Erie Community Foundation: Improving Quality of Life in the Erie Region

The Erie Community Foundation (ECF) is actually a collection of charitable endowments under a single public charity, which is among the most prominent public charities in Erie, Pennsylvania. Founded as the Erie Endowment on 1 June 1949, the foundation started with Elisha H. Mack’s endowment of The Boston Store’s Class A common stock (100 shares at $100 par value each) in 1935; the endowment amounted to over $250,000 upon the endowment’s incorporation.

In 1971, ECF became a public charity after tax reforms were made in 1969. Today, the fund has a value of more than $200 million from more than 500 separate endowments. The increase also came from an anonymous donation of $100 million from a donor who only want to be known as “Anonymous Friend” (November 2007).

ECF has been recognized for its compliance with national accountability standards by the Council on Foundations as well as won the Council’s Wilmer Shields Rich Award (silver medal) in 2004 and 2006 for its public information campaigns.