US Grantmakers Step Up for Global COVID-19 Efforts
by: M.J. Prest
Chronicle of Philanthropy
A sampling of some of the corporate & foundations giving recently announced to address
health, education and economic needs in the wake of the coronavirus ourbreak
Bank of America
$100 million commitment to support communities throughout the challenges of the coronavirus outbreak. The bank is dedicating its giving to increase the response capacity of medical organizations, address food insecurity, provide access to distance-learning resources for children whose schools have closed, and provide support to the world’s most vulnerable people. Among the first grantees is Khan Academy, which provides free, online learning materials for students ages 4 to 18.
Facebook
$100 million to the Facebook Small Business Grants Program, which will make free online advertising and grants available to 30,000 small businesses in over 30 countries where the social-media company’s employees live and work.
Netflix
$100 million to create an economic-relief fund to help crew members and other members of the Hollywood filmmaking community who are out of work during the coronavirus crisis. The streaming company has given $1 million to SAG-AFTRA for its Covid-19 Disaster Fund, $1 million to the Motion Picture & Television Fund, and $1 million to the Actors Fund Emergency Assistance in the United States, as well as $15 million for nonprofit groups outside the United States.
New York Community Trust
$75 million to create the NYC Covid-19 Response & Impact Fund, which will support nonprofit groups in New York that work in arts and culture and social services and will suffer financial losses from the coronavirus pandemic. The new fund, administered by the New York Community Trust, will provide grants and interest-free loans to small and midsize nonprofits in the city to help them respond to emerging needs and continue their work. Many major foundations in New York have donated to the fund, including Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Estée Lauder Companies Charitable Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Robin Hood, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
Google.org
$50 million pledge to the international coronavirus response, with a focus on health and science, educational resources for children who are out of school, and support of small businesses. The pledge includes $5 million to match gifts to the Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund, a project of the World Health Organization and the United Nations Foundation.
Otto Bremer Trust
$50 million through its Community Benefit Financial Company subsidiary to provide financial support to nonprofit and other community organizations in Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. The new fund will provide emergency funding, loans, lines of credit, and other financial resources to organizations affected by the Covid-19 outbreak.
Walmart and Walmart Foundation
$25 million pledge to support organizations responding to the global coronavirus crisis. The retailer has committed to provide $10 million to support food banks, school-meal programs, and related food-security organizations; $10 million to support efforts in communities facing economic hardship in the United States and internationally; and $5 million to global efforts to help countries prevent, detect, and manage the coronavirus. The first recipients will be announced in the coming week.
Rockefeller Foundation
$20 million to create a tracking and management system for Covid-19 and establish a program to cover the basic needs of vulnerable workers, families, and communities around the world. The foundation will also provide key assistance and support in the cities where it operates, especially Bellagio, Italy; New York City; Washington, D.C.; Nairobi; and Bangkok.
Pittsburgh Foundation, Heinz Endowments, Richard King Mellon Foundation, and Hillman Family Foundations
$10 million to create an Emergency Action Fund in response to the Covid-19 crisis and its effects on vulnerable people living in southwestern Pennsylvania.
Fifth Third Foundation and the Fifth Third Chicagoland Foundation
$8.8 million to support long-term economic sustainability in the areas where the bank does business. The contribution will provide grants and loans for small businesses, affordable housing, homeownership, and economic development, as well as philanthropic support for United Way, United Fund, and other local agencies primarily in the Midwest.
Wells Fargo Foundation
$6.3 million pledge to support the domestic and global response to the coronavirus and to aid public-health relief efforts. Of the funding, $5 million will be given in the San Francisco area over the next few months. The CDC Foundation is also receiving $1 million, and the International Medical Corps will get $250,000 for its work in more than 30 countries.
California Endowment
$5 million in a first phase of disaster-response funding to address the health, financial, and economic problems facing families and communities in California because of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Coca-Cola Company
$5 million to the Greater Atlanta Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund, a joint project of the United Way of Greater Atlanta and the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta.
Robert W. Woodruff Foundation
$5 million to the Greater Atlanta Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund, a joint project of the United Way of Greater Atlanta and the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta.
Synchrony
$5 million pledge to Feeding America’s Covid-19 Response Fund, Meals on Wheels America, and local hunger-relief organizations to provide food to vulnerable populations, particularly older people in isolation and low-income families.
Nike Foundation
$4.5 million to the global coronavirus effort. The new grants include $1 million to the Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund to support countries preparing for and responding to the crisis; $1 million to the Oregon Community Recovery Fund to help communities near its headquarters in Beaverton, Ore.; and another $1.1 million to the King Baudouin Foundation to support community partners across Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. In addition, in January the foundation granted $1.4 million to the China Youth Development Foundation to provide first responders in China with supplies and equipment to treat Covid-19 patients.
Minnesota Council on Foundations and the Saint Paul and Minnesota Foundation
$4.4 million to establish the Minnesota Disaster Recovery Fund, which will provide grants to local foundations and other Minnesota grant makers to address emerging needs in their communities. Major foundations across Minnesota contributed to the fund, including the Ameriprise Financial Foundation, Best Buy Foundation, Better Way Foundation, Blandin Foundation, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation, Bush Foundation, Cargill Foundation, Land O’Lakes Foundation, Medtronic Foundation, Northwest Area Foundation, and the Target Foundation.
Cleveland Foundation
$4 million from a collection of local donors to create the Greater Cleveland Covid-19 Rapid Response Fund, which will make grants to nonprofit organizations in northeast Ohio.
PwC Charitable Foundation
$2.9 million to support communities most affected by Covid-19. The company has given $500,000 to Feeding America, $500,000 to Direct Relief, and $1.5 million to address needs throughout the United States. In late February, the PwC Foundation also made a $350,000 grant to Project HOPE to supply protective equipment to health workers in Wuhan and Shanghai Provinces of China.
Islamic Relief USA
$1.9 million to mosques and social-services organizations to help them continue their programs during the coronavirus outbreak.
New York Life
$1.7 million to the Center for Disaster Philanthropy’s Covid-19 Response Fund, the CDC Foundation, and First Book. First Book is using its share of the grant money to supply books to children in low-income communities whose schools are closed.
Amazon
$1 million to four community foundations near Washington, D.C., to address emergency Covid-19 needs including food insecurity, shelter, and financial assistance for people in need. The recipients are ACT for Alexandria, Arlington Community Foundation, Community Foundation for Northern Virginia, and the Greater Washington Community Foundation.
LendingTree
$1 million to the Foundation for the Carolinas and United Way of Central Carolinas for the Covid-19 Response Fund. The City of Charlotte is matching the grant with $1 million in public-sector support.
Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association
$1 million to Feeding America and Meals on Wheels America to provide meals to children in need following widespread school closures and quarantines due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Southern California Gas Co.
$1 million to local nonprofit organizations for Covid-19 relief efforts. Recipients include the American Red Cross Los Angeles Region, the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles Covid-19, Orange County United Way, and Proteus Inc., which provides education, job training, job placement, and other support services to families that work on farms and others in need in California’s San Joaquin Valley.
Under Armour
$1 million to Feeding America to support hunger-relief efforts for children and families in need as a result of school closures and quarantines. The athletic-clothing company is also pledging $1 million in cash and in-kind equipment, footwear, and apparel to Good Sports to support youth sport leagues.
