Wow, donors are taking action! Currently 159 wide-ranging interest philanthropic funds are established at the Community Foundation. Take a look at each Fund description below and how donors support needs and help worthy causes, now and forever.
85 Donor Advised Funds
47 Designated Funds
20 Field of Interest Funds
7 Community Impact Funds
Most of our funds are listed below, and many have links for more information. You may make a gift to any of these funds at any time. Funds not listed here are anonymous, as requested by the donor.
YOUR GIFT:
-Can be given in honor of a friend or a loved one.
-Is tax deductible.
-Supports many local programs that need it most.
-Donors who give $1,000 or more are members of our Philanthropy Magnified Society.
Ways to Give –
A Fund:
• Create a Donor-Advised Fund: minimum $10,000 for an endowed fund or $20,000 for an expendable fund. Add to an existing Donor-Advised Fund: gift of any amount
• Designated Funds gift of any amount
• Field of Interest Funds gift of any amount
Deferred Gifts:
• A deferred or planned gift (assets in retirement plans, life insurance, securities, real estate, trusts, tangible personal property, and/or cash), gift of any amount
Annual support current use (where it’s needed most):
• Operating support gift of any amount
• HEROES Circle (Helping Expand Resources, Operational Effectiveness, & Service), $1,000 or more
• Operating three-year pledge gifts, each year $2,500, $1,000, $500, or $250
• Operational Endowment gift of any amount
• Community Memorial Fund gift of any amount
Offers you an opportunity to make a difference in our local communities. Your gift to this fund celebrates and memorializes the life of your loved one, client, colleague, or friend; and continues to benefit the communities where they have lived and worked or both.
More InfoCommunity Foundation board members, stewards of the endowment are grateful for these gifts and look forward to others supporting it as well. “We are so grateful for this gift. It is a vote of confidence in how our grantmaking engages the community to address local needs,” said Randy Ehrenberg, 2017 board chair. 2018 chair Susan H. Murphy added, “This endowment gives us greater flexibility and more resources to meet emerging local challenges today and well into the future!”
More InfoYour gift to this fund immediately supports grants made through our annual grant cycle
as well as for the Out of Cycle processes.
A forever fund! You can support the programs and services of Community Foundation including philanthropy education, donor services, community knowledge sharing and leadership now and forever.
Your gift to this fund supports grants made through our annual Spring Grant Cycle, as well as the General Letter of Inquiry process to benefit local arts and culture programs. One past recipient includes Civic Ensemble for a community-based play to explore social, political and cultural issues of our time.
The first three years of a child's life are a critical period of development. Early interactions and supports serve as the foundation for later skills and achievements. The Birth to 3 Fund supports the social, physical, and emotional capabilities of infants and toddlers, which will generate returns that will accrue over a lifetime.
More InfoTo provide food, shelter, counseling, or other basic needs such as animal protection.
No gift is ever wasted on a child. Help promote the healthy development of children and youth in ways that complement existing services in Tompkins County.
More InfoYour support will benefit agencies and organizations that help victims of crime and sexual assault.
This Field of Interest Fund will support Mental Health Services with a special attention to suicide prevention. This fund is established in the name of Dilmeran Akgoze.
Environmental education in the Cayuga Lake watershed region.
Supports initiatives that can meet long-term hunger needs and provide solutions to mitigate their causes. Over 10% of our citizens are considered food insecure and do not have regular access to enough food for a healthy life; more than quarter of them are children. In a country of so much abundance, we believe these numbers can, and must, be reduced.
Arts organizations providing an educational component. Not including museums and libraries.
This fund will support Lansing Projects & Activities.
This fund will provide annual grants to enhance the welfare and intellectual development of children thru the age of 24 in nutrition and food security, health and transition into adulthood.
The fund focuses on serving rural communities in Tompkins County, supporting improved access to services and enhanced activities that better the quality of life for rural residents. The fund will, hopefully, inspire further philanthropy, catalyzing collaborations and supporting inclusion and justice.
Helping people, especially men, young and old, in various difficult situations. Basic needs: health, food security, housing and opportunities. Child development to adult stages. Advocacy for vulnerable and at-risk populations. Fostering and promoting resilience and identification of possibilities.
Dedicated to understanding and interrupting the traditional patterns of exclusion which prevent equal opportunity for all.
More InfoEstablished by Susan Christopherson through her will. Susan envisioned communities in Central New York engaging their residents effectively and meaningfully in decision making around planning issues that affect their day-to-day lives. This Fund will assist residents who want to improve their communities through planning and design.
More InfoFor programs like but not limited to: zero waste, grassroots creativity, agents of change, new ways of solving problems, teaching sustainability skills, agriculture, youth in nature educational programs.
Consider supporting the empowerment, education, creativity and transformation of women and to provide a venue for honoring women as philanthropists and leaders.
More InfoThe 21 Goodwill Street Fund is a family fund established to engage several generations of the Shafer family in supporting a variety of community needs.
