$30 Million Grant Program (Local Grant Program)
Who can apply: Applicants must be headquartered in the listed Massachusetts geographic areas and provide the majority of their services there. Organizations must generally be local, not regional, national, or international; must not maintain offices or provide services outside Massachusetts except eligible Merrimack Valley organizations serving Southern New Hampshire; and must generally be IRS Section 501(c)(3) public charities. The program generally does not consider individuals, private foundations, endowments, medical research, political or lobbying organizations, relatively new entities, debt reduction, tuition-charging primary or secondary schools, or large organizations with robust endowments. Prior grantees may reapply if prior grants are fully disbursed and all grant requirements are fulfilled. Ten-year consideration requires a previous Cummings grant, a request above $25,000 annually, and completion of the relevant full-application question.
Deadline: For the 2026-2027 cycle, LOIs close September 16 at 5:00 PM; invited full applications are due January 13, 2027 at 5:00 PM.