Who We Are

The Watertown Area Community Foundation is a 501 © (3) tax-exempt organization established in 1979.  The Watertown Area Community Foundation promotes philanthropy, receives and administers charitable gifts and invests in programs that improve the quality of life in Watertown by promoting charity, education and culture in the community.

The Watertown Area Community Foundation encourages philanthropy at all levels, provides donor services and responds to the ever-changing needs and opportunities in the community.

The Watertown Area Community Foundation supports Arts and Culture, Education, Environment, Health and Human Services, and Youth Programs.

Foundation Highlights

  • May 19, 1979 - Watertown Area Community Foundation established
  • 1981 – First grants awarded
  • 2001 – Youth Council established
  • 2002 – Foundation moves to 211 E. Kemp Ave., establishing its own office for the first time in its history
  • 2004 - Women & Giving established
  • 2012 - Giving Back 365 program established
  • 2013 – Sisters Ruby and Dorothy Antritter bequest $3.2 million to the Foundation
  • 2016 – Area School Partnership program established
  • 2018 – Added two at-large board members to better represent the Watertown area
  • 2019 – Foundation celebrates its 40th anniversary
family on walking path in watertown sd

The Foundation's Mission

An Organization You Can Trust

The Watertown Area Community Foundation invests in the vitality and future of Watertown by supporting community priorities, responding to human service needs and enhancing recreation, education, arts and culture.

It does this by:

  • Leadership and forward thinking
  • Promoting philanthropy; encouraging, receiving and administering charitable gifts
  • Making grants to local nonprofits
  • Partnering with local organizations
  • Making strategic investments in the community

In awarding grants, the Watertown Area Community Foundation Board members always keep the WACF mission in mind.