Established with a generous gift from the estate of Bernard Rosen. Bernie's gift is transforming, and promoting genuine intellectual curiosity and a lifelong love of reading and learning by providing greater and easier access by youth to libraries in the Finger Lakes Library System.
More InfoThe first three years of a child's life are a critical period of development. Early interactions and supports serve as the foundation for later skills and achievements. The Birth to 3 Fund grants money to programs and initiatives in our community that support the social, physical, and emotional development of infants and toddlers up to the age of three. The fund provides seed money to help get new programs started, support ongoing programs, and expand current programs. In addition, the fund seeks to support programs that demonstrate a widespread impact on families, from a range of backgrounds, who are raising children in the birth to three age range.
More InfoCreated in memory of Bunny-O’Brien/Schassburger, a consummate nurse practitioner to enhance the continuing professional education and training of medical personnel, as well as facilitate communication and understanding between medical professionals, aspiring health care providers, patients and their families/care givers and to help provide enhanced quality of life for those undergoing therapy and end of life care.
To promote educational, economic and social equality for women and girls and to motivate and encourage women and girls to achieve their goals in life!
The philanthropic purpose of this fund is (1) Environmental Stewardship (2) Meaningful collaborations among organizations (3) Initiatives to bring people of different perspectives together to work toward shared goals.
This fund supports charitable organizations with a focus on, but not limited to, children, education and environment. Helping youth reach their potential through education, health, and other means.
A fund to support Not for Profit organizations of Tompkins County
Supports local and national charities that promote cultural, educational, health, social justice and related work.
Supports initiatives that develop leadership, responsibility and confidence in young people, especially young women; Erin believed that it was her responsibility to make the world a better place. She inspired others to believe in themselves and in their ability to make a difference. To Erin, it never was whether the cup was half full or half empty, rather it was that the cup was not big enough.
The purpose of this fund is helping people.
Grants will be recommended from this fund to work - supporting organizations in Tompkins County that focus on: 1. teaching the skills of life transformation 2. reaching out to disconnected and at-risk youth 3. confronting the primary barriers to work (criminal history, disabilities, family instability, homelessness, and substance abuse)
Rescuing Food, Reducing Hunger
Friendship Donations Network, almost entirely volunteer-run, rescues fresh, nutritious food that would otherwise be thrown away from stores and farms and redistributes it to neighbors in need.
One of the first funds created by a private individual, the late Howard Hartnett, an incorporating board member of the Community Foundation of Tompkins County; supports a broad range of community needs.
Established to honor the lives of James and Joan Lawrence dedicated conservationists and environmentalists. Grants from the Fund will support their love of the natural world through local and regional conservation projects.
To improve the lives of people in local, state, national and international communities.
The purpose of this fund is general philanthropy.
This fund will be used to support initiatives that work to achieve greater equity within our community and world. These would include, but not be limited to, initiatives addressing: social justice, food security, youth empowerment and education, environmental stewardship, and fostering connections across differences.
A memorialized fund for Laurie Conrad. In support of her interests in classical music, ballet instruction and performance, and documentary film making for social justice causes.
More InfoSupports the educational activities of the League of Women Voters of Tompkins County, a nonpartisan organization, encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government.
More InfoIn gratitude for friends, colleagues and Cornell classmates, the Mansoor Family Fund supports charitable initiatives in the Ithaca and Tompkins County.
Established to provide opportunities for individuals and to serve humanity in the diverse and generous ways that Pete Wadach did throughout his life.
To support arts, education and historic preservation.
This fund may provide resources towards general charitable purposes.
To celebrate and support our communities.
Supports projects to the promote rock gardening.
More InfoTo honor the philanthropic goals of the donors parents.
Supporting projects in energy conservation, renewable energy, community resilience, wildlife habitat restoration and community enrichment.
In alignment with Rotary's motto of service above self, to support a broad range of needs across Tompkins County and beyond.
This fund will support program expenses associated with RYE programs sponsored by Rotary Club of Ithaca.
To support broad charitable with a preference for, but not limited to, collaborative and/or innovative initiatives, programs, and projects that are community-supported, sustainable, and self-supporting (e.g. includes but is not limited to medical and basic research, scholarship, and basic needs (housing, child care, quality health care, mentor-apprentice employment opportunities, and arts and cultural enrichment)).
In support of enhanced mental health initiatives aiding young people in the Ithaca area.
More InfoCreated in memory of and in the spirit of Lee Strebel's love of performing arts.
More InfoThe philanthropic purpose of this fund is general philanthropic giving.
Distributions from this fund are intended to be to organizations that help individuals realize well-being and happiness by alleviating burdens and barriers of financial, educational, social and racial inequities.
Tom & Caitlin Schryver established their Fund to support organizations which maximize human potential.
To support the William L. Maxwell Internship Program of the Greater Ithaca Activities Center (GIAC). Grants from this fund are in honor of Judith Maxwell, Harpal Singh and William and Judith Maxwell. The Maxwell Internships will benefit the youth of greater Ithaca, ages 16 - 22, so that civic and commercial enterprises can act as as mentors and sponsors of youth who seek to gain a better understanding of their personal and professional opportunities.
