The Community Foundation is established and we begin coordinating grantmaking for $20 million in endowments, including BayBank Charitable Trusts and Julia B. Buxton Charitable Foundation at Shawmut Bank. Sandra Eagleton is hired as our first President and CEO.
Fleet Bank transfers $29 million in charitable trusts to the Community Foundation, including 14 scholarship funds—and establishes our role as a local leader in providing student scholarships.
Our first proactive grantmaking initiative provides funding to nonprofits collaborating on issues of early childhood education.
Sandra Eagleton retires and Kent Faerber assumes the role as second President and CEO.
We launch our first website, which includes an online application for scholarships and interest-free loans.
Our second proactive grantmaking initiative, 5 & Under, supports educational programming for children in poverty. $2.6 million is awarded to 14 organizations over five years.
Kent Faerber retires, and Ron Ancrum becomes our third President and CEO.
Our community collaborations include Community Conversations, City to City, Leadership Pioneer Valley; and Reading for Success.
We establish the Tornado Relief Fund for Western Massachusetts, quickly awarding $230,000 of grants to nonprofits affected or helping those affected by the June Tornado.
ValleyGives Day begins! Our 24-hour giving day helps area nonprofits build their online fundraising skills and introduces donors to hundreds of nonprofits. The day raises $1 million with more than 10,000 gifts from 6,466 donors. Katie Allan Zobel is our fourth President and CEO.
ValleyGives raises $2.7 million in its third year.
Relocating to the community! We move out of Tower Square to a street-level office in Springfield’s new Innovation District.
ValleyCreates, a new collaboration with Boston’s Barr Foundation, defines a new strategic direction to support our region’s diverse creative sector. ValleyGives Day raises more than $10 million in its six years of operation.
Bank of America transfers ownership of $25 million in trusts to the Community Foundation, bringing our assets to over $180 million.
We establish the COVID-19 Response Fund and distribute weekly emergency grants for food, shelter and care. Later grants support nonprofits at risk of closure. The Fund leverages over $10 million from donors throughout the state in five months.
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