The purpose of the study was to determine whether effective (high-performing) and less effective (low-performing) foundations differ significantly in their organizational and operational characteristics. As a result of this study, the following questions were answered: (a) What are the organizational and operational characteristics of high- and low-performing foundations? (b) How do high- and low-performing foundations differ in organizational and operational characteristics? A survey was completed of a random sample of 400 presidents of public community, technical, and junior colleges to identify those colleges with affiliated non-profit foundations. Of the 400 colleges surveyed, 374 (93.5%) responded and 290 (77.5%) reported having a nonprofit foundation. Of the 290, 270 usable surveys were used to develop a mailing for the second survey.