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Family Giving

We help families throughout your philanthropic journey, whether just beginning to define charitable goals, or building a legacy that demonstrates your values for generations to come.

Giving Together Ways to Give
A young family and their dog sit on a bench.
Jonathan Shoemaker, pictured here with his family, created a permanent fund to support education and social justice to help make New York better for the next generation. Photo by Ari Mintz

Why give with your family?

Leave an impact for years to come

Start building your family’s legacy today.

Learn together

Attend The Trust’s donor events and connect with generous peers in your community.

Establish a family tradition

Create a purpose-driven giving plan to engage the next generation and share your values.

My family wants to...

All families are different. We’re here to help you find the right giving solutions for yours.

Engage the next generation

Name advisors or successor advisors to a fund

Get philanthropic advising

Hold a retreat

Get help with our family foundation

Engage the next generation

Multigenerational giving

Prepare the next generation of philanthropists in our community to lead. We can help you identify vehicles for multigenerational giving, develop giving plans that honor individual goals and values, and provide opportunities for families to make grants together while learning about the nonprofit landscape and how to be thoughtful grantmakers.

Name advisors or successor advisors to a fund

The choice is yours!

You can engage the next generation by naming them as advisors to your fund today, or as successor advisors for the future.

Get philanthropic advising

Let our expert staff assist you

We are here to make your giving as effective and efficient as it can be, whether you’re giving through a donor-advised fund, family foundation, or other vehicle. Our multidisciplinary team of philanthropy experts can conduct grant research, connect you to nonprofits in your community based on your goals, and help with grant design, implementation, management, and more.

Hold a retreat

Leave the planning to us!

We can facilitate planning retreats and help family members, donors, and advisors reach consensus on a grant strategy. This lets all family members participate actively in your giving.

Get help with our family foundation

Services to support your private or family foundation

We partner with you on a personalized approach to your existing private foundation. We can help you navigate new and complex giving areas, streamline operations, and plan for the future. Your foundation can start a fund in a new giving area. Or you can dissolve the foundation—and avoid the hassles of record-keeping or possible disagreements among heirs or board members in the future. We can carry out your wishes with lower costs and less nuisance than a private foundation.

The Trust offers a useful way to contribute highly appreciated assets but it's also a good way to encourage children to make charitable gifts.

Richard W. Moore, attorney, donor-advised fund cofounder

I love the fact that there are people that my family can reach out to at the Trust if they have any questions and I encourage my kids to do this.

Amy Seiden, donor-advised fund cofounder

The staff at The Trust, they’re the pros! They’re so good at what they do, why should we appoint someone else to handle our giving?

Lita Elvers, donor-advised fund cofounder

For people who don't want to tackle all the administrative challenges of creating their own foundation, The New York Community Trust has been a great fit.

Magdalen Gaynor, Private practice attorney; former chair of the NY Bar Association Trusts & Estates Law Section, advisor

Get in Touch

John Oddy

Vice President for Donor Relations

Email: joddy@thenytrust.org

Phone: (212) 686-2564

John Oddy

The New York Community Trust announces $8M in grants to meet critical community needs

With these latest grants, The Trust has delivered more than $44.2 million in 2024 to support nonprofits working to make…
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The New York Community Trust and Robin Hood announce more than $5.6 million in grants to support NYC immigrants 

A consortium of philanthropies and corporations led by The New York Community Trust and Robin Hood, called The Funds for…
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Announcing $1.3 million in grants to support Westchester County’s pressing community needs 

 With these latest grants, The Trust’s Westchester office has made more than  $3.3 million in grants this year to support…
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More Ways to Give

No matter how you want to make a difference, we can help you turn a variety of assets into a force for good. Explore the different options we offer.

Ways to Give