Our impact
A look at Fiscal Year 2025
WE INVESTED
IN COMMUNITY
WE INVESTED
IN COMMUNITY
| Category | Percent |
|---|---|
| Philanthropic Partnerships | 49.3% |
| Strategic Grantmaking | 17.8% |
| Responsive Grantmaking | 32.9% |
IN FISCAL YEAR 2025 we invested more than $5.24 million in community, the most in CCF’s history and up nearly $800,000 from 2024. To address rising community needs after federal policy shifts, we increased our responsive grantmaking by 52 percent, reactivated urgent-needs grantmaking, and continued investing in food security. We also planted the seeds for our second strategic initiative, Culture Connects Cambridge, which supports belonging through arts and culture while helping our donors achieve their philanthropic goals. We’re incredibly grateful to the donors, nonprofits, and civic leaders who are partnering with us to solve the city’s most pressing social problems and helping create a community where everyone can thrive.
Responsive Grantmaking
52%
Increased Responsive Grantmaking
THIS FUNDING RESPONDS to needs expressed by our community by support-ing more than 170 nonprofit organizations serving Cambridge. The Community Fund, the Urgent Needs Fund, sponsorships, and multiyear grants are included in the total. The Community Fund, built by donors for over a century, makes up the largest por-tion of our responsive grantmaking.
| Category | Percent | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Arts & Culture | 19% | $327,745 |
| Child & Youth Development | 20% | $344,995 |
| Community Building & Engagement | 19% | $327,745 |
| Economic Security | 6% | $103,499 |
| Education | 12% | $206,997 |
| Environment | 2% | $34,500 |
| Food | 3% | $51,749 |
| Health & Well-Being | 8% | $137,998 |
| Housing | 9% | $155,248 |
| Urgent Needs | 2% | $34,500 |
STRATEGIC
Grantmaking
| Category | Percent |
|---|---|
| Food Access and Security | 57.4% |
| Resident Engagement | 9.1% |
| Social Innovation | 2.7% |
| Arts and Culture | 4.6% |
| Education Access and Success | 26.2% |
CCF INVESTS in projects and initiatives that address systemic problems and that support our goals of reducing economic disparities and strengthening community bonds. In FY25, the largest chunk of funding went to our Food Access and Security Initiative, and we laid the foundation for our second strategic initiative, Culture Connects Cambridge.
Our groundwork in FY25 led to the FY26 launch of Culture Connects Cambridge, a $1.4 million multiyear investment in nonprofits to extend arts, culture, and belonging.
Economic Mobility
FOOD ACCESS AND SECURITY
$535,949
CCF Investments in eight projects supporting the emergency food-distribution system. (Total dollar amount is combined with Massachusetts Community Development Block Grant funding.)
EDUCATION ACCESS AND SUCCESS
$244,920
Scholarships, including the Parmenter Fund Scholarship at Harvard, Falcon Pride, and other named scholarships.
THRIVE! equity audit for Cambridge Public Schools funded by CCF.
SOCIAL COHESION
Arts and Culture
$43,421
Arrow Street Arts Fund subsidies for affordable Cambridge spaces for artists.
Grants to arts and culture organizations during the development of Culture Connects Cambridge.
SOCIAL INNOVATION
$25,000
Imagined in Cambridge! Awards to five grassroots solutions to hyperlocal problems.
RESIDENT ENGAGEMENT
$84,666
Cambridge WINS sponsorships for youth summer sports programs.
Local News Inc.’s second year of funding to support local journalism.
Cambridge Community Land Trust seed grant.
Philanthropic
Partnerships
| Category | Percent |
|---|---|
| Philanthropic Grantmaking | 16% |
| Other | 84% |
CCF IS A HOME for funds. We partner with a wide array of fundholders—individual donors, families, organizations, and companies—to help them realize their philanthropic goals locally and beyond. Our fundholder services are defined by thoughtful connections, strategic investments, and pooling resources for greater impact. Thanks to these relationships and the generosity of our fundholder community, our philanthropic partnership grants increased by 25 percent over FY24.
279
Total Grants
25%
Increase over Prior Year
82%
DAF Grants Stayed Local
Impact BEyond the Dollars
582
582
Total Number of Grants
208
208
Nonprofits Funded
50
50
Community Reviewers
28
28
Named Scholarships
6
6
Strategic PartneR Convenings
1,085
1,085
Donations
