Our 2025 Impact Report

Dear Friends and Community,

Brooklyn has always been a place where neighbors look out for neighbors—where the bodega owner knows your name, where block parties feel like family reunions, and where our incredible diversity creates strength that cannot be found anywhere else. This is the Brooklyn we champion, and this is the Brooklyn we must protect and nurture together.

In a time of national upheaval, as rising costs threaten to displace longtime residents and cuts to essential services leave our most vulnerable neighbors struggling, we face a choice. We can retreat into ourselves, or we can do what Brooklyn has always done best—turn toward each other with open arms and unwavering solidarity.

Our report’s theme, Brooklyn Backs Brooklyn, is a call to action and reflects our shared belief: when we invest in each other, we all rise. As Brooklynites, we share an unbreakable bond with our neighbors and the growing knowledge that it is harder for most to make a life here: in our People’s Pulse poll, conducted January 2025, nearly half of Brooklynites said they have considered leaving New York City because of the cost of living, and 62% said it is increasingly difficult to afford basic necessities.

This past year, your support helped us take on this critical mission, investing in the essential organizations our neighbors rely on. Brooklyn Org’s donor community distributed $19.5 million to nonprofits, bringing our total to over $130 million since 2009.

To expand our reach across Brooklyn, in 2024 we launched a new community-led grantmaking process that funded 125 nonprofits working on every issue—from housing to jobs to arts and culture—on behalf of families, immigrants, and older adults in every neighborhood. We also expanded our free services and trainings that supported over 500 nonprofits, while our new Neighborhood Collective Impact funding invested in bold local ideas that emerged from our Listening Tours.

As we look ahead, we’re reminded that our borough’s greatest asset isn’t our history—it’s our future. Together, we’re working to build a Brooklyn for everyone, where opportunity isn’t determined by zip code and community solidarity creates solutions to even our greatest challenges.

With deepest gratitude and partnership,

Dr. Jocelynne Rainey, President and CEO
Michael Gillespie, Board Co-Chair
Nicole Gueron, Board Co-Chair

2025 Impact Report

Download The Report [PDF]