A regional association is a staffed organization with a defined governance and financial structure that serves grantmakers in a metropolitan area, a single state or a multi-state region. Its membership includes a variety of grantmaking institutions and programs.

The 30 regional associations in the United States constitute a federation called the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers.

The Forum strongly encourages and directly helps all of its regional association members to embrace five basic roles as they in turn serve philanthropy in their service areas:

1. To deliver educational resources that strengthen the effectiveness of their members in governance, finance and administration, grantmaking and communications.
2. To support networking opportunities among grantmakers and between grantmakers and grantseekers.
3. To serve as an informational resource about organized philanthropy for potential and current donors, and the general public.
4. To communicate the value of regional philanthropy to state policymakers, the public and the media.
5. To sustain and support a membership of organized grantmakers and to aspire to represent the majority of endowed philanthropic assets in its service area.