Adirondack Foundation

Adirondack Foundation is one of more than 795 community foundations across the country that help to connect generous donors with the causes they care about in the places they love. We work every day to connect people, ideas, and resources to strengthen our communities while embracing differences and encouraging collaboration. We make grants to nonprofits, schools and communities, and award scholarships to students. We deploy social, political, human, moral, and reputational capital to make our region even stronger through work like leading the Adirondack Birth to Three Alliance (BT3) and Adirondack Nonprofit Network (ANN).

The Foundation, like many of its peers, is poised to embrace an expanded role as a community leader, to direct its unrestricted grant dollars toward the greatest needs, while also facilitating greater giving and continuing to provide high-quality donor services. The Foundation’s most important role is to be of service to the community – a community of donors, nonprofits, schools, and others who define and contribute to the Adirondack region.

Adirondack Foundation will focus its time, talent, and resources on the following strategies for success:

1. Support the critical needs of people and communities by promoting human and family wellbeing, educational opportunity, and economic vitality.
2. Cultivate a culture of philanthropy and inspire greater giving across the Adirondacks.
3. Grow assets to increase philanthropy and strengthen community.
4. Measure, evaluate, and communicate our effectiveness in grantmaking, fundraising, and community leadership.
5. Invest in people, tools, and processes for growth, success, and professional fulfillment.

On any given day, nonprofits, schools, local leaders, and generous people reach out to Adirondack Foundation for advice and input on a wide range of community issues – from vexing challenges to big ideas and exciting opportunities. Our staff leans in to listen carefully, using our deep knowledge for thoughtful problem-solving, purposeful bridge-building, and discrete pairing with generous individuals who have both the resources and the desire to truly make a difference.

We excel at bringing together disparate players to affect systemic change. For instance, we partner with agencies, care givers, teachers, and others to support hundreds of children from low-income families to facilitate access to high-quality early childhood care and education, enrichment classes and activities, and other essential supports.

Like the Adirondack guides who help outdoorsmen find their way through the wilderness, the Foundation can serve as a guide to donors navigating their local philanthropy. We track trends, uncover needs, identify promising approaches, vet ideas, make connections. When bringing generous people together, the Foundation's work can create a multiplier effect that catalyzes growth and prosperity to make the Adirondacks a better place for all, forever.

Since 1997, Adirondack Foundation has awarded $42 million in grants, attracted thousands of donors, and built a reputation for integrity and action. As our understanding of community issues deepens, our sense of responsibility to act grows. Likewise, as we develop closer relationships within the communities we serve, expectations have increased for us to do more. At this pivotal moment, we are ready to take philanthropy to new heights – to show the world how love of place manifests into generosity and action.