New York Community Trust
/OVERVIEW: The New York Community Trust (NYCT) is one of the largest community foundations in the nation. Recent areas of funding include poverty, justice, education, health, the arts, the environment, LGBTQ causes, the elderly and children and youth.
IP TAKE: NYCT generally does not provide general operating support but works in the realm of project grants.
PROFILE: The New York Community Trust was established in 1924, when 11 New York banks came together to “more effectively make grants from the charitable trusts they held.” Its first fund was established with $1,000 to honor the memory of an public elementary school teacher, and its first award was made in the amount of $20. Since then, the trust has maintained a strong tradition of connecting “past, present, and future generous New Yorkers with vital nonprofits working to make a healthy, equitable and thriving community for all.” Recent funding has been organized into three initiatives: healthy lives, promising futures and thriving communities. The trust also runs separate divisions for suburban Westchester County and Long Island.
NYCT’s healthy lives grants runs sub-initiatives for animal welfare, biomedical research, health and behavioral health, older adults and people with disabilities. In addition to funding direct services in these areas, the trust invests in training programs for professionals in target areas and advocacy programs for underserved and underrepresented groups. Past grantees from this initiative include the Animal Medical Center, the Institute for Applied Gerontology and Cancer Care, Inc.
The promising futures initiative makes grants for education, justice, human services, workforce development and youth development. Here, the focus is on accountability and transparency. Many grants have gone to organizations that are able to show measurable results and expand upon successful programs. Past recipients of this initiative include New York University, New Visions for Public Schools, Northside Child Development Center and the Immigrant Justice Corps.
Thriving communities consists of grantmaking in the areas arts and culture, civic affairs, community development, the environment, historic preservation and technical assistance to nonprofits. While many grants support neighborhood grassroots organizations, this initiative earmarks funds for national and and international funding as well, particularly in its environmental funding. The initiative has made grants to the Environmental Defense Fund, the North Shore Land Alliance, the Bowery Residents Committee and Echoing Green Foundation.
In addition to its three main initiatives, the trust launched a rapid response program to the COVID-19 crisis and awarded $73 million in emergency grant support to 754 nonprofit groups supporting social services and arts and culture in New York.
The New York Community Trust is a prolific grantmaker, supporting roughly 5,000 organizations with more than $160 million in grants each year. Grants have been as large as $500,000, but the average grant size for this funder is about $10,000. For additional information about past grantmaking, explore the trust’s recent grants, results, or newsroom pages.
This funder maintains a page of current RFPs on its grants portal with guidelines and applications materials organized by program. Open RFPs are updated and changed frequently, so it is important to check back often. Direct general inquiries to the trust’s staff via its contact page.
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