Like other older community foundations nationally, The Rhode Island Foundation’s past is intertwined with community banking. The Foundation was created in 1916 in trust form with Rhode Island Hospital Trust National Bank as the sole trustee. The bank oversaw the Foundation’s operations, including investing and grantmaking, for several decades. The Foundation eventually grew large enough to warrant independent day-to-day management by a full-time professional staff, but with a continuing relationship with the bank.
 
Fast forward to 1984. The Rhode Island Community Foundation was established in corporate form, sharing the same Board of Directors, staff, and preferred tax status. The new corporate entity, however, could choose other "trustees" than Rhode Island Hospital Trust and other investment vehicles. The Foundation expanded its connections to community banking by investing with Citizens National Bank, Fleet National Bank, and The Washington Trust Company, as well as several nationally-respected investment firms.

Since 1994, the Foundation has been steadily diversifying asset allocation and higher performance standards for investment managers. The Foundation has increased the proportion of equities in the mix and has included emerging markets and global fixed income assets in our portfolio. In 1997, the Foundation began investing in private equity. 

As Rhode Island Hospital Trust merged into BankBoston, and BankBoston merged into Fleet, which is now Bank of America, the Foundation felt increasingly strongly that a community foundation should be rooted in its community. At our joint request, in 2000 the Courts dissolved the trust between The Rhode Island Foundation and BankBoston, so that all assets are now merged into a single corporate entity.

Often "behind the scenes" in a discussion of philanthropy, managing the Foundation’s growing asset base is a key component of stewardship in philanthropy. The groundwork has been laid for an even more promising future.