Community Foundation Wales

What Community Foundation Wales does

Community Foundation Wales is a registered charity (charity number 1074655) and non-profit foundation established in 1999 and headquartered in Cardiff. It operates as the trading name of The Community Foundation in Wales and serves as a philanthropic intermediary in Wales, connecting individual donors, professional advisors, charity trustees, and businesses with grassroots community groups and charities across the country. Since inception, the foundation has awarded over £40m in grants to strengthen Welsh communities, supported by an active network of donors and a Friends membership programme.

The foundation's core product is grant-making, delivered through dedicated programmes such as the Principality Building Society Future Generations Fund (up to £12,500 per year for children and youth-focused organisations). It complements this with a Charitable Investment Funds service that provides ethical investment options to charities and small organisations, managed through partnerships with Brewin Dolphin and CCLA and reporting average annual growth of 9% over five years. Underlying technology consists of a standard charitable foundation operations platform augmented by AI tools for efficiency, accessibility and understanding, with all funding decisions explicitly retained as human judgments.

The revenue model is philanthropic: donations and philanthropic contributions fund grant-making, while managed investment services generate fees on charitable assets under administration. No commercial pricing is charged to grant recipients. The foundation operates with approximately 20 employees in a hybrid model and is governed by a Board of Trustees, with strategic affiliations including membership in the UK Community Foundation network and a core partnership with Principality Building Society.

Name

Community Foundation Wales

Legal name

The Community Foundation in Wales

Website

https://communityfoundationwales.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Community Foundation Wales is a Cardiff-based charitable foundation that channels donations from individuals, advisors, and businesses into grants for grassroots community groups and charities across Wales, while also offering ethical Charitable Investment Funds managed with Brewin Dolphin and CCLA.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Philanthropy Services

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries (BPAGAKAE), Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

Keywords

• Community foundation services
• Grant-making programs
• Donor-advised funds
• Charitable investment funds
• Philanthropy advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

Cardiff

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Philanthropic Contributions: The foundation receives donations from supporters and philanthropists which are then distributed as grants to community groups and charities across Wales.
2. Charitable Investment Fund Management: Charities can open Charitable Investment Funds with Community Foundation Wales, benefiting from their expertise in charitable financial investment and risk management. The funds have had an average annual growth of 9% over the last five years.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Community Foundation Wales is a registered charity that awards grants to grassroots community groups and charities across Wales. It facilitates philanthropic giving from individuals, businesses, and professional advisors through donor-advised and named funds, and operates Charitable Investment Funds managed via Brewin Dolphin and CCLA for charities to safeguard reserves. Since 1999 it has awarded over £40m in grants and runs targeted programs such as the Principality Building Society Future Generations Fund for organizations supporting children and young people.

Product overview

Community Foundation Wales is a charitable foundation offering a portfolio of grant-making, philanthropy, and investment services. The core offering consists of grant programs (including the Principality Building Society Future Generations Fund and SWEF), charitable giving facilitation, and working-together services for professional advisors and businesses. Supplementary offerings include the Grants Toolkit, publications and reports, and a Friends membership network. The organization also offers Charitable Investment Funds with investment management through Brewin Dolphin and CCLA. The portfolio does not represent a unified software platform but rather a set of grant-administration, philanthropy-management, and investment services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Grants Grant programmes that award funding to grassroots community groups and charities to strengthen communities across Wales. Open to community groups and charities operating in Wales (and organisations near Principality branches on the Welsh-English border for the Future Generations Fund).
• Giving (Donor-Advised and Named Funds) Philanthropy services that help individuals, families, and organisations support people and communities in Wales, including donor-advised funds, setting up named funds, and leave-a-legacy planning.
• Charitable Investment Funds Investment funds designed for charities and small organisations to safeguard reserves, offering ethical investments with an average annual growth of 9% over five years, managed through Brewin Dolphin and CCLA.
• Principality Building Society Future Generations Fund A Wales-wide fund providing grants up to £12,500 for one year to organisations supporting children and young people, aligned with the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act 2015 and run in partnership with Principality Building Society.
• Friends of Community Foundation Wales An exclusive supporter network for individuals who give regularly to Community Foundation Wales, providing ongoing engagement, communications, and involvement in the foundation's work.

Named customers2 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

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Principality Building SocietycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrincipality Building Society partners with Community Foundation Wales to administer the Future Generations Fund, which awards grants of up to £12,500 per year to support organizations focused on children and young people. The fund aims to improve outcomes for children and young people facing disadvantage.
• UK Community FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUK Community Foundation is a network of community foundations across the UK, of which Community Foundation Wales is a part, sharing best practices and collaborative opportunities.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Direct peers

• Heart of England Community Foundation: One of the UK's regional community foundations operating the same model of pooled giving, donor-advised funds, and grant-making to grassroots charities within a defined English geography. Direct functional and operational peer to Community Foundation Wales.
• Foundation Scotland: Scotland's community foundation network offering donor-advised funds, grant-making, and philanthropy advisory services across a defined UK nation. Closely comparable operating model and constituency to Community Foundation Wales.
• Northern Ireland Community Foundation: Northern Ireland's community foundation providing grants, donor-advised funds, and place-based philanthropy services. Operates the same UK community foundation model as Community Foundation Wales in a different national geography.
• UK Community Foundations: Umbrella network of accredited UK community foundations, of which Community Foundation Wales is a member. Directly comparable as the parent peer network for the same community foundation operating model across the UK.

Broad incumbents

• The Tudor Trust: UK-wide independent grant-making foundation supporting smaller community-led charities, often via unrestricted grants. Comparable in scale and target beneficiary segment to Community Foundation Wales's grant programmes.
• Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales: Corporate-backed foundation providing multi-year grants to small and medium charities across England and Wales. Overlaps with Community Foundation Wales in Welsh small-charity grant-making and capacity-building support.
• National Lottery Community Fund: The UK's largest community grant-making body, distributing lottery-funded grants to community organisations across the UK. Overlaps with Community Foundation Wales on grassroots grant funding but operates at much greater scale and breadth.
• Esmée Fairbairn Foundation: One of the UK's largest independent grant-making foundations, funding charities across environment, social inclusion, education, and the arts. Comparable as a large UK-wide grantmaker with overlapping donor-advised and charitable fund mechanics.
• Charities Aid Foundation: UK-wide philanthropy infrastructure provider offering donor-advised funds, payroll giving, and charity banking. Directly comparable to Community Foundation Wales on donor-advised funds and charity-facing financial products, but at national scale.

Regional players

• Wales Council for Voluntary Action: Wales-wide umbrella body supporting voluntary organisations, with overlapping donor, training, and advocacy functions in the same Welsh territory as Community Foundation Wales. Comparable regional peer operating in the third sector space.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/foundationwales
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCPZYe91Vc4QqJoIxjBKQSmQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/walescf
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/community-foundation-wales
• Instagraminstagram.com/cfwales

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Wales