A foundation is a legal categorization of nonprofit organizations. Foundations may also and often have charitable purposes. This type of nonprofit organization may either donate funds and support to other organizations, or provide the sole source of funding for their own charitable activities.

Description

One of the characteristics of the legal entities existing under the status of "Foundations", is a wide diversity of structures and purposes. Nevertheless, there are some common structural elements that are the first observed under legal scrutiny or classification.

  • Legal requirements followed for establishment
  • Purpose of the foundation
  • Economic activity
  • Supervision and management provisions
  • Accountability and Auditing provisions
  • Provisions for the amendment of the statutes or articles of incorporation
  • Provisions for the dissolution of the entity
  • Tax status of corporate and private donors
  • Tax status of the foundation

Some of the above must be, in most jurisdictions, expressed in the document of establishment. Others may be provided by the supervising authority at each particular jurisdiction.

From Wikipedia under the GNU Free Documentation License
Fri Aug 14 15:25:03 2009

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Custom search only Foundation (charity) sites:

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Sun Jul 12 19:20:18 2009
what kind of charity or foundation should I start?
Q. I wanna start a charity or foundation and I wanna do a little bit of everything(feed the hungry, help abused women and children and etc.) but ironically it costs a heck of lot to help to people(I wonder why) and(pay for staff and etc.)and I was wondering what help can I provide that's really needed and that would attract people to help me carry it out
Asked by katlin j - Sun Nov 23 14:47:19 2008 - - 4 Answers - 0 Comments

A. It takes thousands of man hours to get an organization up and running. There are websites, if you search nonprofit, they lay out the start up costs and regulations. It is expensive to start what with legal fees, printing costs. You need to be well organized, have a goal and list the means of obtaining that goal. You would be better off going to work for a nonprofit and learn the inner workings.
Answered by sassy2 - Sun Nov 23 16:00:08 2008

How do I go about starting a foundation/charity/fund for feline leukemia?
Q. I have two cats that were diagnosed with feline leukemia. My one cat is perfectly fine so far, but my second cat has cancer around his lungs and heart. I want to raise awareness of this disease, because I feel with just a little help more people would take more notice and then we might be able to find a cure. I also want to help the people who are suffering because their animals are. If anyone could help me with this I would greatly appreciate it.
Asked by Christal J - Fri Jan 30 23:54:24 2009 - - 5 Answers - 0 Comments

A. Humans get leukemia too, you know. Why not try to find a cure for that? I don't know many people who would be willing to donate money to cure cat diseases, especially in this economy. It's nice that you care about your cat, but it's going to be very hard to get others to support a feline leukemia charity.
Answered by Cornelius Q. Rockefeller III - Sat Jan 31 00:12:21 2009

I would like to start a charity/foundation.?
Q. I would like help people make their ends meet by giving money. Example; paying a one-time month's rent for people who are really down, or an insulin or hormone shot for patient who need it badly but are out of budget. I would like to save people from the edge of bankruptcy or destroy someone's credit by a simple one time non-payment.
Asked by mannie888 - Sat Nov 29 01:13:15 2008 - - 4 Answers - 0 Comments

From Yahoo Answer Search: "Foundation (charity)"
Sun Jul 5 18:06:08 2009