More InfoA Network for Grateful Living (ANG*L)
provides education and support for the practice of grateful living as a global ethic, inspired by the teachings of Br. David Steindl-Rast and colleagues. Gratefulness fosters personal transformation, cross-cultural understanding, interfaith dialogue, intergenerational respect, nonviolent conflict resolution, and ecological sustainability.
This fund will make grants to Greater Ithaca Activities Center (GIAC) for pool admission scholarships and incidental pool improvements.
More InfoThe philanthropic purpose of this fund to provide annual operating support.
More InfoThis fund will benefit Catholic Charities of Tompkins Tioga for housing programs in Tompkins County.
More InfoThis fund will support the Community Science Institute in its work to collect scientifically credible data through long-term stream and lake monitoring partnerships with local groups of volunteers; facilitate public conversations about the use of these long-term datasets in the sustainable management of local and regional water bodies and other shared natural resources. Provide youth and their families with experiential, hands-on, water-focused science education opportunities with the goal of fostering the next generation of scientists, activists, and environmental stewards.
More InfoA fund established in honor of Dr. Uphoff and her many years of service to our local community; helping to fuel the annual grant making of the Children & Youth Fund, a field of interest fund of Community Foundation.
More InfoTo support the grant making of the Community Foundation's Children & Youth Fund, in memory of our beloved son, Eric Lawrence Ehrenberg (1971-2008), who grew up in Ithaca and loved this community and all that it afforded its youth.
Established in 2017, this fund supports Family Reading Partnership initiatives.
More InfoSupports the stewardship of land and conservation easements held by the Finger Lakes Land Trust.
More InfoThis fund will support the programs of First Baptist Church.
More InfoThis fund provides annual support towards the food programming and technology-related needs of Greater Ithaca Activities Center (GIAC).
More InfoSupports the educational and operational needs for programs provided to the children and students of the Groton Central School District.
More InfoThis fund was established in memory of William Harris.
This fund was established in memory of Ivan V. Harris.
This fund was established in memory of Teresa V. Harris.
More InfoAn endowment to support the programs of the History Center in Tompkins County.
More InfoHospicare believes that everyone matters all the way through their life until the moment they die, and that no one should die in avoidable pain, suffering or emotional distress. Hospicare Fund donors help make sure that everyone with a life-limiting or terminal condition, and their family and friends, gets the very best care. Hospicare is critical to achieving this in the communities we serve.
More InfoThis fund will support the general operations of the Ithaca Children's Garden.
More InfoEstablished by the family of Bill Thayer, who sang tenor in the chorus both before and after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. The Thayer family was particularly touched by the many kindnesses that chorus members extended to Bill as his illness advanced, and wanted to do something that would strengthen the chorus in years ahead.
More InfoTo support Ithaca Health Alliance's general structure and programs.
More InfoTo support an annual leadership award presented to graduating Trumansburg Central School student-athlete(s)
More InfoThis fund will provide permanent funds to educate children through discovery along the Discovery Trail.
More InfoTo support the discretionary grant making of the Community Foundation.
More InfoAn endowment to ensure the long-term stability of the Just Be Cause Center.
More InfoThis fund will assist the Community Foundation to improve the quality of life in Tompkins County.
A bequest by Lenore Coral, a retired Cornell music librarian. Lenore established this fund through her will to support the International Repertory of Music Literature, an organization that archives literature and publications on music throughout the world.
More InfoTo support the educational programs and projects of Museum of the Earth.
More InfoThis fund will support Running to Places Theatre Company for youth development through theater. Funding will help ensure this remarkable youth theater continues to create magic by making it possible for young people to shine their lights brightly, both individually and collectively.
More InfoThis fund will make distributions to; (a) relieve poverty, (b) diminish hardships, (c) provide emergency relief and scholarship assistance and (d) generally improve the happiness, educational level and community spirit of the citizenry of Ithaca, New York and such other areas as may from time to time be selected by the Board of Directors.
This fund provides annual support towards the food programming and technology-related needs of Southside Community Center.
More InfoTo create and maintain the William L. Maxwell Internship Program at the GIAC.
More InfoTo provide annual operating funding in support of FLLT's mission.
More InfoTo provide annual operating funding in support of Ithaca Health Alliance's mission.
More InfoTo provide annual operating funding in support of Loaves and Fishes' mission.
More InfoTo provide annual operating funding in support of Planned Parenthood's mission.
More InfoAn endowment for Long Term Investment Functioning as Endowment
More InfoThis fund will provide a sustainable source of funding for projects in these two targeted areas; allowing flexibility in any given year to whichever area of need seems the most pressing.
Nina Miller, donor advisorIthaca has been wonderful to me.. When I began to ponder the future, I realize I want to express my gratitude to the community that has nurtured me.