Home
About Us
"It was like manna from heaven."
That's how Natalie Coles describes a $500,000 donation from Dominion Energy to Wilberforce University, a historically black college in Ohio.
The money went toward laptops and hot spots for students when the Covid-19 virus shut down Wilberforce's campus in 2020.
It's one of a growing number of donations to historically black colleges and universities from corporations and philanthropic foundations, the New York Times reports.
According to a May report released at the time, foundation support of HBCUs declined 30% between 2002 and 2019.
But HBCUs have been reporting a sustained increase lately in donations from corporations as well as philanthropic foundations.
Delaware State University received $20 million from MacKenzie Scott in 2020, part of the $560 million that the ex-wife of Jeff Bezos gave to HBCUs.
HBCUs often have smaller endowments and lower levels of public funding than other universities, but they have been using the language of business to argue they are a good investment, a Rutgers University professor who researches HBCUs tells the Times.
Another factor in the giving by corporations has been the influence of their Black employees.
Diageo has given almost $12 million to HBCUs through its employee resource group.
The money has gone toward scholarships at 29 schools to lessen the debt burden on Black graduates
Selected Grant News Headlines
A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing has gained popularity in recent years as clients seek to align their investments with their values and promote positive change in the...more
Foundation: Marguerite Casey Foundation, Marguerite Casey Foundation, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Skoll Foundation, Target Foundation, Ford Foundation, Philadelphia Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation
"The US creative economy was most recently valued at over $1 trillion by the National Endowment for the Arts," per a press release, "even before considering film, fashion, video games, beauty, food,...more
The University of Utah's Wilkes Center for Climate Science and Policy has narrowed its list of finalists for its $500,000 Climate Launch Prize to seven. The goal of the prize, which is one of the...more
"Having a purposeful job actually does transform someone's life," says Edwin Walsh, who runs a social enterprise in Australia called Assembled Threads. "You actually are moving someone from...more
Canada is putting its money where its mouth is, with a $2.5 million investment in five projects in India meant to help the country's poor, the Toronto Star reports. "Many of these novel projects...more
"These figures underscore the vital role that creativity and culture play not only in enriching community life but also in driving economic development." So says the chair of Pennsylvania's...more
Foundation: Community Foundation of Southern Indiana
"When you see the kids interacting and them building communitythat's what it is," says Camp Quality Kentuckiana executive director Eddie Bobbitt. "It's bigger than fishing and pie fights." The...more
The Whitfield Education Foundation is holding its annual golf tournament Monday in Dalton, Ga., and it's using the event to raise money for teacher grants. The foundation's executive director,...more
Foundation: Community Giving Foundation
"There's one simple statement that we see a lotthat is 'be kind,'" said Kara Seesholtz, CEO of the Community Giving Foundation, after students from 15 school districts in central Pennsylvania handed...more
The Alzheimer's Association's Forget-Me-Not program has a new toy in its arsenal: fidget blankets. The Madison Hospital in Alabama has received a $2,500 grant from the Huntsville Hospital...more
Social Entrepreneurship
Spotlight
Building a Million Dollar Company Where Everyone Counts
Ganesh Natarajan is the Founder and Chairman of 5FWorld, a new platform for funding and developing start-ups, social enterprises and the skills eco-system in India. In the past two decades, he has built two of India’s high-growth software services companies – Aptech and Zensar – almost from scratch to global success.
