YOUR PASSION.  YOUR LEGACY.  YOUR CAPE.

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Payable to The Cape Cod Foundation Fund
for the Arts
The Cape Cod Foundation
261 Whites Path, Unit 2 | South Yarmouth 02664

The Cape Cod Foundation Fund for the Arts

To support arts and cultural activities on Cape Cod

2010

$27,925

Permanent Endowment.  Follows spending policy set and approved annually by Foundation’s Board of Directors

$25,842

$1,659,480*. Total grantmaking from all Foundation Funds to support arts and culture initiatives from 2018-2022

FUND BACKGROUND
In 2010, we received a $26,000+ charitable gift annuity from a donor who was passionate about the arts. Since we didn’t have a discretionary fund to support this area, we established The Cape Cod Foundation Fund for the Arts with this gift. Since then, the Fund has awarded more than $25,000 in grants.

FOUNDATION STRATEGY
While we’re building discretionary resources to support The Cape Cod Foundation Fund for the Arts, we’re also leveraging resources from other discretionary funds to increase the impact of our grantmaking. One of those funds has a memorable history. In 2020, we received a bequest totaling nearly $6.4 million from an anonymous donor. To date, this is the single largest bequest the Foundation has received. As per the donor’s wishes, we allocated a portion of the gift to endowment funds to support the Cape Cod Museum of Art and the Cape Cod Center for the Arts. The remaining portion will support visual arts and other aspects of community life on Cape Cod.

You’ll note that, over the past five years, Foundation Funds have invested more than $1.65 million in arts and cultural programs and nonprofit capacity building initiatives to strengthen arts organizations. That’s the power of leveraging resources. However, resources aren’t the only commodity we leverage. Knowledge is powerful. Our ongoing partnership with the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod (AFCC) has made us more strategic grant makers–individually and collectively. As a leader in the creative community, they know where the needs are and where the resources will have the most impact. This is why we awarded AFCC a total of $75,000 to support the Creative Exchange in 2021 and 2022. This capacity-building, educational program provides financial, business, and creative sustainability to established and emerging artists on Cape Cod

RECENT GRANTMAKING

The recent grants featured below align with the Foundation’s grantmaking strategy to increase impact in multiple ways: providing nonprofits substantial programmatic and capacity-building support; supporting collaborations among organizations; and furthering our commitment to promote Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in our community. While these grants directly support specific populations, they underscore the importance of the creative economy and the positive impact art and cultural activities have on everyone’s lives and health.

Cape Cod Collaborative Arts Network (2022) $15,000
In 2022, we awarded a $15,000 grant to the Cape Cod Collaborative Arts Network (CapeCodCAN), an independently run program under the Cotuit Center for the Arts’ (CCftA) nonprofit umbrella. The funding directly supported Cape Cod CAN’s Hello World outreach and inclusion program which provides free, accessible, and inclusive programs to more than 800 children, teens, and adults with intellectual, developmental, and physical disabilities. The program includes art making, performance opportunities, and health/wellness education at the CCftA campus, local parks, Land Trust properties, and Title 1 elementary schools and special education departments after school. The free for all programs are adaptable to participants of all abilities and learning styles. A mobile art bus for classes and workshop also reduces barriers to participation.

In 2021, the Cotuit Center for the Arts was also among five organizations selected to participate in the Foundation’s pilot Comprehensive Capacity-Building Program. Each nonprofit received $50,000 for general operating support, a comprehensive organizational needs assessment, and implementation and administration of one or more activities arising from the needs assessment. Grantees also participated in a Foundation facilitated cohort-based, peer-learning program to expand their individual and collective impact.

Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra, $2,500
In 2022, we awarded a $2,500 grant to the Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra, in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Family Support Center of Cape Cod, to support its Musical Souvenirs for Memory Loss Program. The ongoing series of workshops focuses on live performances and education to engage and empower those impacted by Alzheimer’s disease. In medical studies, music has consistently shown to reignite areas of the brain thought lost and bring those with memory loss back into the present moment.

The orchestra also received $15,000 from the Foundation’s Targeted Capacity Building Grant Program in 2022. Funding supported staff expansion and software to streamline development and patron and donor management. As a result of their grant project, donations have increased 20%. The 11 grantees also participated in a Foundation facilitated cohort-based, peer-learning program to expand their individual and collective impact.

UPCOMING GRANT CYCLES
Information for nonprofit organizations seeking grants for programs and initiatives that support youth development and other areas of community life is available here.

All figures updated 11.14.23

*Since many initiatives overlap funding categories, some grants that have impacted Youth Development initiatives may be reflected in another category’s reporting.

Building Flexible Resources to Support All Aspects of Community Life

You can donate any amount to any of these field-of-interest funds at any time.
Through collective giving, we can fund broadscale initiatives that lead to regional, systemic change.

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