For Nonprofits | Westchester Community Foundation

We have a new website!

Since inception, The Westchester Community Foundation has operated as an affiliate of The New York Community Trust.

As part of our centennial celebrations, we are creating a single, unified organization to more powerfully advocate for our region with one voice.

We will still maintain our physical offices in Westchester with the same dedicated staff who will continue to honor and build upon our relationships with local nonprofits and communities.

You can now find us at: https://www.thenytrust.org/westchester/

The Westchester Index is at westchesterindex.org.

The New York Community Trust. For Westchester. Forever.

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Get a grant for your nonprofit

We support nonprofits that take on projects that match our grantmaking priorities. Some we have worked with before. Others are new to the Westchester Community Foundation.

As a community foundation, we focus primarily on Westchester. Our competitive grants support projects that improve the lives of all Westchester residents. Making grants that make a difference requires a good understanding of the problems you’re trying to fix, the methods that others have tried and how they’ve fared, and the capabilities of the organization proposing a program.

We think that experience in the field is also essential. WCF staff have all worked for nonprofit organizations. This helps them appreciate the complexities of designing projects, translating them into compelling proposals, and competing for the limited amount of money that’s available.

WCF must also balance the needs of the Westchester region with the charitable intent of our generous donors who make these grants possible. Every year, we give away about $2-3 million to carry out the wishes of donors who have left us bequests. Since 1975, we’ve granted more than $84,426,212 to worthy nonprofits in Westchester.

About our Grantmaking Program

Learn more about our main program areas and the grant guidelines for each.

DETAILS: WHAT WE FUND

Download Letter of Intent form and send completed form to info@wcf-ny.org

Cycle 1 LOIs due October 13 2023, Cycle 2 LOIs due January 26 2024, Cycle 3 LOIs due May 24 2024. Cycle 1 proposals invited November 3 2023, Cycle 2 proposals invited February 16 2024, Cycle 3 proposals invited June 21. Cycle 1 invited proposals due December 1 2023, Cycle 2 invited proposals due March 15 2024, Cycle 3 invited proposals due July 19. Cycle 1 awards announced in late March 2024, Cycle 2 awards announced in early July 2024, Cycle 3 awards announced late November 2024.

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Discover additional funding opportunities for your organization through current Requests For Proposals. 

RFP INFO

Grantees are required to submit interim and final reports that provide a clear and concise narrative describing progress made toward meeting the expected grant results; how any problems were addressed; and a fiscal accounting of grant expenditures

Download the Interim/Final Report Form here and email it to interim@wcf-ny.org or final@wcf-ny.org AND to your Program Officer. Include your agency name in the subject line of the email. Be sure to name all documents with your agency name and minimize the number of separate documents sent. Include as many documents as possible in one file.

A key component of our grant making program is understanding the effectiveness of the initiatives our grants help to fund. Our goal is to inform and improve our decision-making and, where appropriate, share this learning with future grantees. Ultimately, we collect best practices and lessons learned to better inform our own grant making, and we thank all of our grantees for helping us with this process.

Do you want the story of your grant to be featured in our newsletters, read by our donors and partners? Send them to Laura Rossi, Executive Director, at lrossi@wcf-ny.org.

Manage Your Current Grant

Download a PDF listing of competitive grants made in 2023.

Download A PDF