We foster greater giving and impact for all of Worcester County.

Since 1975, Greater Worcester Community Foundation has helped people who care about Worcester County turn generosity into lasting impact. Whether you want to make a difference right now or create something that endures for generations, we’re here to make your giving personal, meaningful, and effective.

We know this region: its people, its challenges, and its incredible potential. Through deep relationships across sectors and the collective generosity of hundreds of donors, we’ve built a foundation of trust that connects caring people with causes that matter.

When you give through the Foundation, your gift joins hundreds of others that have been made over the past 50 years, creating an endowment of $270 million and growing. We invest and manage our gifts with care, ensuring that your generosity keeps working for the good of our community.

This is what we call greater giving: philanthropy that’s personal and powerful, rooted in connection and designed for impact.

How Giving Becomes Impact

1) Give

When you make a gift to Greater Worcester Community Foundation, it creates or adds to a fund that supports nonprofits, community needs, or scholarships for students. You can contribute a wide range of assets during your lifetime or through your estate plan.

2) Grow

Charitable assets are invested through a disciplined, long-term strategy. With our stewardship, funds grow to support both immediate needs and future opportunities.

3) Grant

Each fund makes grants to nonprofit organizations, or individuals in the case of scholarship funds. Some grants are awarded through competitive annual programs, and others allow fundholders to recommend grants year-round.

4) Legacy

By creating an endowed fund at the Foundation, you provide permanent annual support for important causes and leave a legacy that extends beyond your lifetime.

Greater Giving Handbook

This handbook outlines the different fund options available at the Foundation and the types of gifts we accept, whether you want to make a gift during your lifetime or as part of your legacy.

Download Handbook

10 Reasons to Give Through GWCF

  1. We know Worcester County. For more than 50 years, we’ve been rooted in this community, connected to its people, places and priorities.
  2. Your giving is personal. We tailor every fund and giving strategy to reflect your goals, values, and the change you want to see.
  3. You choose how to give. From donor advised funds to scholarships and designated funds, we offer flexible options to support the causes you care about most.
  4. You can give almost any asset. Whether it’s cash, stock, real estate or a more complex gift, we can help you turn your resources into community impact.
  5. We collaborate with your advisors. Working closely with financial planners, attorneys and accountants, we make charitable giving simple and strategic.
  6. We understand local needs. Our team has deep knowledge of the issues and opportunities shaping life across Worcester County.
  7. We make giving easy. From handling investments and grantmaking to compliance and reporting, we take care of all the administrative details.
  8. Your gifts go further. As a public charity (EIN: 04-2572276), we offer maximum tax advantages under state and federal law.
  9. We lead with purpose. Beyond grantmaking, we bring people and ideas together to strengthen our region and inspire lasting change.
  10. Your impact lasts forever. Through endowment funds, your generosity continues to grow and support Worcester County for generations to come.

"The Foundation makes it easy for people of ordinary means like me to create a lasting legacy."

- Sarah B. Lange, Fundholder