RESOURCES AND RESEARCH
WESTCHESTER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: A Resource for Both Donors and Charitable Organizations

National Philanthropy Day is November 15, and celebrates the contributions of volunteers and philanthropists in making our world a better place. The Westchester Community Foundation, a division of The New York Community Trust, has a unique role in encouraging and supporting philanthropy through its mission: “Developing and managing philanthropic resources, distributing those funds in a way that is highly responsive to donor interests and to community needs and opportunities, and to provide leadership in addressing the needs of the county’s citizens.”

Each year, approximately $2 million dollars in grants are distributed to Westchester County nonprofits from field-of-interest, designated and unrestricted charitable funds held and managed by the Foundation on behalf of Westchester county philanthropists.

All directors of development should be familiar with the Community Foundation’s services to donors who want to create a simple but flexible mechanism to insure regular contributions to one or more specific charities. The five different types of funds offered allow donors to be as general or specific as they wish in making charitable contributions. For example, donors can designate particular charities for contributions or simply designate a broad field of interest, such as “the arts”.

Donors who set up funds with the Westchester Community Foundation have the maximum tax benefits allowed by law plus professional grant making, financial, and investment staff services. Costs are lower than those of creating and managing a private foundation, and there is flexibility if a named charity goes out of business, changes its name, or no longer meets the goals of the donor. This “variance power” is very attractive to donors who have established funds in perpetuity and donors who have set up funds for narrow purposes but understand that the future is unpredictable.

The Westchester Community Foundation believes that through partnerships, collaborations, and groundbreaking ideas, it can make Westchester County an even better place to live for all of our neighbors. The Foundation’s doors are always open to discuss philanthropic strategies, personal or corporate, to convene leaders in the profit and nonprofit sector, and to crystallize future visions for Westchester.

Please call Abby Smith to discuss any questions that you might have. 914 948-5166 Extension 26.

By Abby Smith, Westchester Community Foundation