Our Story

The New Canaan Community Foundation was founded in 1977 by a group of civic-minded New Canaan residents who saw an opportunity and came together to make their community better. Again and again, New Canaanites make that choice. We’re honored that they choose to partner with the Foundation.

Over more than 45 years, NCCF has evolved to lead on important issues, harness the power of volunteerism, and steward local giving to foster a healthier and more vibrant community.  We’ve learned that extraordinary things can happen when you invite people to the table, and co-create the community you want to see.

From the beginning, NCCF mobilized donors to give together – banding together to have an outsized impact in their philanthropy.  Early in our history, we started a tradition of supporting large capital projects in our town. Later, especially after the United Way of New Canaan merged into the Foundation, our grantmaking expanded to support a wide variety of nonprofit organizations, both in New Canaan and in our surrounding towns. We are uniquely powered by volunteers in our grantmaking – each year, more than 100 community volunteers work with us to vet grant investments for the greatest possible impact.

In recent years, NCCF has taken on a Community Leadership role, where we identify needs in the community and position our work to spark systemic change. Our first major undertaking in this space was in behavioral health; work that begin in 2018 meant our community was well-positioned to respond to growing needs through the pandemic, and in 2023 the next five-year phase of this work launched with the Community Behavioral Health Fund. The Foundation also remains committed to responding nimbly to community needs as they emerge – our COVID-19 Response Fund, for example, launched within days of the stay-at-home orders and mobilized over $750,000 in rapid response dollars.

The Foundation is also a partner and steward of philanthropy, for the current and future generations. We offer scholarships and awards to New Canaan students for their college education and beyond. We host the Young Philanthropists Program so that New Canaan high school students can learn about philanthropic responsibility and the role of nonprofit organizations in addressing community needs. Our Touch A Life Fund provides emergency financial assistance for New Canaan residents in urgent need. And we are home to a growing number of donor-advised funds that make it easy for individuals and families to achieve their charitable goals.

We mobilize dollars, but PEOPLE are the heart of our work.

We’re doing good locally, but we can do MORE with you.