Community and Economic Development Program is a grant from Cummings Foundation, formerly known as Economic Services & Development Grants, distributing $30 million annually to approximately 150 nonprofits in the greater Boston area. Cummings Foundation has awarded more than $600 million to date and offers multi-year grants paid over three or ten years.

The process begins with a simple letter of inquiry (LOI) submitted through an online portal. Prior grant winners may be automatically considered for 10-year awards. Small nonprofits requesting installments of $25,000 or less may access free LOI assistance through the Cummings Coaches program.

Only one LOI per organization per cycle is permitted.

Cummings $30 Million Grant Program | Cummings Foundation All Profits to Nonprofits Cummings $30 Million Grant Program Enjoy this inspiring highlight reel from Cummings Foundation’s 2025 Grant Winner Celebration, held at TradeCenter 128 in Woburn. Cummings Foundation has awarded more than $600 million to date in greater Boston. In 2026, it will grant an additional $30 million.

These funds will be shared by 150 local-area nonprofits and will be awarded as multi-year grants, to be paid over either three or 10 years. Before beginning a proposal, please carefully review the information below. Applicants are also encouraged to read the comprehensive FAQ page .

All applications begin with a simple letter of inquiry, accepted via an online portal only. The current grant cycle LOI window is closed. Please check back July 2023 for a link to the letter of inquiry.

The process begins with a simple letter of inquiry, accepted via an online portal only. Check back in July to begin a letter of inquiry. Begin a Letter of Inquiry --> Organizations with a proposal in process or under consideration, as well as current grantees, may log on to the grants portal using the button below.

Is your nonprofit planning a proposal submission? Do you have questions, or might you benefit from hearing the questions of others? Join Executive Director Joyce Vyriotes and Deputy Director Andrew Bishop for a virtual Q&A session.

• Wednesday, July 30, 2025 (View recording) • Tuesday, August 19, 2025 (View recording) • Wednesday, November 19, 2025 (View recording) • Tuesday, December 16, 2025 (View recording) If you have a question that is specific to your organization and would not be applicable to this larger audience, please contact us at your convenience. 2025-2026 Application Process and Timeline LOIs are accepted via the online portal only.

Organizations should submit no more than one LOI per grant cycle. Visit our FAQs page to learn about who reviews proposals and how decisions are made. All LOIs should be written with a three-year grant in mind.

Prior Cummings grant winners will automatically be considered for 10-year awards after the 150 winners have been determined. Small nonprofits requesting three-year grants with installments of $25,000 or less may be eligible for assistance in developing their LOI through the no-cost Cummings Coaches program. Learn more .

Begin a Letter of Inquiry --> Foundation staff will be available to answer questions up until the deadline. Nonprofits are strongly encouraged to plan ahead and submit well before the deadline, as extensions will not be granted.

Application invitations and decline notices sent via email* Preview this year’s application Nonprofits that submit an LOI should mark this date on their calendar and, if they do not receive an email notification, contact the Foundation (after first checking their spam folder * ). Visit our FAQs page to learn about who reviews proposals and how decisions are made.

Aside from the one question related to a 10-year grant, all applications should be written with a three-year grant in mind. Prior Cummings grant winners will automatically be considered for 10-year awards after the 150 winners have been determined. Small nonprofits requesting three-year grants with installments of $25,000 or less may be eligible for assistance in developing their application through the no-cost Cummings Coaches program.

Please see your application invitation email for additional details. January 14, 2026, 5:00 PM Full applications due from those invited to apply Foundation staff will be available to answer questions up until the deadline. Nonprofits are strongly encouraged to plan ahead and submit well before the deadline, as extensions will not be granted.

Some applicants being considered for 10-year awards will be contacted during the week of April 20 and invited to schedule a 45-minute time slot during the week of May 11 to meet with and make a presentation to Foundation volunteers.

