As a trusted charitable resource, we provide education, guidance, and support for donors, nonprofits, and the community. We bring together local leaders to assess pressing needs and collaborate on impactful solutions. By managing funds and creating lasting charitable legacies, we help ensure that Nantucket remains a vibrant place where all residents can flourish.
The Community Foundation awards grants through the funds we hold including the Nantucket Fund, Initiative Funds, Donor Advised Funds, Scholarship Funds, the Remain Fund, and Community Wind Fund. In 2024 the Community Foundation granted $4.6 million to non-profits.
The Nantucket Fund
CFN’s unrestricted funding source that provides annual grants to the island’s most critical needs and initiatives. Grants support everything from pre-kindergarten readiness programs and elder services to trauma therapy resources and affordable housing initiatives. The Nantucket Fund will grant a record high $1,000,000 in 2025.
2025 Nantucket Fund Grant Recipients
- A Safe Place – Trauma Therapy Program
- Addiction Solutions Nantucket – Database Management Support
- Artists Association of Nantucket – Senior Arts Outreach Program
- Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Cape & Islands – Nantucket Mentor Program
- Bulgarian Education Center – Bulgarian School Cultural Education Program
- Cape Cod Healthcare Foundation – Maternal/Child Health Program
- Elder Services of Cape Cod & the Islands – Nantucket Meals on Wheels and Saltmarsh Senior Meals Program
- Fairwinds – Telehealth Hybrid Program
- Friends of Children’s Cove – Children’s Trauma Therapist Travel Support
- Friends of Nantucket Public Schools – Scholarship Program for After School Activities
- Habitat for Humanity – Waitt Drive Village Project: Duplex
- Health Imperatives – Health Clinic & Women Infant and Children (WIC) Nutrition Program
- Homeless Prevention Council – Program support for Unstably Housed Youth and Young Adults on Nantucket
- Housing Nantucket – Rehabilitate Rental Properties
- In The Herd – Equine Therapy Sessions for Youth
- Mass Audubon Nantucket Sanctuaries – Youth Environmental Stewards Program
- Montessori Children’s House of Nantucket – Tuition Stabilization for 2025
- Nantucket Center for Elder Affairs – Programs for Nantucket Seniors
- Nantucket Community Ice Rink – Program Support
- Nantucket Community Music Center – Nantucket Island Youth Orchestra Free After School Program
- Nantucket Community School – Summer Boost & English Language Learners Program
- Nantucket Community Television – ACK Ambassadors Program
- Nantucket Dreamland Foundation – Free Youth Matinees & Community Screenings
- Nantucket Interfaith Council – Food Pantry and Rental Assistance Programs
- Nantucket Island Fair – 2025 Island Fair
- Nantucket Lighthouse School – Extended Day Program for Pre-K to Grade 5
- Nantucket Pride – Nantucket Pride Film Festival
- Nantucket S.T.A.R. – Sports and Therapeutic Accessible Recreation Wellness Program
- New England LifeFlight – Emergency Flight Service Support
- Our House – Outreach to Hard to Reach and At Risk Youth
- PASCON – Caregiver Support Program
- Rising Tide Preschool – Building Bright Futures Program
- Small Friends on Nantucket – Opening an Older Toddler & Early Preschool Classroom
- St. Paul’s Church on Nantucket – Early Childhood Family Space & Free Community Suppers Program
- The Maria Mitchell Association – Learning Labs Program
- The Nantucket Book Foundation – Visiting Authors in Schools Program
- The Warming Place – Emergency Shelter Program
Initiative Funds
Initiative Funds include Field of interest, and Designated Funds supporting a broad cause or issue that fund holders care about, such as the arts, education, healthcare, or environmental conservation.
Donor Advised Funds
A Donor Advised Fund (DAF) is a flexible charitable giving account that allows donors to support multiple causes over time while receiving an immediate tax deduction for their contributions. Donors make a gift to establish the fund, and the contributions can be invested to grow tax-free.
Scholarship Funds
A Scholarship Fund provides financial assistance to students pursuing education at various levels, from high school to college and beyond. Currently CFN awards scholarships from 14 funds focused on a variety of disciplines. $86,000 was awarded in Scholarships in 2025.
Signature Grant Cycles
Grants are the primary means by which the Community Foundation for Nantucket improves and enhances the Island. Proceeds for grants come from restricted and unrestricted endowments and donations from charitably-minded organizations and individuals.
THE NANTUCKET FUND GRANTS
The Nantucket Fund is the Community Foundation’s unrestricted funding source that provides community grants to the Island’s most critical needs and initiatives. Nantucket Fund grants are available to organizations with 501(c)(3) tax status, municipalities, or religious organizations that deliver programs and services to Nantucket residents.
REMAIN FUND GRANTS
The Remain Fund provides grants to Nantucket nonprofits. Remain’s charitable activity helps to envision and empower a prosperous future for the heart of Nantucket, tapping the Island’s extraordinary resources: its people and strong tradition of independence, innovation, and conservation.
OFFSHORE WIND COMMUNITY FUND GRANTS
Established as part of the Good Neighbor Agreement between Vineyard Wind, the Town of Nantucket, and the Nantucket Preservation Trust, the Nantucket Offshore Wind Community Fund provides grants to tax-exempt organizations, municipalities, the Town of Nantucket (departments, boards, and commissions), and community groups that deliver programs and services to Nantucket residents.