Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have seen an increase in gifts from corporations and corporate foundations, driven in part by Black employees, the Associated Press reports.

According to the AP, HBCUs tend to have smaller endowments and lower levels of public funding than other universities, and a report released in May by ABFE and Candid showed that foundation support for HBCUs declined 30 percent between 2002 and 2019. Amid the reckoning over racial injustice spurred by the killing of George Floyd and due to the urging of Black employees, corporate gifts are on the rise.  Corporations largely ignored HBCUs prior to 2020, Rutgers University professor Marybeth Gasman told the AP, adding that increasingly, HBCUs have been using the language of business to argue that they not only have a high need but also are a good investment.

At Diageo North America, the employee resource group for African Americans shaped a program that has provided almost $12 million to HBCUs. “[O]ne of the things that kept coming up was the generational wealth gap,” said Danielle Robinson, head of community engagement and partnerships for Diageo.

There are still discrepancies in this giving, according to United Negro College Fund CEO Michael Lomax; while giving to HBCUs overall has increased, better-known schools, such as large private and land-grant universities, have been more likely to receive donations than small schools.

Shawnta Friday-Stroud, vice president of advancement at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, has seen corporate and foundation support nearly double this year to $5.3 million, from $2.4 million last year. While she has observed that corporate foundations are making funding commitments over multiple years and have expressed interest in partnering with her institution, the long-term sustainability of corporate funding for HBCUs remains a question.

“My hope is that that continues, let’s say, over the next three, four, or five years,” said Stroud. “And I think that’s what’s going to be the true test.”

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