Having enough money to be able to donate to charitable causes is one thing. Knowing how to focus that philanthropic urge is another. That is the charge of the Princeton Area Community Foundation (PACF), which for the past two decades has been directing donors toward meaningful causes, both locally and on a broader basis.

According to the Foundation’s new Board Chairman David R. Scott, the ongoing economic slump makes the mission more important than ever. “We’re promoting philanthropy, helping philanthropists in all sorts of ways,” he says. “But basically, we are here to convince the community just how important philanthropy is today. We’re getting people to be more aware of helping others.”

The Foundation, which encourages participation from small donors as well as those with deep pockets, was formed in 1991 and now manages more than 250 charitable funds, including numerous nonprofit endowments.

Mr. Scott was an original board member of the Foundation. He served from 1991-2002, took a break, and returned in 2005. “It’s interesting to see how it has matured and grown,” he says. But the central purpose and mission hasn’t changed.”

His appointment comes after years of volunteering at numerous local and national non-profit organizations, including Princeton Day School, Planned Parenthood Association of the Mercer Area, the International Tennis Club of the U.S., and United Way of Greater Mercer County. Mr. Scott served as university counsel at Rutgers University for 20 years before retiring in 2004. Earlier in his career, he was chief counsel and acting director at the U.S. Office of Government Ethics in Washington, a senior trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice, an assistant district attorney for the city of Philadelphia, and an attorney at the Philadelphia firm of Pepper, Hamilton & Scheetz. He and his wife live in Princeton.

Since 1991, more than $100 million has been given to the Foundation for distribution to needy causes. There are numerous areas of giving, including housing, civil rights, the arts, education, health, historic preservation, youth, animal welfare, and the environment. As Mr. Scott sees it, the organization’s role is not only to help donors decide how to make gifts. It is also about helping the recipients of those gifts operate most effectively. Seminars, workshops, and one-on-one sessions are held to help promote philanthropy and stimulate dialogue.

“More and more, we’re emphasizing supporting advising and educating non-profits to help them do their job better,” Mr. Scott says. “We spend a lot of time on that, and people don’t necessarily know that about us. Another thing not generally known is that we manage funds.”

The Foundation recently conducted a survey of funded organizations, asking how they could be best served. “Five years ago we were focusing on new programs,” says Mr. Scott. “Now, we’re helping more with central operations. So our guidelines will be adjusted this year to reflect what they told us. We want to work more on systematic change.”

It is called the Princeton Area Community Foundation, but the donations made reach organizations in central New Jersey and beyond. “Some of our donors give nationally, or even abroad,” says Mr. Scott. “As long as they’re a not-for-profit 5013C, they are eligible. We’re focused locally, but not limited to that.”

With widespread unemployment and a sagging economy continuing to cause distress, the need for charitable giving is growing. “It’s greater than we have, so we need to increase our asset base,” Mr. Scott says. “We have $75 million now, and that’s terrific. It has enabled us to do all sorts of things but we need to do more.”