such as the FUN! Fund for seniors and Sayang Sayang Fund for COVID-19 response. CFS also facilitates Collective initiatives like the Collective for a Stronger Society for lower-income families. The organization provides Legacy Giving services for estate and memorial giving, Grantmaking Services to disburse funds to vetted charities, and a Donor Portal for donors to manage their accounts. The product portfolio is unified under the mission of connecting donors with charities to enhance philanthropy in Singapore.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Donor-Advised Funds (DAF)
• Community Impact Funds
• Collectives for Social Impact
• Charity Grantmaking Services

Quantifiable outcome

• S$386 million+ in donations raised including legacy gifts
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered minor, core and major.

• Care SingaporeminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2025Working with Care Singapore to identify beneficiaries for the Lok Yan and Whee Jim Fund, which supports young caregivers from lower-income families.
• Giving.sgminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 March 2025Fundraising platform used for the Lok Yan and Whee Jim Fund campaign, which raised over S$50,000 of its S$100,000 goal within two weeks.
• Collective for a Stronger SocietycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024A major initiative bringing philanthropists, non-profits and government agencies together to uplift lower-income families. The collective has 21 specially curated programmes offering holistic, long-term support. Raised over S$8 million in its first year.
• Agency for Integrated Care (AIC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2022CFS collaborated with AIC to introduce the FUN! Fund, a community impact initiative dedicated to enhancing the well-being of seniors. The fund aims to pilot creative ideas that empower Singaporeans to age well.
• Sayang Sayang Fund PartnersmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2020The Sayang Sayang Fund was established as an agile community response fund during the COVID-19 pandemic. It partnered with government agencies and community organisations to deliver financial support to affected communities. Donations exceeded S$9.7 million supporting over 401,000 beneficiaries.
• Asia Philanthropy Circle (APC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Partnership to convene philanthropists and drive social inclusivity initiatives in Singapore, working together on shared goals for social impact.
• National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017CFS partnered with NVPC to establish Colabs, a cross-sector collaborative effort to drive collaboration among public, private and non-profit sectors to help disadvantaged young persons and address social challenges.
• KPMGcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCFS's audit partner KPMG conducts independent audits of financial statements every year, ensuring transparency and accountability.
• Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment ministry that approves Board appointments and provides oversight as part of CFS's IPC status requirements. MCCY representative serves as ex-officio Board position.
• 400+ Registered CharitiescoreOthersCFS works with hundreds of IPC-status charities across Singapore, conducting due diligence and connecting donors with programmes that address community needs. CFS evaluates charities regularly to ensure compliance.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Toronto Foundation: Canada's leading community foundation managing pooled and donor-advised funds focused on local social impact—directly comparable in mandate, fund constructs, and beneficiary approach to CFS's Singapore model.
• Silicon Valley Community Foundation: One of the largest U.S. community foundations with a multi-billion-dollar asset base and DAFs, collective impact initiatives, and legacy giving—shares the exact 'community foundation + DAF leader' positioning CFS holds in Singapore.
• Fidelity Charitable: The largest U.S. donor-advised fund sponsor offering DAFs, grantmaking, and integration with Fidelity wealth platforms; relevant peer due to recurring advisory-supported support-fee revenue model and broad charitable program coverage.
• Schwab Charitable: Large-scale U.S. donor-advised fund sponsor offering DAFs, grantmaking, and integrated financial-advisor workflows; mirrors CFS's reliance on financial-advisor referrals and recurring support-fee economics, making it a relevant structural benchmark.
• National Philanthropic Trust: U.S.-based donor-advised fund sponsor and grantmaking organization operating the same DAF-as-core-product model as CFS (Flow-Through, Endowment and Investible variants) and serving HNW and family-office donors—directly comparable function and value proposition.
• UK Community Foundations: Network of accredited community foundations across the UK operating local endowments and grantmaking—directly comparable in mission, structure, and donor-advised-fund-like pooling model.

Broad incumbents

• Lien Foundation: Singapore philanthropy foundation funding programmes across health, education and eldercare with an institutional approach similar to CFS's Collective initiatives—comparable in Singapore geography, scale and donor/grantmaking orientation.

Regional players

• National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC): Singapore-based champion of giving and philanthropy ecosystem-building and CFS partner; operates adjacent functions (volunteerism, corporate giving, Giving.sg) and is the closest in-market ecosystem peer to CFS.
• Hong Kong Community Foundation: Direct community-foundation peer operating across Greater China HNW philanthropy—comparable structure but primarily serves a different (Hong Kong/Chinese) donor geography from CFS's Singapore base.

Emerging players

• Asia Philanthropy Circle: A network of Asian philanthropists and families convening on strategic giving in Asia—directly comparable in target audience and convening function, and already a CFS collaboration partner.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCe0pVeNpH-kKHXLfvRQv_iA
• Facebookfacebook.com/community-foundation-of-singapore-265986990407594
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/community-foundation-of-singapore
• Instagraminstagram.com/communityfoundationofsingapore

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Community Foundation of Singapore