Established in 1999 with the goal of expanding charitable giving in Lafayette, the California based Lafayette Community Foundation's (LCF) purpose is to contribute to the well being of the residents of Lafayette, and to provide an effective and efficient conduit for the expenditures of new funds on charitable projects within the community. LCF supports projects that promote the civic, cultural, educational and environmental health of Lafayette. The Foundation supplements the financial needs of existing local charitable organizations and, at the same time, provides financial support for new programs offering the promise of meeting community needs.

The Lafayette Community Foundation has its own board of directors which sets all goals, controls contributions, solicitations and recommends all granting decisions.

In 1998 a group of Lafayette citizens, representing a number of local organizations, began work on a project calling for a new community library. Lafayette Library Vision 2000 grew out of this process, which included a review of public library organizations in California as well as library needs assessments, surveys, statistics and studies which had been conducted over the previous ten years.

The final determination of the Vision 2000 project was that not only did Lafayette desperately need a new library, but that there was a pressing need in Lafayette for a broad-based community organization, committed to hometown philanthropy in support of projects and programs that make Lafayette a better place to live, for people of all ages. Thus, the Lafayette Community Foundation was established in September 1999 to meet the needs of our community and to encourage Lafayette residents to give locally.