The Community Philanthropy Award was established by CMF and the Michigan Nonprofit Association (MNA) in 2006 to honor a living individual and/or family for their exceptional service and commitment to supporting community philanthropy in Michigan on behalf of one or more community foundations. This award recognizes generosity of time, talent, treasure, ties and testimony (the 5 Ts of Philanthropy), specifically the individual or family's leadership, impact, creativity and collaboration.
Examples of eligible honorees include community foundation volunteers, donors, partners, youth leaders and others who have contributed to the foundation and community philanthropy through partnership, impactful initiatives, special projects, efforts toward movement building, etc.
Nomination Guidelines and Process
To qualify, the nominee must be a living individual or family and the nomination must be submitted by staff or a trustee of a community foundation in CMF’s membership. Public officials, foundation staff and CMF trustees are not eligible for nomination.
To nominate an individual or family please submit this online form, which includes request for the contact information of the nominator and nominee, along with a brief narrative describing the nominee's commitment, leadership, impact, creativity and collaboration.
You do not need to complete this nomination form in one sitting; you can save your progress and re-access the form by choosing the "Save and Continue" option shown at the top of the survey window once the first page is complete. You will then receive an email from "noreply@alchemer.com" inviting you to re-access the form via a custom link.
Nominations are due June 30, 2025, by 5 p.m.
The team of peer reviewers who are reading the nominations may request additional information to support the selection of final candidates, including contact information for two individuals who can serve as references for the nominee.
Selection and Recognition
A volunteer peer panel will review all nominations and select the award winner. We will contact all nominators with the results of the selection process by mid-August.
Honorees will be notified of their nomination and selection as the award recipient via special call (or video call) hosted in collaboration with the nominator.
This year’s recipient will be honored during CMF's 53rd Annual Conference taking place October 14-16, 2025, in Kalamazoo.
For More Information and Accessibility Support
Questions about this award or requests for accessibility support may be directed to Sue Cuddington, executive assistant to the CMF president and CEO, at scuddington@michiganfoundations.org.