While national governments are retreating from direct responsibility for funding and delivering social services, community foundations have experienced tremendous growth, developing sustainable ways of meeting human needs. This book explores the work of community foundations, within the framework of the goals of the Philanthropy and Foundations division of the Bertelsmann Foundation: to enhance the management capacity and organizational effectiveness of foundations, to promote new philanthropy and to encourage cooperation between foundations, and to improve the legal framework for the establishment and activities of foundations.