2026 Boston AANHPI Funding Snapshot

U.S. Institutional Giving for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Communities

Published in partnership with the Asian Community Fund (ACF) at the Boston Foundation

For every $100 awarded by institutional funders in the Boston metro area, only 11 cents was directed to AANHPI communities.

The Boston metro area is home to nearly 465,000 Asian Americans, 10.59% of the region’s population, and approximately 11,000 Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. Between 2019 and 2023, these communities were directed $48.1 million of the $45.7 billion awarded by institutional funders across the region. That is 0.11%, less than a third of the national average of 0.34%.

This report is a joint effort between AAPIP and the Asian Community Fund (ACF) at the Boston Foundation, the first and only philanthropic fund in Massachusetts dedicated to activating and supporting the AAPI community. It draws on the same Candid grants data as AAPIP’s 2025 National AANHPI Funding Snapshot and reflects five years of institutional giving data from 2019 to 2023. The findings are a resource for Boston-area funders, regional advocates, and philanthropic professionals working to understand what equitable investment in AANHPI communities requires.

Key Findings

• Boston funds AANHPI communities at less than a third of the national rate. At 0.11%, the Boston metro area significantly underperforms the national average of 0.34%. The gap is not explained by community size or need, it reflects structural patterns in how Boston-area philanthropy has historically defined its priorities.
• Funding is highly concentrated among a small group of funders. The top 5 funders account for 31.8% of all AANHPI-related grantmaking in the region, more than double the national rate of 13.6%. The top 20 funders collectively account for 62.3% of regional AANHPI funding. When a handful of institutions shape the majority of investment, the overall level is largely determined by those institutions’ assumptions about which communities have need.
• The 2021 funding surge did not hold. Between 2020 and 2021, Boston’s AANHPI funding increased by 102.8%, even more pronounced than the national increase of 71.4%. That surge reflected a moment of philanthropic attention. It did not translate into sustained practice. Funding declined after the 2021 peak and did not sustain the surge seen during that period, which raises direct questions about whether Boston funders are building durable AANHPI investment strategies or responding to moments.
• General operating support falls well below the national baseline. Only 20.9% of Boston’s AANHPI funding was awarded as general operating support, compared to 34.3% nationally. Restricted project funding limits organizational capacity and sustainability. The gap here is a choice that funders can address directly.
• AANHPI communities outside the Boston metro are largely invisible to institutional philanthropy. Eighteen percent of Massachusetts AANHPI residents live outside the Boston metro area, yet they received only 7.7% of institutional funding to AANHPI across the state. Statewide, AANHPI communities received 10 cents for every $100 awarded, reflecting both the concentration of philanthropic infrastructure in Greater Boston and the limited reach of existing investment.

The Concentration Challenge

Boston’s AANHPI philanthropic landscape carries significant funder concentration risk. When 31.8% of all regional AANHPI funding flows through just five institutions, and 62.3% through the top 20, the overall investment level is not a product of broad sector engagement, it is largely determined by a small group of funders’ priorities and assumptions.

This creates a structural vulnerability: if any of those major funders deprioritize AANHPI communities, the effect on the regional funding landscape is immediate and disproportionate. It also points to opportunity. Funders outside the top 20 account for 37.7% of regional funding, representing a significant pool whose engagement with AANHPI communities could be meaningfully expanded. And 40% of Boston’s top 20 funders are based outside the region meaning national funders with a Boston presence are already active participants in this landscape.

Why This Data Matters

For Boston-area funders: Nearly half a million AANHPI residents live in your region, facing documented disparities in economic mobility, health access, and linguistic inclusion. The data shows those communities received 11 cents for every $100 you collectively awarded over five years. That figure is a baseline to move from. The philanthropic infrastructure to do that work exists: ACF and AAPIP’s Boston Chapter have established relationships, grantee networks, and the local knowledge to support expanded investment.

For national funders with a Boston presence: Boston is a hub for national philanthropic work in health, education, immigrant rights, and economic development. AANHPI communities are embedded in each of those areas and are frequently undercounted in needs assessments that do not disaggregate by race or ethnicity. Explicitly including AANHPI-serving organizations in your Boston grantmaking strengthens both local impact and the national fields you are trying to build.

For AAPIP Boston Chapter members: This report gives your chapter a regional baseline. You can show your institutions where Boston stands relative to the national average, name the concentration risk created by over-reliance on a handful of funders, and make the case that increasing general operating support is one of the most direct levers available.

For the broader Massachusetts philanthropic community: The geographic concentration of AANHPI funding within Greater Boston means that AANHPI residents across the rest of the state are largely outside the reach of institutional philanthropy. Regional and statewide funders have an opportunity to change that.

The Opportunity

ACF’s presence in this landscape is evidence that intentional, dedicated investment in AANHPI communities is possible in Boston. Since launching its grantmaking program in 2022, ACF has awarded more than $2 million to over 115 AANHPI-led and -serving organizations throughout Massachusetts. In its first two years of grantmaking, ACF accounted for 12% of all institutional giving directed to AANHPI communities in Massachusetts.

$48.1 million over five years from a $45.7 billion regional funding pool is a starting point. The AANHPI community in Boston is large, established, and actively organized. Grantee infrastructure exists. Philanthropic relationships, through ACF, AAPIP’s Boston Chapter, and the funders already in this space, have been built. The case for increasing investment does not require building something from scratch. Boston’s philanthropic community has the opportunity to examine whether current investment levels reflect the actual size and documented needs of the communities.

Questions about the data or want to discuss findings? Contact us at aapip@aapip.org.

Ready to strengthen AANHPI investment in Boston? Email us at aapip@aapip.org to explore funding strategies, or learn about AAPIP membership.