About Martha's Vineyard Community Foundation
A 2025 grant of $555,662 to Island Grown Initiative stands out in Martha's Vineyard Community Foundation Inc.'s recent giving, reflecting the scale at which the foundation backs Island needs. The funder supports a wide mix of local priorities: food security, housing stability, emergency response, health services, education and scholarships, arts and culture, environmental conservation, transportation for older adults, language access, and nonprofit capacity building. Its recent grants show repeated support for organizations working on basic needs and community infrastructure, from Island Grown Initiative in Vineyard Haven to Martha's Vineyard Boys and Girls Club in Edgartown. The foundation also makes larger project and program grants to Island institutions, including health, housing, and land-related work, while maintaining scholarship funds for students and adult learners. Across the recent grants list, recipients are all in Massachusetts and concentrated on Martha's Vineyard communities, reinforcing the foundation's local focus. The organization brings together donors, nonprofits, and community partners to support a sound quality of life, a rich cultural community, and healthy and sustainable environments on the Island.
What Martha's Vineyard Community Foundation Funds
Food security is one of the clearest throughlines in the foundation's recent grantmaking. Island Grown Initiative received $917,145 in 2024 and $712,768 in 2023 for food insecurity, followed by $555,662 in 2025. Housing-related support appears in grants such as $35,000 to Dukes County Regional Housing Authority for rental relief and $46,500 to Island Housing Trust Corporation for project support. In health services, Martha's Vineyard Hospital received $32,343 in 2025 and $31,960 in 2024 for program support, while Island Health Care received $113,900 in 2024 for project support. Community life and youth programs also receive steady backing, including $133,680 in 2024 and $101,568 in 2025 to Martha's Vineyard Boys and Girls Club for program support.
How Martha's Vineyard Community Foundation Gives
Typical grants cluster in the five-figure range: p25 is $10,000, median is $15,000, and p75 is $29,179. The recent list also includes several awards well above that range, showing that the foundation combines routine operating or program support with larger targeted grants. Recipients appear across multiple years, including Island Grown Initiative, Martha's Vineyard Boys and Girls Club, Chilmark Pond Foundation, Martha's Vineyard Community Service, and Martha's Vineyard Hospital, which suggests ongoing relationships rather than one-time awards. The foundation operates a local, Island-centered grantmaking model and also runs named funds and scholarship programs. Several active programs accept unsolicited applications, including the Annual Scholarship Cycle, MVCF Scholarship Fund, Island Fund for Health, Sam Feldman Fund, Emergency Response / Urgent Needs, Island Fund for the Community, and Island Fund for the Arts.
