Our Story
The Park Avenue Foundation's innovative funding model generates ongoing support through its relationship with Park Avenue Club for its member nonprofits, serving as a fiduciary to its members who have invested in the unique funding model and caring for our historic site - once the dairy barn for the Sisters of Charity.
Our Beneficiaries
History & Background
In the early 1990's, a group of community visionaries and philanthropists devised an innovative model to save the Sisters of Charity's dairy barn located in Florham Park, New Jersey, and utilize that valuable resource to create an ongoing revenue stream for area nonprofits. Both the land and the building were donated to the Park Avenue Foundation for the benefit of the greater community thus maintaining the legacy fostered by the Sisters of Charity who utilized the dairy barn as a center for gathering and distributing aid to those in need.
Our Unique Model
The model design created The Park Avenue Foundation, a 501{c)3, which would use member nonprofits' investments to maintain ownership and renovate the former Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth's community dairy barn and property. This New Jersey Historic Landmark continues to stand with its original brick and slate edifice thanks to that original vision. The model also included the formation of the Park Avenue Club, operating as a 501{c)7, to rent the facility and operate a business and social club, drawing individual and organizational members who would choose to support the dining and social club because it yielded support for area nonprofits. The Spirit of Giving philosophy is a differentiating factor that helps attract and retain club members. The Park Avenue Club opened its doors on September 24, 1994, operating on the property owned by the Park Avenue Foundation.