On Thursday, October 30, 2025, the team from the Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts (CFNCM) joined peers from across the state at the 2025 Massachusetts Community Foundations Partnership Summit, held at the beautiful Hotel 1620 Plymouth Harbor in Plymouth. This year’s gathering brought together 15 community foundations from Massachusetts for a full‑day of connection, learning, and reflection under the theme “Adapting to Changing Strategies and Expectations.”

Representing the big philanthropic engines in the region, the foundations in attendance included: our team here at the Community Foundation of Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts, Greater Lowell Community Foundation, Southcoast Community Foundation, Greater Worcester Community Foundation, Martha’s Vineyard Community Foundation, The Boston Foundation, Watertown Community Foundation, Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, Cape Cod Foundation, Brookline Community Foundation, Essex County Community Foundation, Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, Foundation for MetroWest, Community Foundation for Nantucket and Cambridge Community Foundation.

The event began bright and early, with breakfast and check‑in between 8:00 and 8:30 AM, followed by a welcome at 9:00 AM and a powerful plenary panel defining how foundations are adapting in today's changing landscape. Attendees then broke into concurrent sessions covering topics like evolving grantmaking strategies, community engagement, policy shifts, and nonprofit capacity building.

Following lunch and another keynote exploring federal policy changes for community foundations, the afternoon featured job‑function themed breakout groups (fundraising, communications, programs, finance/operations, CEO strategy) which allowed staff from similar roles across the 15 foundations to exchange ideas and plug into shared challenges and opportunities.

Wrapping up, the summit moved into reflection and next‑step planning from 4:15‑4:30 PM—and then the real fun began. From 4:30‑5:30 PM, participants gathered for a friendly closing celebration with light bites, treats and plenty of peer networking, a warm, Fenway‑friendly end to a day of serious inspiration and shared purpose.

All in all, CFNCM and their peer foundations left Plymouth energized, connected and full of actionable ideas to carry forward in service of their communities.