Cummings Foundation now awards at least $50 million each year, and has awarded a total of more than $500 million to date, to a widely diverse group of nonprofits primarily in eastern Massachusetts.
Our Programs and Special Interests
$30 Million Grant Program
150 annual grants awarded each May to eastern Massachusetts nonprofits, largely selected by volunteers
Learn More
New Horizons Communities
Not-for-profit retirement communities developed by Cummings Foundation in Woburn and Marlboro, MA
Learn More
Affiliated Colleges
A commitment to educational equity and workforce development through long-term funding
Learn More
Cummings in Rwanda
Invitation-only support of this East African country's post-genocide recovery and rebuilding efforts
Learn More
All Profits to Nonprofits
Joyce and Bill Cummings have donated the large majority of Cummings Properties' commercial property to the Foundation. Today, nearly all the buildings managed by Cummings Properties are actually owned by and operated for the sole benefit of Cummings Foundation. Clients who lease space at these properties feel good about this business decision, knowing that all profits go to nonprofits.
Learn More
Our Approach
They are the heroes: The nonprofit executive directors who also serve as HR managers, development officers, and marketing managers; the program staff who work diligently and passionately, often for low pay and even less recognition; the volunteers who devote precious free time in service to others. They are the heroes—not us.
Read More
Volunteers
Second only to funding, volunteers are an integral part of Cummings Foundation's grant program. By tapping into the deep expertise and rich diversity of greater Boston's professional community, the Foundation is so much better able to understand the issues local communities are facing, identify the most promising and effective nonprofits to fund, and strengthen relationships with beneficiaries.
Read More
About Cummings Foundation
"We reject the phrase give until it hurts. The better advice is to give until it feels good, and then keep on giving."
— Bill and Joyce Cummings, founders of Cummings Properties and Cummings Foundation, and first Massachusetts members of The Giving Pledge
Cummings Foundation was established in 1986 and has since grown to be one of the three largest foundations in New England. The Foundation is active in four major areas, focusing much of its efforts on the communities in which colleagues and clients live and work.
Learn More
