The New York Community Trust (NYCT) was founded in 1924 to distribute the income from charitable funds established by will to improve the quality of life in New York City. It also offers services to living donors. It is one of the oldest and largest community foundations in the United States, and pioneered donor advised funds in 1931. In 2011, it made grants totaling $137 million from assets of $1.9 billion in more than 2,000 charitable funds. The Trust is one of the largest private funders of New York City nonprofits.
The Trust works with donors who are planning a deferred gift, writing a will, or giving today. Donors may set up four different types of funds at The Trust: Field-of-Interest, Unrestricted, Donor-Advised, or Designated. The current programs areas for their competitive grants program (those not recommended by donor-advisors) are:
The Trust focuses its grantmaking in the five boroughs. Its divisions, the Westchester Community Foundation and the Long Island Community Foundation, make grants in their respective communities.
