Mass. non-profits share in $30 million from Cummings - 150 community organizations awarded multi-year funding

Woburn, MA Nearly 375 nonprofit professionals, volunteers, and public officials gathered to honor those awarded funding through the 2025 Cummings $30 Million Grant Program, an annual initiative carried out by Cummings Foundation, the philanthropic affiliate of commercial real estate engine Cummings Properties.

Guests at the Grant Winner Celebration were inspired by heartfelt remarks from lieutenant governor Kim Driscoll, Joyce and Bill Cummings, and Stephen Chan, senior advisor to Boston mayor Michelle Wu.

“This is truly a celebration of what makes Massachusetts special,” Driscoll said, “people coming together for a greater good.”

The lieutenant governor praised the community organizations and public servants in attendance, noting their meaningful frontline impact, before turning her recognition toward co-founders Joyce and Bill Cummings.

Driscoll commended the Cummings on their “all profits to nonprofits” business model, through which 100% of all rental profits from Cummings Properties’ commercial real estate supports hundreds of local nonprofits.

A total of 150 organizations were awarded grants ranging from $30,000 to $750,000 each. Cummings awarded three-year grants to 125 organizations. The remaining 25 nonprofits were pledged 10-year funding of $300,000 to $750,000 each.

In keeping with Cummings Foundation’s focus on local giving, the grantee organizations are based in and serve Essex, Middlesex, Suffolk, and Norfolk counties. They represent a wide variety of causes, including housing and food insecurity, education and youth empowerment, workforce development, and mental health services.

One of the largest private foundations in New England, Cummings Foundation has awarded more than $600 million to greater Boston nonprofits to date. 

A substantial portion of Cummings Foundation’s more than $4 billion in assets consists of commercial real estate. This extensive portfolio was donated over time by Joyce and Bill Cummings and serves as a stable, ongoing source of revenue for the Foundation’s philanthropic initiatives.

All Foundation buildings are debt free and operated pro bono by Cummings Properties, the commercial real estate firm Bill Cummings founded more than 50 years ago. One hundred percent of all rental profits from all Cummings buildings supports community-based nonprofits.

“We are enormously appreciative of the 2,000-plus businesses that lease space with Cummings,” said Dennis Clarke, chairman and CEO at Cummings Properties. “Their tenancy fuels our ‘all profits to nonprofits’ model, enabling Cummings to invest in the impactful work of organizations serving the communities around us.”

The close of the 2025 grant cycle heralds the launch of the next round of funding. Local nonprofits are encouraged to visit CummingsFoundation.org in mid-July to review the eligibility requirements and submit a letter of inquiry for the Cummings $30 Million Grant Program.