General Grant Fund

General Grant Fund is sponsored by Lenny Zakim Fund C/O DLA Piper LLP. Supports nonprofit grassroots organizations in eastern Massachusetts with operating budgets under $350,000, focusing on access to food, housing, economic opportunity, child and youth development, education, civil and human rights advocacy, and more.

Support Us – The Lenny Zakim Fund Support the Grassroots and Give to The Lenny Zakim Fund Small nonprofit organizations that meet critical needs in local communities throughout eastern Massachusetts often struggle to find funding. Even the best ideas crumble without a secure foundation.

Since 1995, The Lenny Zakim Fund has partnered with grassroots organizations helping groups and individuals who are traditionally underserved or marginalized. We provide general operating grants – renewable for up to five years – that empower these organizations to build strong partnerships and programs that dismantle inequity and nurture resilience. Start Your Recurring Gift Today!

Support LZF and our grant recipients by setting up a recurring monthly gift. Click here to start a recurring gift. Make a check out to The Lenny Zakim Fund: Give Through a Donor-Advised Fund DAF donors can recommend and approve grants from their DAF to LZF in a matter of minutes.

Click here to access your donor-advised fund. Double or even triple your gift through your employer’s matching gift program. Contact Carla Beaudoin for more information.

Tribute & Memorial Giving Honor or remember a special someone by selecting “I would like to dedicate this donation” on our online form or noting the person’s name in the memo section on your check, which can be made out to The Lenny Zakim Fund and sent by mail. Make a gift of appreciated stock to LZF and avoid capital gains in the process.

LZF Stock Gift Instructions Make a Tax-Free IRA Rollover Gift If you are 70 ½ or older and have an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), consider making a gift of up to $108,000 from your IRA directly to LZF and avoid being taxed on the distribution. Make a bequest to LZF through your will or trust. Click here for sample bequest language to include in your estate planning documents.

Designate LZF as a beneficiary of your retirement plan. LZF Gift of Retirement Assets With Gratitude: Our 2025 Leadership Donors The Lenny Zakim Fund is grateful to the individuals and organizations whose generosity of $10,000 or more in 2025 made our work possible. Their commitment fuels our mission and strengthens the organizations and communities we serve.

Michael and Manisha Eckton Jackson and Irene Golden 1989 Charitable Trust Josephine and Louise Crane Foundation Suzi Kaitz & Jonathan Katz The Klarman Family Foundation Alexander and Lianne Leventhal John and Sonia Lingos Family Foundation Tim Mackey & Carol Lee Rawn A complete list of our 2025 supporters can be found in our 2025 Annual Report.

Ensure that young adults with visual or mobility challenges can take part in the sports they love. Create intergenerational opportunities for LGBTQ individuals to learn from one another. Bring gang-related young people off the streets to shoot films instead of guns.

Offer Know Your Rights workshops and English classes to new immigrants.