Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation supports the geographic areas served by its parent energy company. Its grantmaking interests include education, environmental conservation, public health, housing and community development and racial justice and equity.
IPTAKE: This is an accessible, open-minded funder for small organizations and schools operating in Dominion’s service areas. It accepts applications via the foundation’s online portal.
PROFILE: The Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Dominion, a power and energy company based in Richmond, Virginia. This funder aims to improve “the physical, social and economic well-being of the communities served by Dominion companies." Its focus areas include human needs, education, environmental stewardship and community vitality. Funding is limited to select counties in the states where Dominion provides energy services: Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Grants for Education
The Dominion Energy Foundation’s education funding focuses on supporting the development of a future workforce for the energy field. Grants emphasize STEM disciplines and vocational training at all levels.
Grants for K-12 Education
Within its broad goal of educating the future energy workforce, Dominion supports public and private K-12 schools in its areas of geographic priority. Grants have also gone to afterschool and summer enrichment programs that offer literacy and STEM education opportunities for underserved students. Past grantees include public schools in Wetzel County, West Virginia; the Children’s Museum of Richmond, Virginia; and the Boys and Girls Club of Youngstown, Ohio. Dominion also runs a signature program for K-12 schools, Solar for Students. The program provides participating public schools with a 1.2-kilowatt solar power system and grade-level solar energy curricula for students.
Grants for Higher Education
Dominion’s higher education grants support a range of engineering, science and vocational programs at colleges and universities in areas of priority. Past grantees include the American Society for Engineering Education, the College of William and Mary, Ithaca College, Case Western Reserve University, the University of Akron and Ohio’s Zane State College and Malone University.
Grants for Environmental Conservation
The Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation supports environmental conservation via its environmental education and stewardship grants program. Established in 2020, the program supports “short term projects that promise measurable results to improve the environment.” Eligible grantees include nonprofit organizations and K-12 schools in some geographic areas served by Dominion. The foundation requires that environmental grantees address specific environmental community needs and produce quantifiable results to be shared with Dominion. Past grantees include Connecticut’s Niantic Watershed Committee, the Friends of Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia and Utah’s Clean Air Partnership, which helps individuals, communities and businesses take small steps toward decreasing emissions in the Salt Lake area.
Grants for Public Health
Dominion funds public health through its critical community needs grantmaking program, which names basic medical care as one of three main focus areas. Grants prioritize uninsured and low-income populations in areas served by Dominion. In Salt Lake City, the foundation funded a program at Community Nursing Services to provide free and low-cost vaccinations for uninsured and underinsured patients. In Richmond, Virginia, a similar program funded Rx Drug Access Partnership, which provides prescription medication to uninsured individuals living below the poverty level. Another grantee, the WOW Bus, provides free dental care to public school students in Alexandria, Virginia.
Grants for Housing and Community Development
The foundation also supports housing and community development through its critical community needs program. In this grantmaking area, the foundation supports organizations that have proven records of success in serving the needs of underserved populations. One grantee, Covenant Shelter of New London, Connecticut, helps individuals and families find safe and affordable housing and basic services. In Youngstown, Ohio, the foundation has funded Joseph’s House, an organization that helps men recovering from addiction and mental illness to transition into independent housing. Other housing and community development grantees include South Carolina’s Homeless No More and Operation Home, which help homeless and at-risk families secure affordable housing.
Grants for Racial Justice and Equity
In June 2020, the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation made a $5 million, two-year commitment to support social justice and community rebuilding in the areas it serves. This initiative names social justice advocacy and minority-owned businesses as priorities. However, it doesn’t name particular strategies, appearing to prefer to give broadly here, at least for now.
Important Grant Details:
The Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation makes over $15 million in grants each year. Grants range from $2,500 to $25,000, and the foundation’s average grant size is about $10,000. Many of Dominion’s past grantees are small, community-led organizations that work with underserved or low-income populations in the counties served by the foundation’s parent energy company. Additional information about past grantmaking is available at individual program pages or in the foundation’s recent tax filings.
This funder runs an open, online application system and posts guidelines and an eligibility quiz for prospective grantees on its website. Application deadlines vary by program.
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