Sustained Collaboration in a Changing Sector recap
February 3, 2026
At a time of mounting pressure on nonprofit organizations across Massachusetts, leaders and funders gathered for Sustained Collaboration in a Changing Sector: Celebrating the launch of The Massachusetts Nonprofit Collaboration Fund (MassCollab), a discussion about new strategies for partnering with peer organizations.
On the morning of Tuesday, February 3rd, Leigh Handschuh took the stage at the Edgerley Center for Civic Leadership to share findings from a statewide survey of Massachusetts nonprofits. Nearly 40% of respondents said their organizations had considered partnering since January 2025 to reduce costs through shared services, joint programming, or shared purchasing. Almost 10% reported considering a merger.
For nonprofit leaders, Handschuh emphasized, collaboration is not theoretical. “For most leaders, the topic of collaboration is not an intellectual exercise, and it’s not new.” Massachusetts nonprofits already share resources, space, and information, often working together to fill gaps “widened by harmful federal policies.”
Yet she identified persistent structural challenges: funding models that rarely resource organizations adequately, systems that inadvertently discourage sustained collaboration, and a tendency to treat mergers as a one-size-fits-all solution. Handschuh urged a reframing: “It can help shift the frame from ‘there are too many nonprofits’ to ‘there is so much need and so much injustice.’”
She then introduced MassCollab, a new pooled fund supported by more than 15 Massachusetts funders, including the Boston Foundation. The fund is designed to support nonprofits both in exploring sustained collaboration and in implementing it.
Jeff Feingold, Co-Founder of MassCollab, described the launch as both timely and personal. Feingold traced his path from a long career at Fidelity Investments to founding Hope and Comfort, which now distributes millions of hygiene products annually through more than 600 nonprofit partners. Over time, he saw how siloed systems limited impact.
Exploring national models with partners like the Lodestar Foundation and SeaChange Capital Partners, Feingold concluded that Massachusetts needed a similar vehicle. “Let’s do it,” he recalled thinking. The approach felt like “relatively low risk, but large potential impact.”
After months of outreach, anchor funding, and hiring Initiative Manager Jennifer Segel in early 2025, MassCollab officially launched last October. By January, it had approved its first three grants. In closing, Feingold said, “We’re not going to get everything right, but our goal… is to listen, to be responsive, to be flexible, because ultimately, we are here for the nonprofits.”
Jennifer Segel then walked through the fund’s approach. MassCollab is part of a national Sustained Collaboration Network, drawing on lessons from similar funds across the country. She outlined a spectrum of collaboration, from associations and joint programming to shared back-office functions and full mergers. “MassCollab really cares about this entire spectrum,” she said, stressing that mergers are supported but not privileged over other models.
On the morning of Tuesday, February 3rd, Leigh Handschuh took the stage at the Edgerley Center for Civic Leadership to share findings from a statewide survey of Massachusetts nonprofits. Nearly 40% of respondents said their organizations had considered partnering since January 2025 to reduce costs through shared services, joint programming, or shared purchasing. Almost 10% reported considering a merger.
For nonprofit leaders, Handschuh emphasized, collaboration is not theoretical. “For most leaders, the topic of collaboration is not an intellectual exercise, and it’s not new.” Massachusetts nonprofits already share resources, space, and information, often working together to fill gaps “widened by harmful federal policies.”
Yet she identified persistent structural challenges: funding models that rarely resource organizations adequately, systems that inadvertently discourage sustained collaboration, and a tendency to treat mergers as a one-size-fits-all solution. Handschuh urged a reframing: “It can help shift the frame from ‘there are too many nonprofits’ to ‘there is so much need and so much injustice.’”
She then introduced MassCollab, a new pooled fund supported by more than 15 Massachusetts funders, including the Boston Foundation. The fund is designed to support nonprofits both in exploring sustained collaboration and in implementing it.
Jeff Feingold, Co-Founder of MassCollab, described the launch as both timely and personal. Feingold traced his path from a long career at Fidelity Investments to founding Hope and Comfort, which now distributes millions of hygiene products annually through more than 600 nonprofit partners. Over time, he saw how siloed systems limited impact.
