Eligibility
Our member community brings together philanthropic organizations based in the greater New York City region or those focusing substantial giving here. An organization’s core interest in joining Philanthropy New York is a desire to improve the quality of its own grantmaking and to work with other members to improve the field of grantmaking.
To be eligible for membership, an organization’s primary work is grantmaking.
Membership is open to private foundations, including family foundations, independent foundations, private operating foundations and charitable trusts; corporate foundations and giving programs; community foundations; public foundations and grantmaking public charities; religious and religious-affiliated foundations; donor-advised funds; federated funds; professional philanthropic advisors and individuals committed to sustained strategic philanthropy.
(Additional criteria specific to private operating foundations, religious grantmakers, grantmaking public charities, philanthropic advisors and individual philanthropists can be found on our full eligibility statement.)
Dues Structure
Membership is held by the organization and extends to current staff and trustees.
Member organizations pay annual membership dues to Philanthropy New York based on their total global grantmaking. The core philosophy behind PNY’s sliding scale dues structure is values driven: that members of the community all contribute financially to the community according to their ability to contribute, with grantmaking as an imperfect proxy for an organization’s size.
Sliding Dues Schedule
(based on grantmaking in last fiscal year or an average of the last three fiscal years)
- Up to $250,000: $1,250
- $250,001 - $500,000: $1,500
- $500,001 - $1,000,000: $2,000
- $1,000,001 - $1,500,000: $2,800
- $1,500,001 - $2,000,000: $4,100
- $2,000,001 - $3,000,000: $5,800
- $3,000,001 - $4,000,000: $8,200
- $4,000,001 - $5,000,000: $8,900
- $5,000,001 - $6,000,000: $12,000
- $6,000,001 - $7,000,000: $13,000
- $7,000,001 - $10,000,000: $15,600
- $10,000,001 - $12,000,000: $18,300
- $12,000,001 - $15,000,000: $21,000
- $15,000,001 - $20,000,000: $25,000
- $20,000,001 - $30,000,000: $28,000
- $30,000,001 - $40,000,000: $33,000
- $40,000,001 - $50,000,000: $35,000
- $50,000,001 - $75,000,000: $39,000
- $75,000,001 - $100,000,000: $43,000
- $100,000,001 - $250,000,000: $55,000
- $250,000,001 and above: $65,000
Is your organization a grantmaking public charity? Organizations that fundraise the majority of their annual grants budget may opt to take a 15% discount on the above membership dues. If your organization holds donor-advised funds, you may calculate your PNY membership dues based on the total grantmaking amount that is staff-led or staff-advised grants.
Are you a philanthropic advisor? View eligibility and dues information for advisors.
Is your foundation a private operating foundation? View dues information for organizations designated by the IRS as private operating foundations.
Frequently Asked Questions about Membership
How do we join?
- Reach out to our Member Engagement team and we will set up an introductory call.
- In your email, please provide core information about your organization: organization name, funding focus area(s), grantmaking budget, staff size, and type of organization (i.e., family foundation, independent foundation, corporate funder, grantmaking public charity, philanthropic advisory, etc.)
Can we join at any time of the year?
- Yes, organizations may join at any time of the year. The membership will then be up for renewal on either January 1 or July 1 going forward. The first "year" of membership is often more than 12 months to align a new member with our January or July renewal calendar.
Is the membership for the entire organization or just certain individuals?
- Philanthropy New York membership is an institutional membership and for the entire organization. The membership is held by the organization and extends to current staff and trustees.
Can we join PNY even if we aren't based in New York?
- Yes. Foundations based outside of the New York metro area may join as full members and engage with the Philanthropy New York community virtually. For example, a majority of programming is offered via Zoom and many of our peer networks do a mix of in-person and virtual convenings, as well as exchange information via email listservs. Members based outside of our region also often turn to PNY staff to help get connected to fellow PNY members.
- Alternatively, if your organization has a few folks based in the NYC Metro Area (staff or trustees) and you are looking for a way for them to be connected to a philanthropic community, the New York-based individuals might be interested in Associate membership with PNY.
Can we pay our membership dues as a grant to PNY?
- Yes. Member organizations may elect to pay as a grant any portion of their dues that exceeds $1,250 (the fair market value of services and goods received in return for membership based on the lowest current membership rate).
Do you offer a discount if we are a member of another regional association of grantmakers?
- Yes. If your organization pays dues to Philanthropy New York according to the schedule above and is also a full member of another regional association of grantmakers, you may elect to take a 20% regional discount off of your PNY dues.