Before the advancement of the racial justice movement that followed the murder of George Floyd in 2020, foundation funding to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) had declined by 30 percent between 2002 and 2019, a report from ABFE and Candid finds.

The report, Philanthropy and HBCUs: Foundation funding to historically Black colleges and universities (64 pages, PDF), includes data on funding from 1,607 foundations as well as insights from interviews and focus groups with HBCU staff and found that funding declined from $65 million in 2002 to $45 million in 2019. When adjusted for inflation, 2019 giving was the equivalent of $31 million in 2002 dollars—a decline of 53 percent. Over the 18-year span of the study, HBCUs received, on average, about two-thirds of what foundations paid out to non-HBCU institutions of similar size, locale, and institution type. The report also found that, on average, Ivy League institutions received 178 times more in foundation funding than the average HBCU ($5.5 billion dollars to eight institutions, compared with $303 million to 107 HBCUs) and that proportionately fewer grant dollars awarded to HBCUs were directed to general operating support.

The report includes a guarded note of optimism over the marked increase in funding following the murder of George Floyd, with preliminary figures showing grants totaling $249 million in 2020 alone and support coming from a broader group of foundations. Among HBCU funders in 2020, 27 percent had not supported the institutions between 2015 and 2019. Despite the post-2020 trend, the report—citing HBCU staff interviews—cautions that more funding is needed to mitigate generations of underinvestment in HBCU infrastructure, personnel, and scholarships and calls for greater emphasis on unrestricted funding.

“I call it a perfect storm, even though it was filled with tragedy,” said an HBCU staff member quoted in the report. “COVID [and the racial justice movement following the murder of George Floyd occurring] back-to-back was really the impetus for some of the most transformational gifts we received over the last two years.”

“To better understand how to confront racial inequity, the social sector needs a stronger foundation of research to help build our future,” said Candid senior director of insights Cathleen Clerkin. “Our hope with this report is to spark sector-wide visibility and discourse on the need for equitable investment in HBCUs so they can thrive even more.”

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