Grant approval and decline letters sent via email Nonprofits that submit an application should mark this date on their calendar, watch their email * , and if they do not receive a notification, contact the Foundation. Grant winners will be invited to send up to two representatives to this festive not-to-be-missed event. Due to space limitations, attendance is by invitation only.

*Important notices about letters of inquiry and applications are sent via email. To decrease the likelihood of missing such emails, applicants are encouraged to check their spam folders regularly for emails from administrator@grantinterface. com or an @cummings.

com address. Cummings Foundation’s Grant Selection Process Through evaluating letters of inquiry and a limited number of full applications, Cummings Foundation and a group of about 100 community volunteers with varying backgrounds will identify 150 grant winners. More than two-thirds of the awards each year are determined completely by volunteers who serve on four successive committees.

The other awards are Early Decision grants , determined by Cummings Foundation through an internal process. Learn more about our grant selection process . 3-year vs. 10-year Grants Of the 150 grants, 125 will be disbursed over three years, and 25 will be disbursed over 10 years.

To be considered for a 10-year grant, an applicant must meet all the criteria below .

Has received a previous Cummings grant Is applying for an amount greater than $25,000, which requires completing the standard (not the short-form) application Completes the one question in the full application (not the LOI) related to this long-term award: “If you would like to be considered for a 10-year grant, please describe how your organization is well positioned to accept and maximize the benefits of this substantial long-term funding.

” There is not a separate process to apply for a 10-year grant. All applications should be written with a three-year grant in mind. Then, after the 150 grantees have been selected, the Foundation will determine which of these grantees meet the criteria above and will consider them for 10-year awards.

Past impact reports (from the nonprofit) and site visit reports (from Foundation volunteers) will be reviewed as part of this process. The most promising of these candidates for long-term funding will be invited to meet with a committee of volunteers for further discussion during “Presentation Days.

” This committee will determine which 25 recipients will have their three-year grants upgraded to 10-year grants, providing sustained funding over a full decade without the need for submitting further applications. Please check out (and share) Cummings Properties’ Careers page , as everyone who works for the real estate side of our organization is ultimately supporting Cummings Foundation’s philanthropic mission.

Annual Installment Amounts & Application Types Requested amounts for annual installments may range from a minimum of $10,000 to a maximum of $100,000. * (If you are unsure how much to request, review this FAQ .) Annual installments should be round numbers (e.g., $50,000 instead of $52,599) and will remain constant each year of the grant.

Applicants may choose from two different proposal types, depending on their desired installment amount. Requests for installments of Complete the short-form application. Automatically awarded as general operating support.

Do not submit a grant budget. Will be evaluated alongside other requests for $25,000 or less. Requests for installments of Complete the comprehensive application.

May be for any type of support (e.g., general operating support, program/project specific support). Must submit a grant budget. Will be evaluated alongside other requests for more than $25,000.

In general, the Foundation encourages its grantees to have diversified funding sources and prefers that its funding not represent an outsized percentage of an organization’s budget. A general guide (more than a hard rule) is that the installment should not exceed 20 percent of an organization’s average annual revenue for the past three years.

*Although an organization’s preference is taken into consideration, the Foundation may, and often will, award a grant with a different annual installment.

The Cummings $30 Million Grant Program is a place-based initiative that primarily supports nonprofits in the Massachusetts counties where Cummings Foundation operates commercial properties and where most staff and clients of Cummings Foundation and Cummings Properties live: The Norfolk County communities of: Brookline, Dedham, Milton, Needham, Quincy, and Wellesley. Cummings aims to support truly local organizations.

Accordingly, an applicant must: Be headquartered in the geographic areas listed above Provide the majority of its services in the geographic areas listed above.

Not maintain offices or provide services outside Massachusetts (with the exception of Merrimack Valley nonprofits that also serve Southern New Hampshire) Not be regional, national, or international (even if based locally) Not be a local office/affiliate of a regional or national organization, unless it has its own EIN All funding requests should focus exclusively on operations within geographic areas listed above.

