“Through YPF, I realized that philanthropy is vital to any community's economy. YPF Member”

Young
Philanthropists Fund

NCCF launched the Young Philanthropists Fund in 2007. The Fund is governed by a Steering Committee of high school aged residents. Participation in the committee is an opportunity for high-school-age students to experience a grant making process and fund programs that address community needs. Students on the committee will explore philanthropy, leadership and community responsibility.

One of the program's goals is to bring together a group of students who are committed to making our community a better place to live and are interested in the many aspects of philanthropy. This philanthropy group works to meet community needs through a grant awards process with NCCF. Developing philanthropic understanding, values and skills at this age will have far-reaching impact, both today and as these young adults mature into community leaders.

Membership on the Steering Committee of the Young Philanthropists Fund is open to high school aged students who are residents of New Canaan. The focus is to learn how financial contributions to a non profit organization make an impact and how one evaluates which organization to support, among many competing choices. The New Canaan Community Foundation values the youth of our community. This Fund has been formed to give youth an opportunity to make a significant impact on our community and its residents. The size of the Steering Committee is limited.

On the Steering Committee, members will:

• Learn about philanthropy, charitable foundations and other types of funding, the importance of funding to organizations, local non-profits serving our community and how to review a grant application.
• Help send out requests for proposals to non-profit organizations, asking them to submit a request for funding for a program that addresses an important community need.
• Review each grant application, decide which programs sound like they would benefit the community the most, and divide up the money available to give out (easier said than done!!).
• Present their grant recommendations to the Community Foundation Board of Directors for approval. Finally, the organization gets the grant money for their program.
• Plan to raise some additional funds for the Young Philanthropists Fund to keep the fund growing for the years to come and to meet future needs of our community.
• Make a commitment to attend the YPF monthly meetings.

The YPF Steering Committee begins their meetings in September. Interested students need to fill out the YPF Application and return it to the New Canaan Community Foundation, YPF, 21 Locust Avenue, Suite 1B, New Canaan, CT 06840. We do not accept new applications once the YPF meetings have begun in late September. Please contact the office with any questions, 203-966-0231.