American Express
/OVERVIEW: American Express supports leadership, historic preservation and the communities served by its parent company in the U.S. and abroad. Funding in the U.S. prioritizes, but is not limited to Phoenix, New York City, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, South Florida and Washington D.C.
IP TAKE: This funder supports organizations of all sizes, prioritizing the geographic areas where its parent company operates. American Express runs ongoing application programs for its leadership and community service grants.
American Express is both accessible and not accessible: it depends to which program you apply since some accept unsolicited applications, while others don’t. This funder supports a mixed bag of grantees, both mid-sized and large NGOs that are established and can scale. This is not a grassroots funder. It’s also more transparent than most corporate funders of it’s size. Staff is approachable, so don’t hesitate to reach out.
PROFILE: Global financial services company American Express conducts its philanthropic work through its corporate social responsibility program. Headquartered in New York City, the program supports “communities in ways that enhance the company's reputation with employees, customers, business partners and other stakeholders." Its stated grantmaking initiatives are leadership, historic preservation and community service. Although American Express does not name performing arts as a funding initiative, it has also made significant grants toward music and dance, as well as the visual arts.
Grants for Economic/Work Development
American Express conducts work-related funding through its leadership program, which predominately focuses on “creating and funding programs that strengthen leaders within nonprofit and social purpose organizations working to solve the world's biggest challenges.” Over the past 12 years, the initiative has given more than $80 million in leadership development grants focused on philanthropy. Past grantees include Acumen, a New York City-based organization that low-cost leadership skills courses, and the Chicago Foundation for Women, which used funding to run workshops and mentoring programs for non-profit professionals. American Express also runs a signature program Leadership Academy, that works with nonprofit leaders in 12 countries. The leadership program prioritizes leadership training and experiences for nonprofit organizations and does not fund programs at high schools or colleges. This program runs an ongoing open application program via the program’s website.
Grants for Housing
American Express addresses housing concerns through its historic preservation program, which centers on “projects that help communities preserve or rediscover major historic landmarks and public spaces, providing sustainable, ongoing access to the public.” This initiative prioritizes community engagement and diversity and has invested in about 200 projects since 2006. Past preservation grantees include the Global Heritage Fund of China. American Express has also partnered with the SRI foundation to fund the ARCUS Leadership Program, which created a curriculum for professionals in the heritage preservation field. Applications for this program are by invitation only.
Grants for the Arts
While American Express does not name performing or visual arts as part of its giving, tax filings reveal otherwise. It conducts related funding through its historic preservation program, which typically prioritizes community engagement and housing.
Grants for Theater and Dance
While American Express does not mention theaters and theater related organizations as main areas of giving focus, it is a big supporter of both. American Express awards theater-related grants through all three of the major program areas. For example, Second Stage Theatre received a grant through its Leadership focus area to support the Second Stage’s summer student leadership forum. Moreover, it also funded Ford’s Theatre Society, which received a grant out of American Express’s Historic Preservation program in support of Ford’s digital archives and exhibitions. Past theater grantees also include Crossroads Theatre Company, Second Stage Theatre, and Berkeley Reparatory Theatre. In contrast, past music grantees include OPERA America and the Japan Philharmonic Association.
Grants for the Visual Arts
While the company does not mention visual arts as a main area of giving focus, tax filings suggest it supports cultural organizations across the U.S. American Express awards visual arts-related grants through all three of the major program areas. For example, it awarded a grant to the Utah Arts Festival Foundation through the foundation’s Community Service program. It has also supported the Lower East Side Tenement Museum through its Historic Preservation program.
Grants for Global Development and Disaster Relief
American Express’s community service initiative works with “nonprofit organizations to build volunteerism into their business model.” Specific areas of interest include civic participation, disaster relief and preparedness and “engaging and retaining community members as volunteers.” One past grantee, Project Sunshine, organizes volunteer efforts to provide educational, recreational and social programs for children with chronic medical conditions and their families. Another grantee, London’s Terrence Higgins Trust, enlists volunteers to assist with a broad array of healthcare and HIV services to community members in need. This program also runs an ongoing application system, beginning with an eligibility quiz.
Important Grant Details:
Tax filings suggest that American Express grants range from a few thousand to several million dollars. Most grants, however, remain under $10,000. This funder prioritizes the geographic areas where its parent company operates.
American Express accepts applications for its leadership and community service grants via its website. The application process begins with an eligibility quiz. Application to the historic preservation program is by invitation only.
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