Entergy Charitable Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Entergy Charitable Foundation supports K-12 and STEM education, as well as the environment, housing, and workforce development in areas of the country where its parent energy company maintains a business presence.
IP TAKE: The Entergy Charitable Foundation prioritizes giving to organizations based in or serving the areas to which its corporate sister has a business presence. Giving clusters in the South. Organizations beyond this geographical area will have a hard time securing a grant from the foundation. For a corporate funder, it’s website is relatively detailed; however, it no longer lists past grantees, obscuring the kinds of organizations it seeks to fund. The foundation directs its giving largely through two online programs providing Micro and Open grants, so grant seekers can apply directly on its website. Grants tend to fund education, outreach, specific projects, programs, training, and capacity building. The foundation also conducts grantmaking through employee-led efforts related to volunteerism, so get on this foundation’s radar by networking with an employee.
In considering requests for grants, the foundation prioritizes work benefitting specific counties/parishes. If you have questions about this, please contact the Entergy contributions coordinator in your area.
PROFILE: Established in 2000 by the Entergy Corporation, an energy company, the Entergy Charitable Foundation strives to support “initiatives that help create and sustain thriving communities.” In 2018, the foundation gave about $18 million. Entergy Charitable’s grantmaking programs include education and workforce development, low income/poverty solutions and the environment.
Grants for Education and Workforce Development
The Entergy Charitable Foundation believes economic advancement and development are connected to a strong education. Its related giving in both areas evidences this overlap. There’s an emphasis in all three areas of education on STEM, which is a common approach of energy companies towards funding interests.
Grants for Early Childhood and K-12 Education
This funder’s work in early childhood prioritizes at-risk children and low-income communities. Grant applications are accepted through the foundations on-line portal. Entergy supports both ECE and K-12 education through its education and workforce development program, which “strives to ensure that every child has access to a quality education and the skills to be successful in life.” One grantee, Mississippi Building Blocks, supports childcare centers across the state through teacher development and parent outreach with the goal of improving kindergarten readiness. Past education grantees also include Positive Atmosphere Reaches Kids for its youth summer enrichment camp in Pulaski County, Arkansas; Louisiana Resource Center for Educators to help education students at Southern University at Baton Rouge prepare for the National Teacher's Exam; and the Mid Delta Workforce Alliance's Communities in Schools program to address workforce development in Mississippi's mid-Delta region.
Grants for STEM Higher Education
Entergy’s education and workforce development program aims to provide a high quality education to students and prepare individuals for the jobs of the future. The workforce development sub-initiative has invested heavily technology and engineering programs at four-year and community colleges. Past grantees include Mississippi State University’s Student Technology Exchange Program, JASON Alliance of Southeast Texas, and Lone Star Community College in Conroe, Texas.
Grants for Housing and Community Development
The Entergy Charitable Foundation conducts grantmaking for housing and homelessness through its Poverty Solutions program, which “seeks to support programs that provide innovative and measurable poverty solutions and tools that help break the bonds of intergenerational poverty.” This program prioritizes programs that address, but are not limited to sustaining families and self-sufficiency; technical assistance and training for non-profits; housing and home-ownership preparation. The foundation also funds related housing and community development grants through its Open Grants program, as well as its Micro Grants program.
Grants for the Environment and Clean Energy
The foundation conducts grants related to the environment through two programs, one dedicated to the Environment, the other focuses on Poverty Solutions, which addressing housing, and indirectly, “energy management and awareness,” as well as “innovative use and promotion of alternative sources of energy.” In contrast, the foundation’s Environmental program is committed to both conservation and clean energy solutions. Entergy claims to be the “first U.S. utility to commit to voluntarily stabilizing CO2 emissions in 2000.” The foundation works with community partners and its grantees, particularly in the Gulf Coast region, which is experiencing one of the fastest rates of wetland loss in the world, in order to “conserve and restore the natural beauty and biodiversity of regions” that the company serves. The Entergy Charitable Foundation’s environmental conservation work centers on maintaining barrier islands, reforestation, stormwater management, coastal wetlands and other areas that serve as natural protections against severe weather related to hurricanes and storms. Through the same Environment program, Entergy funds work related to clean energy. It funds energy efficiency and renewable energy, environmental education, and community resilience and mitigation. Past environmental conservation grantees include Barataria Terrebonne Estuary Foundation, the Arbor Day Foundation, and St. Charles Parish.
Important Grant Details:
Entergy awards open grants ranging from $25,000 to $200,000, which also support COVID-19 related concerns, and micro grants in amounts up to $1,000. The foundation generally supports organizations in the states where it operates power plants: Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and New Orleans. It also gives in Massachusetts, Michigan and New York.
The foundation grantmaking guidelines reveals that the foundation funds public charities or private foundations that qualifies as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt entity; a school, hospital, governmental unit or religious institution that holds nonprofit status similar to that of 501(c)(3) organizations; a state or local government, but only if a donation thereto is made exclusively for public purposes; a war-veterans organization that qualifies as a 501(c)(19) tax-exempt entity; or a volunteer fire department that qualifies as a 501(c)(4) tax-exempt entity. However, it does not fund individuals, political organizations or candidates, capital projects, or the purchase of sports or team equipment or uniforms.
Applications must be submitted by Feb. 1 and Aug. 1. Applications should not be submitted more than one month prior to the deadline. As well, the foundation advises its grantees to make sure to “submit your application at least three months prior to the time the requested funds are needed” and to “please allow at least three months after the deadline date (see above) for notification of the result of your request.” If by that time Entergy has not contacted you, please feel free to call the appropriate contributions coordinator for your geographic area.
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