Create your own permanent philanthropic legacy—
—a legacy that will make charitable gifts in your name, forever, to help the city you love and the causes you care about. Set up an endowed fund in The New York Community Trust.
It’s been our specialty . . . since 1924.
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 Grants from the fund set up by Barbara Preiskel in her will supported High 5 Tickets to the Arts, now part of ArtsConnection, which helps hundreds of City teens see music and theater events they wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford.
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An endowed fund is a commitment to your grandchildren, their children, and the generations to follow. It’s a promise that they will have the resources to test new ideas, deal with emergencies, harness evolving technology, and pursue an equitable society. It enables you to support the arts, protect the environment, feed hungry families—or let future Trust professionals use your gift to meet contemporary needs.
It’s your choice. When you set up an endowed fund, you join
other charitable New Yorkers who have chosen to leave a legacy with us, producing impact that one fund alone can’t accomplish.
Sometimes,
donors who have a private foundation, or are considering one, find that they can get the same results (making a difference) with far fewer headaches (worrying about succession, replacing trustees, children losing interest or disagreeing, hiring staff) by setting up an endowed fund at The Trust instead.
It’s painless, to you and yours. You can give what’s left after your heirs are cared for. Often, a charitable bequest will specify a dollar amount. You can leave a specific cash amount or percentage in your will, or leave your “residuary” estate—what’s left over after all your other designated gifts have been made.
Or you can make a planned gift. A key feature of many planned gifts is a tax advantage to you now for the commitment of a charitable gift later. Two popular options are:
- Charitable remainder trusts, which allow you to receive income (or provide income for another person); when the trust terminates, we will use the remaining assets to support your charitable interests.
- Charitable lead trusts, which enable you to make significant charitable gifts for a period of years, and then transfer assets to beneficiaries who may benefit from significantly lower gift and estate taxes.
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 George
Delacorte, responsible for the outdoor theater and Alice in Wonderland
sculptures in Central Park, left an unrestricted fund that supported the
Silk Road Project. Founded by Yo-Yo Ma, the project brings Eurasian
culture, and occasionally Mr. Ma himself, into City schools and
after-school programs. Photo above by Jennifer Taylor
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Why The New York Community Trust?
We firmly (sometimes even ferociously) honor your charitable intentions. Each grant we make is checked to ensure that the funds that support it meet the donor’s purpose.
Our stewardship is the old-fashioned kind: picky. We manage the impact of your philanthropy, not just the money.
Grants from your fund go only to nonprofits that meet high standards of performance. We give to the best and most effective charities in the City and surrounding communities, and those trying promising, but untested, projects.
Each grant from your fund does the good you intended it to do, generation after generation. You can tell us to support efforts to solve New York’s most pressing problems. You can tell us to make grants to causes you care about, like “improving early childhood education” or “cleaning up our rivers.” You can also designate grants to your favorite nonprofits.
We offer donors three kinds of endowed funds:
- You can create a field-of-interest fund. You tell us the purpose of your fund. We find the most effective nonprofits working on that issue.
- You can create an unrestricted fund. From this fund, The Trust will make grants to effective nonprofits that tackle the City’s most pressing problems, no matter what the future brings.
- You can create a designated fund. A designated fund allows you to handpick the nonprofits you wish to support; we’ll make grants annually. If a specific charity you’ve named happens to go out of business or changes its mission, The Trust board will then make grants in your name to other important charitable efforts. Your gift will never become obsolete.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it take? That’s up to you (our minimum is $5,000, our largest thus far is $75 million). How big it grows is up to us. Skilled
investment professionals manage your fund to produce both steady income and growth, so that your gift does more good each year.
What assets can I leave? You can use cash, stocks, bonds, non-publicly traded or privately held stock, tangible property (e.g., art, copyrights), life insurance, or retirement plan assets.
I already have a donor-advised fund with you. Can it become an endowed fund? Once your fund is no longer advised, any remaining assets will be used to tackle critical City issues. If your remaining assets are $5,000 or more, they will endow a fund in your chosen name. And you can add to your fund by will.
How can my legacy have the most impact? Unrestricted and field-of-interest funds offer the most flexibility. The former is Ben Franklin’s favorite: a bequest with no strings attached. The future, after all, is unimaginable. Could a donor in the 1950s foresee the role of digital technology in learning or the challenges and possibilities in health and the environment? A field-of-interest fund is devoted to a defined cause. The purpose can be broad or narrow. It reflects your values and interests. You might want to safeguard natural habitats, help kids with learning disabilities, or just support nonprofits in a borough. With either an unrestricted or a field-of-interest fund, your charity never becomes obsolete.
Trust The Trust to bring your philanthropic legacy to life.To learn more about creating a charitable fund in The Trust, please contact Jane Wilton at (212) 686-2563 or
janewilton@nyct-cfi.org.