Cape Cod Foundation

Some people just can’t take no for an answer. Bill Snow was one of them. John English, Don Foresman, Mary Morgan, Jim Rice, and Murray Rust weren’t any better at it. Many people told them Cape Cod didn’t need a community foundation and couldn’t sustain one. Someone even recommended they work with a bigger, existing foundation in a nearby city. That didn’t go over well at all. So, the group said no to the naysayers and established The Community Foundation of Cape Cod, now known as The Cape Cod Foundation. The H.H. Snow Family Scholarship Fund was the new foundation’s first asset. Ten thousand dollars. The founders’ goal was to raise $5 million more. Back in 1989, the earnings from a $5 million investment could generate from $450,000 to $500,000 each year to help meet community needs. Well, the visionaries worked their networks. They raised that—and more. Now, more than three decades later, The Cape Cod Foundation has more than 330 funds and assets over $127 million. At the end of 2025, we had distributed more than $113 million back into the community in the form of grants and scholarships since inception. Thanks to Bill, John, Don, Mary, Jim, and Murray—and hundreds and hundreds of other people who have contributed along the way—you have a community foundation here to help you. It’s not all about assets. In the Foundation’s first Progress Report, Bill Snow wrote, “Our only assets were the interest and the foresight of a small group who saw the opportunity for what could someday be one of the Cape’s greatest resources.” Their powerful legacy lives on!