Arkansas Community Foundation

Arkansas Community Foundation is a statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to creating stronger, more vibrant communities by helping individuals, families, civic groups, and businesses financially support charitable causes throughout Arkansas. One of more than 900 community foundations nationwide, by 2024, the foundation had assets of more than $800 million and had provided more than $500 million in grants to charitable organizations.

Arkansas Community Foundation was established in 1976 exclusively for charitable, benevolent, scientific, religious, and educational purposes to benefit the people of Arkansas. The organization’s mission was to engage people, inspire solutions, and build Arkansas communities. The fledgling organization was championed by Mary McLeod, a charitable advisor to Governor Winthrop Rockefeller, who believed that Arkansas was the ideal place to establish a statewide public foundation. McLeod recruited a steering committee of bankers, philanthropists, and business leaders from across the state. The committee met on March 22, 1976, to approve the organization’s bylaws and elect its first officers. Little Rock (Pulaski County) attorney B. Frank Mackey Jr. became president of the interim board, and, shortly thereafter, Louis L. Ramsay Jr. of Pine Bluff (Jefferson County) became the first president of the permanent board. The new organization was supported for its first five years by $258,000 in grants from the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation.

The foundation pools funds from donors—individuals, families, and businesses—to meet charitable needs in the state. The majority of these funds are in endowments that use the income, or in some cases the income and a portion of the principal, for grants. By spending the income from these investments, the foundation ensures that these funds will be available to support important needs in Arkansas permanently.

In its first year, the foundation made $8,000 in grants to support three major projects: a half-hour music education program for the Arkansas Educational Television Network (now Arkansas PBS), a seminar for political journalists at the Institute of Politics and Government, and an initiative through the Arkansas Arts Center (now the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts) to restore photos by Heber Springs (Cleburne County) photographer Mike Disfarmer.

Over the subsequent years, the foundation’s grant-making ability grew significantly. In 2016 alone, the foundation made almost $17 million in grants to hundreds of nonprofit organizations across Arkansas, and in 2024, the foundation awarded $52.9 million in grants.

When the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, the foundation initiated its COVID-19 Relief Fund. The fund received more than $3.5 million from 240 donors, and the foundation awarded 799 grants to Arkansas organizations in 149 cities and towns in sixty-seven counties.

Believing that the best route to statewide change is through local initiatives, foundation leaders began establishing a network of local affiliate offices in the 1980s. These community-based, local branches are supported by local leaders who work at the grassroots level to raise funds, establish endowments, and make grants to build their communities. By 2019, twenty-nine local affiliate offices had been established. By providing insight into the immediate needs of their communities, these offices help the foundation deploy resources effectively. For example, in 2008, after identifying healthcare as one of Monroe County’s most pressing concerns, ARCF’s Monroe County Community Foundation affiliate office made grants to projects promoting healthcare access in the county; one such grant provided start-up costs for a pharmaceutical pantry where Monroe County residents with financial need could purchase prescription drugs at a deep discount.

The foundation’s Bridge Fund, an endowment established by an anonymous donor to help preserve a sense of state pride, was created to support Arkansas history education. In 2011, the Department of Arkansas Heritage and the Central Arkansas Library System‘s Butler Center for Arkansas Studies launched the History Hub, an online resource that was used by Arkansas educators, with funding from the Bridge Fund.

Throughout its history, Arkansas Community Foundation has benefited from the strong leadership of its directors. David Roosevelt served as the foundation’s founding executive director from 1976 to 1979. In 1979, Norma J. Wisor, a Pennsylvania native who had previously worked for the Chicago Community Trust, became executive director. Upon Wisor’s retirement in 1983, Martha Ann Jones, former president of Arkansas Gifted and Talented Education, took up the post, serving until 1996. From 1996 until retiring in 2007, Pat Lile, who had founded the Pine Bluff Area Community Foundation affiliate office, served as president and CEO of the organization. In 2008, Heather Larkin, who had previously served as the foundation’s executive vice president, became president and CEO.

For additional information:
Arkansas Community Foundation. http://www.arcf.org (accessed April 4, 2025).

Caillouet, Linda S. “Foundation Celebrates 20 Years’ Philanthropy.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, October 17, 1997, pp. 1B, 5B.

Minton, Mark. “Foundation Gives the Not-So-Rich a Chance to Help.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, March 6, 2005, pp. 1A, 13A.

———. “Foundation Hits $100 Million in Charity Assets.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, July 19, 2006, p. 12B.

———. “National Philanthropic Chief Praises State Group’s Initiative.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, July 21, 2007, pp. 1B, 10B.