Our donors often support education. Many want to help the alma maters that shaped their lives. Others are interested in helping younger students prepare for college. If you would like to contribute to ensuring all young people in the city receive a quality education, you can give through public school parent associations and to nonprofits that work to improve public education. Volunteer opportunities to help students develop their literacy and academic skills are plentiful.
DIRECT SUPPORT FOR SCHOOLS
Nonprofits work to improve the city’s schools in different ways. The Fund for Public Schools, for example, attracts private investments to fund pilot projects in the city’s public schools that, if successful, can be replicated systemwide. Teaching Matters trains public school teachers across the city and recently coached many through the transition to online learning. The city relies on more than 300 nonprofits to send arts educators into the public schools. The New York City Arts in Education Roundtable trained many of these teaching artists during the pandemic.
OUT-OF-SCHOOL TIME
Other nonprofits focus on afterschool hours to bolster students’ skills and experiences, often in conjunction with the arts or sports.
Across the city, nonprofits use students’ love of sports and physical activity to teach them discipline and hard work, which can translate to academic success. The activities vary but the focus is the same: Rocking the Boat teaches Bronx high schoolers to build and operate boats, while Special Olympics New York works with students with disabilities. ExpandEd Schools works with afterschool programs in several ways, including improving their reading instruction and promoting work-based learning programs.
BOOSTING EARLY EDUCATION
Studies have repeatedly proven the enormous benefits of starting children’s learning early in their lives. Many long-standing nonprofits focus on ensuring young children are ready for learning when they arrive at the door of their kindergarten classroom. The Parent-Child Home Program helps connect families with child care. And the Citizens’ Committee for Children is working with the Education Trust and the New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute to advocate for a comprehensive, high-quality early child care and education system.
STUDENT HEALTH AND WELLBEING
The pandemic was particularly hard on teenagers’ emotional wellbeing. Groups like New York School-Based Health Foundation, which supports health services in school buildings; and Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility, which creates supportive school environments, are helping teens by providing trained adults to counsel them.
PARENT AND STUDENT ENGAGEMENT
Several nonprofits in the city work with the people most affected by the public schools to advocate for systemic change, including: Bell Voices’ Teens Take Charge program, which trains high school students to rally support among their peers and to present their case to school officials; the New York City Coalition for Educational Justice, which trains and organizes parents to push for educational issues that matter to them, such as creating curricula that reflect the city’s diverse cultures; and Advocates for Children, which has long fought for the rights of children with the greatest challenges.
BOLSTERING EDUCATION YOUR WAY
Our donors improve education in a number of ways. Need us to suggest an organization or help you create a giving strategy? Let our philanthropic advising team assist you. Email us at giving@nyct-cfi.org to discuss giving suggestions.
Read more about our work to support education in NYC.