Charitable Giving Resources
A curated directory of Northeast Ohio and statewide community foundations, charitable organizations, and the professionals who serve donors.
Northeast Ohio holds a remarkable concentration of community foundations and charitable organizations, many of them among the oldest and most respected of their kind. This page gathers a few of them in one place as a courtesy to the donors who support them and to the development professionals who serve them.
We offer this directory as a resource, not a solicitation. The organizations below are independent and are not affiliated with our firm, and listing here is not an endorsement. If your organization belongs here, or a detail needs correcting, we welcome the note.
For guidance on how charitable gifts fit into an estate plan, see our Charitable and Legacy Planning page.
Community foundations across Northeast Ohio
Community foundations pool charitable gifts from many donors, administer donor-advised funds, and make grants across a region. They are often the natural home for a first charitable fund.
- The Cleveland Foundation: founded in Cleveland in 1914 and widely regarded as the first community foundation in the world.
- Akron Community Foundation: serving Summit County and the greater Akron region.
- Stark Community Foundation: serving Stark County and the Canton area.
- Community Foundation of Lorain County: serving Lorain County and the surrounding communities.
- The George Gund Foundation: a private foundation supporting the Greater Cleveland region.
Faith-based and identity-based charitable foundations
- Jewish Federation of Cleveland: charitable and community support across Greater Cleveland.
- Catholic Community Foundation of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland: planned giving and endowment support across the eight-county diocese.
Health, arts, and institutional giving
- Mt. Sinai Health Foundation: grantmaking focused on health and the Jewish community of Greater Cleveland.
Hospital systems, universities, museums, and performing-arts institutions across Northeast Ohio maintain their own development and planned-giving offices. A gift officer at the institution you support can explain the options specific to that organization.
Statewide
- Philanthropy Ohio: a statewide association of foundations and grantmakers, useful for understanding the broader Ohio charitable landscape.
For planned-giving and development professionals
These organizations bring together the attorneys, accountants, financial advisers, trust officers, and development professionals who serve charitable donors.
- Northern Ohio Charitable Gift Planners: the Northeast Ohio affiliate of the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners, open to the full range of gift-planning disciplines.
- Estate Planning Council of Cleveland: a long-standing multidisciplinary council of estate and gift-planning professionals.
- Akron Tax & Estate Planning Council: a regional council serving the Akron area.
Charitable oversight in Ohio
- Ohio Attorney General, Charitable Registration: registration and reporting for charitable trusts and organizations under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 109. Donors can also use its resources to review an organization before giving.
See how charitable trust strategies work.
These visual guides explain the different timing, income, and charitable interests involved in lead trusts and remainder trusts.
How a Charitable Lead Trust Works
A visual explanation of the interests, timing, and charitable objectives involved in a charitable lead trust.
Access This ResourceHow a Charitable Remainder Trust Works
A visual explanation of the interests, timing, and charitable objectives involved in a charitable remainder trust.
Access This ResourceA note for donors.
Choosing where and how to give is a personal decision, and the organizations above can each speak to their own work far better than any summary here. When a gift touches your estate plan, your retirement accounts, or a trust, it is worth coordinating the legal side with the rest of your plan, so your intentions are carried out as you meant them. A complimentary 15-minute Strategy Session is a brief, focused conversation about your situation and the right next step. It is not legal advice.