Exploring national models with partners like the Lodestar Foundation and SeaChange Capital Partners, Feingold concluded that Massachusetts needed a similar vehicle. “Let’s do it,” he recalled thinking. The approach felt like “relatively low risk, but large potential impact.”
After months of outreach, anchor funding, and hiring Initiative Manager Jennifer Segel in early 2025, MassCollab officially launched last October. By January, it had approved its first three grants. In closing, Feingold said, “We’re not going to get everything right, but our goal… is to listen, to be responsive, to be flexible, because ultimately, we are here for the nonprofits.”
Jennifer Segel then walked through the fund’s approach. MassCollab is part of a national Sustained Collaboration Network, drawing on lessons from similar funds across the country. She outlined a spectrum of collaboration, from associations and joint programming to shared back-office functions and full mergers. “MassCollab really cares about this entire spectrum,” she said, stressing that mergers are supported but not privileged over other models.
Agenda
Welcome
Leigh Handschuh, Senior Program Officer, Nonprofit Sector Infrastructure, The Boston
Foundation
Opening Remarks
Jeff Feingold, Co-Founder, MassCollab
Presentation: Overview of MassCollab
Jennifer Segel, Initiative Manager, MassCollab
Dialogue and Case Study
Jennifer W. Aronson, Deputy Vice President for Programs, The Boston Foundation
Yolanda Coentro, President & CEO, Institute for Nonprofit Practice
Audience Q&A
Closing Remarks
Jennifer Segel, Initiative Manager, MassCollab
The fund supports partnerships of two or more organizations that are already in conversation. It pays for third-party costs, such as consultants, legal work, and systems integration, during both exploration and implementation. Exploration grants typically reach up to $50,000; implementation grants up to $75,000. Applications are rolling, with no deadlines. “We don’t want anyone rushing to do something like this,” Segel emphasized.
Crucially, Segel serves as a confidential point of contact. “None of the funders… hear about anything that I am discussing with you until the point that a proposal is in their hands.”
Jennifer Aronson, Deputy Vice President for Programs at the Boston Foundation, joined Yolanda Coentro, President & CEO, Institute for Nonprofit Practice (INP), on stage to share recent data: about a third of nonprofit service providers have lost federal funding, and nearly half are considering merger or closure. “This is the most important time we might as a field be facing in our lifetime,” she said.
Coentro shared INP’s experience with New Sector Alliance, a collaboration that ultimately resulted in an asset transfer during the COVID-19 crisis. “This isn’t about just survival,” she said. “This was also about… how do we show up for the sector… at scale.”
The results were significant: one program grew from serving 23 people a year to more than 300.
Aronson highlighted three lessons: always center impact, support early and “merger-adjacent” conversations, and avoid framing collaboration as a cost-saving exercise. “It’s really expensive to collaborate… it’s about preserving or expanding and protecting services and impact.”
Segel closed the forum, describing it as “planting seeds” for future collaboration.
Crucially, Segel serves as a confidential point of contact. “None of the funders… hear about anything that I am discussing with you until the point that a proposal is in their hands.”
Jennifer Aronson, Deputy Vice President for Programs at the Boston Foundation, joined Yolanda Coentro, President & CEO, Institute for Nonprofit Practice (INP), on stage to share recent data: about a third of nonprofit service providers have lost federal funding, and nearly half are considering merger or closure. “This is the most important time we might as a field be facing in our lifetime,” she said.
Coentro shared INP’s experience with New Sector Alliance, a collaboration that ultimately resulted in an asset transfer during the COVID-19 crisis. “This isn’t about just survival,” she said. “This was also about… how do we show up for the sector… at scale.”
The results were significant: one program grew from serving 23 people a year to more than 300.
Aronson highlighted three lessons: always center impact, support early and “merger-adjacent” conversations, and avoid framing collaboration as a cost-saving exercise. “It’s really expensive to collaborate… it’s about preserving or expanding and protecting services and impact.”
Segel closed the forum, describing it as “planting seeds” for future collaboration.