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Foundation Distributes over $900,000
to Local Organizations Through Flexible Funding Grant Program
This year, The Cape Cod Foundation distributed over $900,000 in grants to local organizations responding to policy changes, funding uncertainty and increased demand through our newly created Flexible Funding Grant Program.
Foundations often say they embrace flexible and responsive grantmaking to better support grantees and maximize impact. However, during times of rapid change, it can be hard to know exactly how to do that, and it’s easy to get caught in decision-paralysis. Even though we didn’t fully know how the year would progress, we wanted to take action and offer flexibility when it was needed the most.
Although we knew some nonprofits would need emergency or gap funding, capacity building is our strategic priority, so we very much wanted to support organizational resilience by funding capacity-building projects for nonprofits ready to strengthen their operations and be in a better place for the future. Most of all, we wanted to embody partnership – to “show up” for the community we all love and work to protect.
We have now awarded $973,000 in Flexible Funding Grants to 53 organizations for 2025. These grants were designed to get dollars to organizations as quickly as possible in a year of rapid change. As expected, projects varied from direct service to infrastructure and organizational resilience.
In all, 46% of recipients identified a capacity-building need, while 64% cited a loss of funding, due to unavailability of state or federal dollars, and/or to changes in their own fundraising yield. (Several organizations cited both reasons for seeking funding.)
Many organizations were experiencing increased demand for services, while also dealing with their own budget cuts. For example, the recent SNAP crisis caused already-stretched organizations to scramble to respond. But looking at the year as a whole, we also saw increased needs in housing, immigration services, health care, elder services, childcare, and even animal services, as clients experiencing economic hardship struggled to keep up with costs.
Just as the Foundation leveled up its response, nonprofit leaders on the Cape did the same. Working with short resources, increased demand, and high urgency, they demonstrated a high degree of leadership and creativity to meet the moment. For us, as much as it was a high-water mark funding year, it was also a year of critical conversations —with our grantees, donors, and our Board of Directors about our role and how best to maximize impact.
Next year will also present multi-faceted needs. We will build on what we learned from the Flexible Funding Grant program to continue to be a nimble and responsive partner to donors who choose to invest in Cape Cod and to the nonprofit community we strive to support.
Jeanne Ruckert Lovy
Vice President of Impact
508.790.3040, Ext 111
jlovy@capecodfoundation.org
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