For every $100 foundations give to an Ivy League school, how many dollars do you think foundations give to a historically Black college and university (HBCU)?

That’s a trick question—it’s not a matter of dollars, but of cents. In fact, for every $100 foundations gave to the average Ivy League, they gave 56 cents to the average HBCU.

HBCUs have long played a pivotal role in the United States. Despite being historically underfunded, these institutions have been essential in educating Black people, developing leaders, and addressing inequality. Little has been known about how philanthropy has—or hasn’t—supported them, until now. Candid and ABFE partnered to create and publish Philanthropy and HBCUs: Foundation funding to historically Black colleges and universities. The new report, based on both quantitative and qualitative research, is the most comprehensive analysis of institutional philanthropy to HBCUs.

At Candid, we love digging into social sector data, and we invite you to explore the many insights in this groundbreaking research. In the meantime, here are five key findings you should know about.

  1. Big philanthropy’s support of HBCUs declined from 2002 to 2019 
  2. The average Ivy League school received 178 times more funding than the average HBCU
  3. HBCUs received less general operating support than other higher education institutions  
  4. 2020 saw increased funding to HBCUs, but the sustainability of this funding is in question
  5. Grants to HBCUs have deep, broad, and long-lasting impacts on society 

Read the full article about philanthropy to HBCUs by Adia Colar and Grace Sato at Candid.