Benton Community Foundation

BCF was founded in 1953 by visionaries dedicated to helping children in Benton County, Oregon. Robert Johnson, then owner and publisher of the Corvallis Times, donated $1,000 to the newly minted charity. Mr. Johnson's gift of $1,000 together with a gift from the Corvallis Rotary Club of $1,500 allowed the foundation to begin operating in 1954. For... the first sixty years, BCF was known as The Benton County Foundation. In 2014, the Board of Directors voted to change the name of the foundation to Benton Community Foundation to better reflect the foundation's role. What is a community foundation? Community foundations are grantmaking public charities dedicated to improving the lives of people in a defined local geographic area. They bring together the financial resources of individuals, families, clubs, secular and non-secular associations, and businesses to support effective charitable activities in their communities. As a community foundation, BCF has four primary responsibilities: 1. Build and steward permanent community resources From our humble beginning asset base of $2,500 in 1954, we now have net assets in excess of $21 million. About 63% of our net assets are endowed, meaning that only the income of the gift is expended for charitable purposes; the principal remains intact in perpetuity. The Benton Community Foundation is also the only nationally accredited community foundation in the state of Oregon, which means we conform to the highest standard of financial responsibility, transparency, and sound governance.Read More