Organizations that are based and provide their services in the Foundation’s geographic priority area, but serve people whose primary residences fall outside it are eligible to apply (e.g., nonprofits that provide transportation or housing for individuals receiving medical care in Boston, and programs that bring students from other regions to greater Boston for educational opportunities).

Special consideration is given to nonprofits based in the 11 cities and towns where the Cummings organization operates commercial real estate . The Foundation may also give such consideration to organizations that are based elsewhere in the priority geographic area and propose introducing programming or services in one or more of these 11 communities, especially Woburn.

The Cummings $30 Million Grant Program funds a wide variety of local causes related to: housing and food security, anti-poverty, support for people with physical or intellectual limitations, employment training, assistance for foreign-born residents, legal assistance, senior citizens, strong families/communities, youth activities/services anti-hate, opportunity gap remediation, representation K-12/college, mentoring/tutoring, out-of-school time, complementary programs hospitals/clinics, mental health environmental education, equitable access to outdoor spaces, recycling/waste reduction, sustainable agriculture and food systems (This program does not currently consider requests for research, land preservation, and large capital projects.)

This grant program is not currently considering requests related to the causes below, although we recognize their value and importance. The arts (including dance, music, and theater) The preservation of land or historic buildings Animal welfare (Please consider the Felicia Rose Grant Program.)

The Cummings $30 Million Grant Program will not generally consider requests for:** Political, legislative, or lobbying organizations Individuals or debt reduction, no matter how worthy Major capital campaigns, unless very near completion Primary and secondary schools that charge significant tuition Very large organizations already supported by robust endowments Organizations that seek to infringe on civil liberties or personal freedoms Organizations that are not classified as public charities under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service Code National or regional organizations, or local branches thereof, that do not have an EIN separate from that of the larger entity Organizations that treat people unfairly based on protected characteristics.

Municipalities (with the exception of public schools), except for the 11 communities in which the Cummings organization operates commercial properties Prior grant recipients are eligible to submit an LOI for an additional grant if: The organization meets the current eligibility requirements All previous Cummings Foundation (or other Cummings affiliate) grants to that organization have been fully disbursed In the case of recipients of 10-year grants, at least one year has passed since the disbursement of the final grant installment All requirements stipulated in the prior grant agreement (including the completion of annual impact reports* and the ongoing presence of an active reciprocal link to Cummings Foundation's website) have been fulfilled by the recipient organization *Organizations that have received a prior Cummings grant may re-apply during their final year of funding in advance of submitting the final impact report.

Such an organization will be removed from consideration, however, if the report is not completed by the February 28 deadline. **In any grant cycle, the list of award recipients may include one or more organizations that do not strictly adhere to all of these priorities and eligibility guidelines. Such exceptions may be made in recognition of a particular relationship to or with the Foundation.

Members of the volunteer selection committees who evaluate applications and select the majority of grant winners may independently and at their own discretion request more information from specific applicants or conduct site visits.

Given the very small size of Cummings Foundation's staff and the very large number of applicants, Foundation staff members do not typically conduct site visits or hold informational or relationship-building meetings with grant applicants. Staff members are readily available, however, to provide answers not found on this website. If you have a question, please call one of the phone numbers below at your convenience.

The Foundation team is typically easy to reach, and they find it more efficient to field calls as they come rather than scheduling them in advance. Cummings Foundation reserves the right to modify, add to, amend, or eliminate any of its eligibility requirements, priority funding areas, or policies at any time, with or without notice.

Cummings Foundation, Inc. (CFI) has a separate grant-making entity, Cummings Foundation Grants, Inc. Approved by the Internal Revenue Service effective February 1, 2011 and August 24, 2012, it is primarily funded by CFI. These entities share some common directors, as well as office space at 200 West Cummings Park, Woburn, MA 01801.

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