New York Community Trust


The New York Community Trust is the community foundation for New York City, with divisions in Westchester and Long Island. The New York Community Trust connects past, present, and future generous New Yorkers with vital nonprofits working to make a healthy, equitable, and thriving community for all. It is one of the oldest and largest community foundations in the United States and one of the largest funders of New York City’s nonprofits.
As a public charity, The Trust administers more than 2,000 charitable funds created by individuals, families, and businesses. From these funds, it makes grants to nonprofits that improve the quality of life of New Yorkers, primarily in the metropolitan area. The foundation’s competitive grantmaking program focuses on improving the lives of all New Yorkers, with an emphasis on promoting healthy lives, promising futures, and thriving communities. It relies on experts, creativity, and resources to address challenging issues, create opportunities, and ensure a better quality of life for all New Yorkers today and tomorrow.

Working with Donors

The Trust works with donors who are giving today, planning a deferred gift, or writing a will. There are a variety of ways for donors to include charitable giving in their estate plans and to fund causes that are important to them, while realizing financial and tax benefits. Donors have the option to establish different types of funds and often set up more than one. The foundation hosts exclusive briefings, educational sessions, and tours for donors and their guests, featuring speakers from leading nonprofits and government, as well as experts in the financial sector.

Financials

In 2019, The New York Community Trust made grants of more than $174 million from assets of $2.9 billion in more than 2,000 charitable funds. As of 2018, The Trust is ranked as the Foundation Center’s 5th largest community foundation by asset size, and the 11th largest foundation in New York by asset size in Crain’s New York Business.

Distribution Committee

Twelve New Yorkers selected for their understanding of philanthropic needs serve as the Distribution Committee, or the Board, of The New York Community Trust. Six are nominated by New York City civic authorities: one by New York City’s mayor, one by the Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, one by the Chairman of the Partnership for New York City, one by the Chairman of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and one each by the presidents of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the New York Academy of Medicine.
Distribution Committee Members
Consulting Board Members
The New York Community Trust was founded in 1924 by 11 banks to more effectively make grants from the charitable trusts they held. The first fund in The Trust was established by Rosebel G. Schiff, who gave $1,000 to create the Theresa E. Bernholz Fund. Schiff asked that the prize go to a girl from P.S. 9 who “earned the highest respect of her teachers.”
In 1931, with the help of electrical engineer and philanthropist William S. Barstow and his wife, Francoise Barstow, The Trust established the nation’s first donor-advised fund. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, The Trust focused all available discretionary funds on helping the unemployed. In 1957, The Trust installed the first of 309 "Landmarks of New York" plaques, which are still visible today on architecturally and historically important buildings all over the City.
The Westchester and Long Island Community Foundations were founded by The Trust in 1975 and 1978, respectively. In 1983, in the early years of the AIDS crisis, the foundation made the first grant for HIV research from a private institution. It then created the New York City AIDS Fund, which operated from 1989 to 2014. In the wake of the terrorist attacks in 2001, The Trust and the United Way of New York City created the September 11th Fund, which distributed more than $528 million to victims, families, and affected communities. Businesses and nonprofits received grants to help rebuild and revitalize lower Manhattan.
The Trust also made early grants to plan the High Line, convert Governors Island into a public park, create the Brooklyn Greenway, and garner public support for an overhaul of St. Mary’s Park in the Bronx.

Program Areas

The Trust’s grants affect many facets of city life, including:
The New York Community Trust brings foundations together to pool resources to address a range of issues in the region. The Trust has worked with more than 167 foundations and individual donors through 25 collaboratives since 1977, distributing $139 million as of 2019. Some of these collaborations focus on sharing ideas; others are more structured, with governance and administration shaped to fit the needs of the participating funders. Some address an immediate issue, while others last for decades.
In 2015, anticipating the need to train a diverse new generation of nonprofit leaders, the organization created at the Austin W. Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at Baruch College. Fellows attend classes at Baruch and graduate with a certificate in Nonprofit Management. A report on the program was produced in 2018.
Since 2011, The Trust has sponsored The New York Community Trust Nonprofit Excellence Awards for best practices in nonprofit management. The program is run by the Nonprofit Coordinating Committee, and is also sponsored by WNYC and Philanthropy New York. A selection panel of nonprofit leaders selects winners and provides feedback to applicants who are not selected. From the inception of the program in 2007 until 2018, 2,806 nonprofits have participated, either as applicants or as attendees at management workshops; 35 winners have been selected.
The Trust provides additional support to grantees through recurring grants to technical assistance groups, including Lawyers’ Alliance, Community Resource Exchange, Support Center for Nonprofit Management, and Cause Effective. Workshops on topics including program evaluation and racial equity also are available to grantees by invitation.

Publications

The Trust publishes the following periodicals. They are free and subscribers can receive them by mail or email.
It has also published the following reports
The Trust regularly appears in the press. Media coverage includes projects funded by The Trust, as well as expertise on the philanthropic sector and policy issues facing New York.