The Whanganui Community Foundation wants to concentrate on helping preschoolers, youth and the elderly for the next five years, chairwoman Alaina Teki-Clark says.
The foundation was formed in 1988, funded by the sale of shares in the Wanganui Savings Bank.
It makes grants to people in Whanganui, the Waimarino, Rangitikei and South Taranaki and gives away about $1 million a year.
It wants its grants to make the maximum possible difference in the region, Ms Teki-Clark said.
This year the 12 trustees have had two workshops run by Northland's Jennifer Gill, to help them decide how they can make the biggest, long-term difference.
They were swayed by some facts about Whanganui preschoolers. About 27 per cent of them have two or more of four factors that put them at risk.
Those factors are a Child, Youth and Family finding of abuse or neglect, being mostly supported by benefits from birth, having a parent with a prison or community work sentence and having a mother with no formal qualifications.
Nationally, 17 per cent of preschoolers have two or more of those factors. Children with them are more likely to go down the same path - leave school with no qualification, spend time on a benefit and receive a prison or community work sentence.
The foundation also wants to focus on helping at-risk youth and isolated elderly people. And it gives grants of $10,000 or less across a diverse range of "activities and programmes that strengthen communities".
In the past it has pledged $1 million to the Sarjeant Gallery, and given to forest sanctuary Bushy Park. That could be changing.
"Projects of a capital nature will not be funded unless there is widespread and significant benefit to the community," its website says.
On the welfare side, trustees have given regular support to Jigsaw Whanganui and the Stone Soup Community.
Another of the foundation's aims is to help community groups with their professional development and capacity building.
Ms Teki-Clark said trustees would prefer to see more collaboration and less duplication in the sector - but were aware this was a general problem.