Brooklyn Community Foundation Rebrands as "Brooklyn Org" to Appeal to New Generation of Philanthropists

"Brooklyn Org" sheds ‘foundation’ to combat growing distrust in philanthropy and present a community-focused, bottom-up approach.

The Brooklyn Community Foundation has rebranded as 'Brooklyn Org' in an effort to appeal to a new generation of philanthropists and combat increasing distrust in philanthropy. The organization aims to reflect a community-focused, bottom-up approach rather than a traditional top-down foundation.
Brooklyn Org, formerly known as the Brooklyn Community Foundation, aims to shed the perception of being 'old' and 'controlling' associated with the term 'foundation'. This change was driven by feedback from the next generation of donors.
President Jocelynne Rainey aims to make Brooklyn Org, which annually awards about $12 million to a range of causes, as recognizable as the Brooklyn Museum or the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
In undertaking the rebranding, Brooklyn Org invested under $50,000 to purchase the domain name Brooklyn.org and received pro bono branding consultation from a local firm.
Brooklyn Org maintains about $70 million in grantmaking assets and around $40 million in donor-advised funds. Their grantmaking approach is participatory, letting residents research and pick nonprofits to receive grants.
Despite the name change, Brooklyn Org affirms they are still a foundation. However, they're keen to reflect their evolving practices that empower residents to steer the course of the institution, in hope of modeling how philanthropy can be different.