The Granville Foundation solicits tax-deductible charitable gifts to support non-profit organizations and individuals dedicated to making Granville, Ohio a stronger and better community. The Foundation was incorporated in 1971 by longtime residents Carl Frazier, Ed Roberts, Dick Paugh and Terry White. Together, they saw a need in the Granville community for an apolitical organization to address the charitable needs of the community. Mindful of what had been accomplished via foundations in other communities and responsive to the needs of an expanding Granville, they determined to incorporate in order to accommodate the present and future needs of the growing Granville community-the Village and the unincorporated sections of Granville Township.

It seemed to them and others in Granville that people seek to make their community a better place in which to live. Granville folks have long cherished, respected and struggled to preserve their community's history and heritage. And here, as in other places where the search for community enrichment has been successful, there is usually found a hallmark of the community effort, the community foundation.  In the Granville Foundation Articles of Incorporation filed by the Ohio Secretary of State on May 5, 1971 there was included this simple expression of the objectives of the Foundation:
" ... contribute to charitable purposes for the common good, general welfare and civic benefits of the Granville community and to assist in and contribute to such objectives and to movements looking toward the progress and advancement of the Granville community."

The Granville Foundation is empowered to do things necessary to achieve the purposes of the Foundation, in the handling of funds or other property of value. The Foundation can and does receive gifts, legacies, bequests, proceeds of insurance policies, trusts, and other funds, and is empowered to assign, transfer, appoint or designate other corporations, firms, associations, partnerships or individuals to act as trustee or agent for the Foundation with respect to such funds, their distri-bution and use in the accomplishment of the purposes of the Foundation.

Stated in a slightly different way, the Foundation, by its Articles of Incorporation, may hold, apply, pay, distribute, invest and re-invest funds as such actions will benefit the Granville community. Distribution of funds may be either in response to requests made of the Foundation by a group or association, or upon election of the Foundation officers, directors or distribution committee.

The Granville Foundation Board of Trustees is comprised of thirteen directors, nine of whom are elected by the Foundation membership and one each being designated by the Granville Board of Township Trustees, the Granville Village Council, the Granville Exempted Village School District Board of Education, and the fourth nominated by the president of Denison University from the university's administrative staff.
The five officers of the Foundation are the President, Vice-President, Executive Director, Secretary, and Treasurer, singly or in combination, as directed by the directors to carry out the day-to-day affairs of the Foundation.

Each year, the Granville Foundation solicits gifts from the Granville community. The proceeds of these gifts, combined with proceeds from the Foundation's endowment, are then distributed as grants to applying organizations in keeping with the Foundation's Articles of Incorporation.