Getting Started

Whether you want to organize and focus your giving, support a specific cause, help make Baltimore better for future generations, provide scholarships for students or a helping hand for people in need, the Baltimore Community Foundation can help. At BCF, we offer many different options for your giving, and we can tailor strategies to your situation.

To get started, check out our four ways to give below or contact us for a confidential consultation.

Open a Fund

Considering starting a family or corporate foundation?

  • Why is a tax-advantaged charitable fund a convenient alternative for your family or business.
  • Donor-advised funds, or other types of funds at BCF, may be established for as little as $10,000.
  • Maximize your social imact by joining a giving circle – members pool their contributions and decide collectively on grant distributions.
Opening a new fund at BCF is easy. Learn the advantages of having a fund at BCF, see sample fund agreements, and explore your resources now.

Invest in Baltimore





BCF’s civic agenda, Invest in Baltimore, organizes grants, initiatives and advocacy around a vision of a Baltimore with a growing economy, where all have the opportunity to thrive. Your gift to Invest in Baltimore will help us build better schools and neighborhoods. See who has given to Invest in Baltimore this year.

Support BCF

Help BCF incubate and host great new ideas like Healthy Neighborhoods, Central Maryland Transportation Alliance, Middle Grades Partnership and the Neighborhood Grants Program, and help us invest significant staff resources in important civic ventures like the City’s Initiative for a Cleaner Greener Baltimore and the Sustainability Commission. 

Civic leadership funds support the annual operating costs of BCF, enabling its professional staff to carry out its mission.

Your gift to the Civic Leadership Fund makes it all possible!

Create a Legacy

How do you want to be remembered? We can show you how to support the causes you care about for generations to come, while providing you with tax savings and, in some cases, income for life.

Explore the possibilities for your legacy giving with our interactive calculator.
Discover the benefits of giving wisely.


Youngsters in Patterson Park get a workout in the neighborhood’s youth soccer league.
One Step Up scholars Sherrone Ricks and Jeane’ Baker celebrate with donors Jonnie-Kay McLean and Norman Morrison.
A Baltimore City student soaks up the sun at North Bay Adventure Camp.
Enjoying the lake at Druid Hill Park. Photo by Middleton Evans.
Dreams do come true: Our Playground at Stadium Place, rebuilt by determined volunteers and generous donors after the original was destroyed by arson. The work was supported by a fund at BCF. 

BCF’s efforts through the Diversity Path will work to rebuild Baltimore’s black middle class.

Baltimore’s vibrant arts and cultural scene boasts innovative projects like the Contemporary Museum’s Mobtown Modern Music Series, which combines classical instruments, jarring visual components and DJ-style electronics into informal performances of works by modern composers. Photo by Robert McIver Photography.
Cyclists atop Federal Hill take in views of the city skyline and bustling Inner Harbor. Photo by Middleton Evans.
Collecting butterflies in the field for a nature study.
In the spring of 2009, an army of dedicated volunteers worked to rebuild Our Playground at Stadium Place, which had been destroyed by arson in September 2008. Photo by Kristine Buls.
Enjoying one of the simple pleasures of summer at a neighborhood camp.
BCF’s Human Services Path emphasizes health, aging, and family economic security.
Neighbors team up to beautify and reclaim a vacant lot.
Most Middle Grades Partnership scholars qualify for the city’s competitive high schools.
Rapid and reliable public transportation for our region is a central goal of the Central Maryland Transportation Alliance, a fund of BCF. Photo by P.A. Greene.
Children beat the heat in the waters of the Walter Sondheim Fountain at the Inner Harbor. Contributions to construct the memorial were collected through a special project fund at BCF. Photo by Will Kirk, courtesy of Homewood Photography.
Students at Great Kids Farm learn about local food production, from “seed to fork.”
Baltimore’s successful One Plus One recycling program has engaged residents in making the city cleaner and greener.
Baltimore City students and farm manager Greg Strella (far right) with the summer harvest at Great Kids Farm.
Students at Baltimore’s Friendship Academy of Engineering and Technology, one of many public charter schools helping to transform public education in our city. Photo by Stephen Jones, courtesy of Baltimore City Public Schools.
BCF’s Promoting Baltimore Path works to ensure that Baltimore continues to retain and attract citizens and businesses.
Experience-Corps Baltimore places older adult volunteers in struggling city elementary schools to serve as classroom aides, mentors, and tutors. Photograph by Michael Ciesielski, courtesy of Greater Homewood Community Corporation, Inc.

The Endowment Option

Your gift can do more good than you ever dreamed possible!
Try our calculator to see.

Questions About Your Giving?

Ralph Serpe Ralph Serpe, CFRE
VP, Development
410-332-4172, x130
or email.

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