A little more than three decades after The Cape Cod Foundation was established with a single $10,000 scholarship fund, the nonprofit organization has reported assets exceeding $100 million.
To date, it has also distributed more than $90 million back into the community in scholarships to local students and grants to nonprofit organizations serving residents across Cape Cod.
President and CEO Kristin O’Malley said many factors have contributed to the foundation’s unprecedented growth in 2021: strategic fiscal management, an exceptionally strong market yielding higher returns on investments, increased fundraising efforts, and new philanthropic partnerships. Also in 2021, the foundation’s board of directors approved an increase in the annual amount the organization distributes from its endowment funds to help address increased community needs in response to the pandemic.
“More and more donors are partnering with the foundation to support and expand their philanthropic efforts through our community knowledge, financial expertise, and other resources,” O’Malley said. “This year alone, donors established 23 new funds with us, bringing the total number of funds we administer to over 330.”
O’Malley said there’s also a direct and meaningful correlation between asset growth and distribution growth.
“While we are building resources, we are also deploying them,” she stated. “In 2021, distributions exceeded $6.2 million, an 11 percent increase over the year before.”
The distribution total includes almost $1.1 million in scholarship support from The Cape Cod Foundation and its partner, the Cape Cod Association. It also includes almost $665,000 in grants to nonprofit organizations through the foundation’s discretionary grant-making programs.
“These grants will impact all aspects of community life, including 14 arts organizations who received a total of $201,366 for operational, programmatic and capacity-building support from our newly established Fund for Visual Arts,” O’Malley said. “We were fortunate to receive a bequest gift in 2020 that was targeted for visual arts on Cape Cod.”
Looking forward to 2022, O’Malley said the foundation will continue to support the nonprofit sector through Program and Capacity Building Grants, which are designed to help essential, local nonprofit organizations reach the next level of operational, programmatic, financial, or organizational maturity.
She said the foundation will also continue to administer its Strategic Emergency Response Fund, which was established in 2020 to rapidly build and deploy resources for immediate pandemic relief and recovery.
“The coronavirus and recent emergence of the omicron variant will continue to exacerbate existing needs, making it more critical than ever to invest in nonprofit organizations providing critical programs and services to those in need,” she said.
To date, the foundation has raised more than $3.58 million and distributed more than $2.5 million to 60 nonprofits across the region through this fund.
Among other civic leadership initiatives planned for 2022, the foundation will host a second series of Community Forums with local experts to share information about community needs, challenges, progress, programs, resources, and opportunities.
Anyone interested in creating a charitable fund, donating to an existing fund, or supporting the foundation’s Strategic Leadership Initiatives can call Kristin O’Malley at 508-790-3040 or visit www.capecodfoundation.org for more information.
