The majority of the Funds contributed to The Cambridge Charitable Foundation have been designated by the respective donors for particular charities or for particular charitable purposes. 

For any particular Fund of the Foundation that names specific charities that the Trustees are to consider making grants to, the Trustees will inform such charities of their eligibility.  Such charities should then submit a grant application seeking a grant from such particular Fund.   

For any particular Fund that has a specific charitable purpose, such purpose is summarized on the page for “Currently Existing Funds”.  If you believe your charity in general or a specific project of your charity would meet one of the listed purposes, you should submit a grant application. 

In general, the Trustees of the Foundation will only consider a grant application if it is submitted on The Cambridge Charitable Foundation’s Grant Application.  Such grant application is attached below and can be downloaded in PDF form.  The Trustees strongly encourage you to use this grant application.

Because of the volume of grant applications submitted, the Trustees reserve the right to not respond to each specific grant application submitted.  The Trustees have the final determination as to all grants awarded.  The submission of a grant application will not entitle a charity to a grant without a decision of the Trustees

Please note that grant applications seeking funds for specific projects will generally be given higher consideration than grant applications seeking general operating funds.

Should you receive funds from The Cambridge Charitable Foundation, you will be required to use the funds only for those purposes for which the grant was made.  In addition, you will be required to file a final written report with the Cambridge Charitable Foundation of how the funds were used or disbursed. 

The Cambridge Charitable Foundation has the authority and responsibility to exercise oversight over the use of the funds in the form of requesting an accounting of how the funds are being used or will be used and/or requesting interim reports of the use of the funds; and may do so at any time subsequent to a disbursement of funds.  The Cambridge Charitable Foundation has the authority to withhold and/or recover grant funds in cases where the funds are, or appear to be, misused and to investigate such thoroughly.  In no event will fewer than the following accountings occur:

• For one-time grants, the recipient organization is required to provide an accounting within 12 months of receipt of the grant as to the use of the funds.

• For a multi-year grant, the recipient organization is required to provide an annual accounting of how the funds granted in the previous year were used.  Until such accounting for the previous year is provided, no funds for the following year will be distributed.

If you have any questions about the grant application, we encourage you to contact the Foundation prior to submitting a grant application.