From the Settlement Houses of the 1920s to the community-based organizations of the 1960s.  From the first network of neighborhood health centers in America to the first national model for youth service.  From WGBH-TV to the Greater Boston Food Bank. 

For more than 90 years, the Boston Foundation has been supporting Greater Boston’s nonprofit organizations, encouraging fresh ideas and innovation—providing seed capital for dreams.

The Boston Foundation invests in nonprofit organizations that are essential partners in the task of creating a livable metropolitan area that is a center of innovation and opportunity for all of its residents.

Today, with a special focus on supporting those areas that are central to Greater Boston’s competitiveness in the global economy, the Boston Foundation is continuing a tradition of grantmaking that has helped to make our community what it is today.  The Board of Directors of the Boston Foundation has designated three areas of community life as strategic priorities for the Foundation’s grantmaking and civic leadership.  They are Education (including Out-of-School Time); Housing and Community Development (including Community Safety); and Workforce Development. 

In addition, the Foundation makes grants in the following areas: Arts and Culture; Civic Engagement; Economic Development; Health and Human Services; the Nonprofit Sector; and the Urban Environment.

For Greater Boston area nonprofit organizations, our primary grantmaking program is organized around Twice-Yearly Grants and Initiatives and Other Funding Opportunities.