The Exchange Club of New Canaan Foundation, Inc.
The Recipients of Our Grants & Donations
History of Our Grants & Donations
Each year, our members work on a number of fundraising activities. Our anchor event is our annual Christmas Tree & Wreath Sale. We purchase approximately 1,200 trees – fraser firs, balsams and Douglas firs – along with a variety of wreaths, roping and various seasonal merchandise. This is all delivered to Kiwanis Park in New Canaan traditionally on the Friday immediately following Thanksgiving Day and we are open and ready for business the very next day. The sale takes place until we sell all the inventory which usually occurs at the end of the third week of December.
Over the years, The Exchange Club of New Canaan has at various times organized the Annual Auction & Gourmet Dinner at the Country Club of New Canaan. This includes a silent auction and a live auction, live entertainment and a delicious dinner for all.
Other fundraisers include the annual Exchange Club Golf Outing at the Country Club of New Canaan. Many of our members are in the corporate world and organize foursomes to play. There are various sponsor levels as well as player partners and advertising partners. This has been very well received over the years and contributing significantly to our bottom line.
Our fundraisers are the sole source of our income. On an annual basis, usually at the end of our Christmas Tree Sale fundraiser, the Board of Directors of the Exchange Club Foundation reviews the financial statements and determines the net amount of funds which have been raised by each of these events. A Grants & Donations Committee is formed and chaired by the Immediate Past President to determine specifically how these funds will dispersed among the various organizations applying for help. The chart at the right shows the history of our work which is nearing the $1 million mark this year.
The Process
There is a two- to three-month window during the first calendar quarter of the year to request a grant or donation from The Exchange Club of New Canaan Foundation. The deadline for accepting applications is usually at the end of March each year. The Grants & Donations Committee reviews all requests and announces the recipients in early May.
Interested applicants should provide the following information:
A cover letter describing:
• the organization;
• its mission statement;
• recent accomplishments to include results of last year’s Exchange Club grant (if any); and,
• current sources of other external funding.
A one-page description of the project for which funding is sought including:
• the specific dollar amount requested; and,
• an indication of whether the requested funds will cover the entire project or a portion of it.
A set of current financial statements to include:
• a Profit & Loss statement showing income and expenses for the latest fiscal year; and,
• a Balance Sheet showing the latest fiscal year-end assets and liabilities compared to the prior year.
Evidence of the organization’s 501 (c) (3) status if applicable; and,
Any background materials as desired for additional elaboration.
Applications should be sent to the Chairperson, Grants & Donations Committee, The Exchange Club of New Canaan Foundation, P. O. Box 1163, New Canaan, CT 06840.
The Grants & Donations Committee reviews each application. The procedure is that each of the com-mittee members is assigned a few applications which are reviewed and subsequently presented to the entire committee for open discussion. Committee members are instructed to review these applications with respect to the alignment of the requests with the Exchange Club’s four major elements of our mis-sion: the prevention of child abuse, community service, youth projects and Americanism.
Types of Organizations Benefitting
As can be seen on the chart above, over the last five years, we have averaged grants and donations to 33 organizations per year with the majority of the dollars going to the Parenting Skills Center for the Pre-vention of Child Abuse. This is an Exchange-affiliated organization addressing the issue of preventing child abuse, our national project.
The following is a list of the 29 organizations which received a total of $128,000 from the Exchange Club of New Canaan in 2010:
ABC, Inc. of New Canaan
Americares HomeFront, Inc.
Arts For Healing
Child Guidance Center of Southern CT
Children's Connection (Human Services Council)
Circle of Care
Crudem Foundation (Haiti)
Domestic Violence Crisis Center
Family ReEntry
GetAbout, Inc.
Horizons Student Enrichment Program
Magical Music for Life
Meals-On-Wheels of New Canaan, Inc.
Memorial Day Parade - Flags
Mid-Fairfield Hospice
New Canaan Library
New Canaan Recreation Department
New Canaan YMCA
Nursing & Home Care
Old Faithful Antique Fire Engine Association, Inc.
Parenting Skills Center
Person-to-Person
Senior Center Christmas Lunch
Silvermine Guild Arts Center
Special Education Network
Star, Inc.
Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U. S. Post No. 653
Waveny Care Network, Inc.
XCNC Scholarship Fund
The summary table below shows the distribution of grants and donations in keeping with the four cate-gories of our mission statement described above. This is shown by dollar amount as well as by the number of organizations. Clearly, it can be seen that our largest dollar amount, $69,000, is given to four child abuse prevention programs while 18 community service groups, or 62%, receive funds to support their causes.
| Americanism | Child Abuse Prevention | Community Service | Youth Projects | Grand Total | |
| Total | $1,941 | $69,000 | $37,411 | $19,648 | $128,000 |
| % of Dollars | 1.5% | 53.9% | 29.2% | 15.4% | 100.0% |
| # of Organizations | 2 | 4 | 18 | 5 | 29 |
| % of Organizations | 6.9% | 13.8% | 62.1% | 17.2% | 100.0% |
In addition to its fundraising events, The Exchange Club meets on the first and third Tuesdays of each month for dinner meetings with speaker presentations at the Roger Sherman Inn in New Canaan.
How To Donate
For more information about the Exchange Club Foundation, please visit our Leadership page for the telephone number of our current president.
If you wish to donate directly to the Exchange Club Foundation, checks may be sent to our post office box at the following address:
The Exchange Club Foundation
Post Office Box 1163
New Canaan, CT 06840-1163
Attn: Grants & Donations Chairperson
We also accept MasterCard, Visa and American Express credit cards. Please visit our Leadership page for the telephone number of our current treasurer.
The Exchange Club Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization. Organizations described in section 501(c)(3) are commonly referred to as charitable organizations and are eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions in accordance with Code section 170.
