We passed 100! Currently 123 wide-ranging interest philanthropic funds are established at the Community Foundation. Take a look at each Fund description below and how it supports needs and worthy causes, now and forever.
69 Donor Advised Funds
34 Designated Funds
13 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 the opportunity for everyone 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, expressed gratitude for the gift 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 new 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 supports grants made through our annual grant cycles: 1) Library Grant Cycle, 2) Spring Grant Cycle (aging, women, youth, animal welfare or the environment) and 3) Fall Grant Cycle (priorities posted annually) as well as for the Out of Cycle processes.
More InfoA 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.
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 InfoHelp advance the practice and results of new ways of solving problems using the processes of collective impact. Progressive and exciting fund!
Your support will benefit agencies and organizations that help victims of crime and sexual assault.
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.
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 InfoConsider 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.
Supports the programs and services of the Advocacy Center.
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 supports the social, physical, and emotional capabilities of infants and toddlers, which will generate returns that will accrue over a lifetime.
Created 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!
This fund supports Catholic Charities Tompkins/Tioga and other organizations that build community, provide hope and joy to individuals.
Established to support Gospel music in traditional African American congregations.
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.
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.
to support the Ithaca Community Fireworks and Rotary community programs
More InfoEstablished to honor the life of James E. Lawrence, a dedicated conservationist and environmentalist. Grants from the Fund will support his love of the natural world through local and regional conservation projects.
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.
This fund may provide resources towards general charitable purposes.
Supports projects to the promote rock gardening.
More InfoIntended to honor the person named through gifts reflecting his generosity and compassion.
To honor the philanthropic goals of the donors parents.
Supporting projects in energy conservation, renewable energy, community resilience, wildlife habitat restoration and community enrichment.
In honor of Reverend David N. Gramkee's personal commitment to social ministry and community projects throughout the Ithaca , Elmira, Seneca Falls, Auburn, and Rochester areas, the Fund is dedicated to the support and enhancement of youth ministry programs and activities in our region.
In alignment with Rotary's motto of service above self, to support a broad range of needs across Tompkins County and beyond.
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.
Tom & Caitlin Schryver established their Fund to support organizations which maximize human potential.
A 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.
The philanthropic purpose of this fund to provide annual operating support.
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 InfoThe Friends of the Lansing Community Library, a nonprofit, established this fund to support the programs, activities, and facilities of the Lansing Community Library. Mission is to improve the quality of life for the citizens of Lansing by providing access to information, cultural resources, and opportunities for personal enrichment.
Supports the stewardship of land and conservation easements held by the Finger Lakes Land Trust.
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.
An 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 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 the discretionary grant making of the Community Foundation.
More InfoAn endowment to ensure the long-term stability of the Just Be Cause Center.
More InfoA 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 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.
Kurt Vonnegut
What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured.