Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts
ActivePhilanthropy & Voluntarism
About Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts
The Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts seeks to enrich the quality of life of the people of our region by encouraging philanthropy; developing a perpetual, flexible endowment; assessing and responding to emerging and changing needs; serving as a resource, catalyst, and coordinator for charitable activities; and promoting efficiency in the management of charitable funds.
Focus Areas
Equity and opportunityEarly childhood education and carePost-secondary education and training / scholarshipsArts and creativity (ValleyCreates)Nonprofit capacity building and grantsDigital equity / community Wi-FiCommunity development and regional philanthropic support
Who They Fund
children and youthcollege and university communities (students, faculty, institutions)older adults/elderly populations
About Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts
Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts combines a broad regional grantmaking portfolio with recurring program lines for artists, students, and nonprofits in Western Massachusetts. Among its clearest patterns is direct support for education and training, including repeated awards to Greenfield Community College Foundation Inc, and structured artist support through ValleyCreates, which pairs cash grants with coaching, workshops, and peer programming. The foundation also funds community health, environmental conservation, human services, and local media, with recent awards to Saint Francis Foundation Trinity Health of New England, Kestrel Land Trust, and New England Public Media Inc. Its scholarship program is a major part of that mix. The foundation says it awards more than 1,000 scholarships annually across 160+ scholarship funds for students living in Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties. That sits alongside mission grants for nonprofit organizations in Western Massachusetts and grant programs aimed at community resilience, nonprofit capacity, and artist sustainability. The result is a funder that supports both institutions and individuals, while keeping a strong local orientation across the region it serves.
What Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts Funds
In education, the foundation backed Greenfield Community College with $338,150 in 2024 and $453,087 to Greenfield Community College Foundation Inc in 2025, showing support for both institutional and foundation-level education work. For environmental conservation, it gave Kestrel Land Trust $727,752 in 2024 and another $407,890 in 2025. The arts portfolio includes $377,447 to New England Public Media Inc in 2023 and $203,100 to Northampton Community Music Center Inc the same year. In human services and basic needs, it awarded $336,550 and then $292,647 to The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts Inc, both in Hatfield, and $262,310 to Enlace De Familias De Holyokeholyoke Family Network Inc in Holyoke. These gifts point to a portfolio that reaches across education, conservation, arts, and community services.
How Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts Gives
Typical grants cluster in the middle range, with a p25 of $11,210, a median of $24,950, and a p75 of $39,638. The recent list also shows a few much larger awards to institutions, alongside many smaller, program-specific grants. This is a community foundation, classified as a mixed community foundation, and it does not fund individuals directly outside its scholarship structure. The grant record shows repeat recipients across multiple years, including several organizations that appear more than once in the recent grants list. ValleyCreates programs are a notable recurring line; some variants accept unsolicited applications, while others are limited to previous grantees.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$22.4M
Total Assets
$292.1M
Total Revenue
$37.1M
Total Expenses
$29.8M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $11K and $40K, with a median of $25K.
25th Percentile
$11K
Median
$25K
75th Percentile
$40K
Geographic Reach
Local24 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
SHANNON GUREK
Accepts unsolicited proposals
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