The Cape Cod Foundation Joins New Massachusetts Community Foundations Partnership to Support Nonprofits in the Wake of COVID-19

BOSTON, MA— A statewide coalition of community foundations, including The Cape Cod Foundation, has announced the formation of a new partnership designed to help stabilize, strengthen, and advance the social sector in communities across the Commonwealth.

The Massachusetts Community Foundations Partnership is made up of 14 community foundations across Massachusetts. Formed in the wake of COVID-19, the partnership will connect community foundations to achieve three critical results: strengthen the Massachusetts nonprofit sector to achieve greater impact, work collectively to lead on common challenges facing our communities, and improve the effectiveness of community foundations and their collective missions.

“While the geographic boundaries of these community foundations are distinct, the work we are all doing is complementary,” said Kristin O’Malley, President and CEO of The Cape Cod Foundation, “Through strategic planning and collaboration, we can leverage resources and maximize impact in the nonprofit sector across Cape Cod and the Commonwealth.”

As part of its early work, the partnership has co-funded a virtual series of technical assistance and capacity-building programs for nonprofit staff and board leaders. The educational programs will address topics such as strategic planning, fundraising, financial management, and racial justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion work. The program series is designed based on the needs and interest expressed by more than 1,100 nonprofit professionals in a survey this summer. In addition to training, nonprofit participants will have the opportunity to network with their peers, to troubleshoot common issues, and to exchange best practices. The first programs are scheduled for November of 2020, and additional programs are being formulated now to be held throughout 2021. A listing and registration information is available at http://bit.ly/masscfp.

“We are deeply appreciative of our community foundation partners, who have formed this statewide coalition. By joining forces, we can work at a larger scale to support nonprofits which will in turn allow them to more effectively support our communities across the Commonwealth,” said Peter Taylor, president of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation and co-chair of the partnership. “While nonprofits have been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, they are still going above and beyond to meet the significant needs in their communities. We rely on their services now more than ever, and this partnership will maximize our ability to help sustain and enhance their services during the crisis and over time.”

“By working together, foundations will be able to deliver support more efficiently and effectively to a broad audience of nonprofit practitioners, particularly in this virtual world. Our hope is to raise a collective voice on behalf of the sector as a whole and co-fund these critical training and education opportunities,” said Beth Francis, president of the Essex County Community Foundation and co-chair of the partnership. “We aim to focus our initial capacity building programs on organizations that have not had access to consultants or other support services, advocate on behalf of the underserved, and to ensure the racial, geographic, and subsector diversity of participants.”

The partnership is working closely with Philanthropy Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network in order to coordinate programming and ensure access to a wide nonprofit audience.

The announcement coincides with National Philanthropy Day (November 15), and National Community Foundation Week (November 12-18), which recognizes the value community foundations bring to their communities. Taylor explained, “Community foundations are among the oldest and most trusted charitable organizations. We operate across the state, providing support to rural and urban communities, with robust networks and relationships in the communities we serve. As our recent experience working with the statewide COVID-19 Relief Fund demonstrated, our knowledge and relationships in local communities result in effective grantmaking and can also benefit a statewide partner in deploying funds in partnership with us.”

“We are in this together,” Francis added. “While there are certainly challenges ahead for the sector, this partnership is one step in proactively planning for the long-term, sustainable recovery of our communities.”

Nonprofits, donors, and others interested in learning more can visit http://bit.ly/masscfp.