Meeting the Moment has required immediate action. Preparing for it required decades of planned giving.

While dozens of Boston Foundation donors have used current dollars from their donor advised funds to provide some of the resources committed to Meeting the Moment: Sustaining Families, those dollars are working alongside funds given years––or even decades––ago.

by Elisa Pasche, Senior Director of Planned Giving, the Boston Foundation
December 9, 2025

a woman passes a box filled with food to another person accepting the box.
Nearly 1 in 3 adults in Massachusetts has experienced food insecurity in the past 12 months according to 2024’s Food Equity and Access in Massachusetts: Voices and Solutions from Lived Experience, a collaboration between the Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB) and Mass General Brigham (MGB). Prompted by rising food insecurity and cuts to federal food programs, the Boston Foundation launched a new initiative, Meeting the Moment: Sustaining Families, partnering with donors, nonprofits and the City of Boston to commit over $6 million this fall to support the Greater Boston Food Bank, as well as over 60 regional food pantries, farms, and community-based organizations to ensure that all Massachusetts residents have access to healthy, quality food.
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Read about this initiative

“Time and time again, the Boston Foundation and their generous donors have been there to support our community in times of crisis,” said Boston Mayor Michelle Wu as we announced our partnership with the City in October. “At this time where a local response is needed to address federal issues, it’s important to have partners like the Boston Foundation who work tirelessly to protect our residents and coordinate all available resources.”

While dozens of Boston Foundation donors have used current dollars from their donor advised funds to provide some of those resources, those dollars are working alongside funds given years––or even decades––ago. Planned gifts and bequests to our endowment, the Fund for Boston’s Future, have bolstered our resources to meet the very real needs of the day in our ever-changing city for more than a century. Our work addressing the 1918 influenza pandemic, our response to the needs of working-class immigrants in the early 20th century, our support for the nation’s first neighborhood health centers, our advocacy for the cleanup of Boston Harbor, our research and support for leading innovative K-12 and community college reforms––none of this would have been as successful without the power of gifts to the Fund for Boston’s Future.

“I’m glad that our contribution will carry on forever and be relevant over time.”

Nigreen and McDermott
Bill Nigreen and Kathleen McDermott

When Bill Nigreen and Kathleen McDermott began their long-term estate planning—including their legacy to the community—they turned for guidance to the Boston Foundation. “When Kathleen and I thought about leaving a community legacy, we knew the Boston Foundation could determine, fifty years from now, where Boston’s needs will be greatest,” he said. “I’m glad that our contribution will carry on forever and be relevant over time.” Bill and Kathleen’s legacy gift will support the Fund for Boston’s Future, joining hundreds of people who have left bequests to the endowment, fueling the Foundation’s work and providing the resources necessary to support our community through challenging times.

Within the Fund for Boston’s Future, legacy gifts can also establish a Field of Interest Fund that will support, in perpetuity, an issue you care about deeply, such as food insecurity, early childhood development, pathways to meaningful careers, inclusive entrepreneurship, supporting basic needs, or mitigations around climate change.

Our history is full of other examples of gifts made to the Fund for Boston’s Future that allow us to improve lives, strengthen communities and meet urgent needs today, while providing us with a strong base so we can respond to future challenges. Whatever your vision is, the Boston Foundation can be a trusted partner in planning your philanthropic legacy. No one knows what the challenges of the coming century will be, but we do know that the Boston Foundation will be there –– responding, listening, convening, and advocating for our community.

Join us.

For more information about becoming a donor or making a legacy gift to the Boston Foundation, or if you have already included the Boston Foundation in your plans, please contact Elisa Pasche, Senior Director of Planned Giving, at 617-338-1700 or elisa.pasche@tbf.org.