Pitney Bowes
/OVERVIEW: Connecticut-based technology company Pitney Bowes runs three separate philanthropic programs. Its foundation supports early childhood, K-12 and worker education programs, while its corporate responsibility program gives to mental health, immigrants and refugees and global development programs in areas where the company maintains operations. The company also maintains a Relief Fund that responds to natural disasters and other emergencies in affected communities around the world.
IP TAKE: This funder emphasizes giving in geographic areas where it does business, and more than half of all funding supports organizations operating in its home state of Connecticut. However, the foundation conducts work at both the national and global levels. Grantmaking prioritizes underserved students of all ages, low-income adults and immigrants and refugees in the U.S.
While Pitney Bowes’s corporate responsibility and relief fund programs do not accept unsolicited proposals, its foundation, which supports early childhood, K-12 and adult education in select areas of Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin, runs an accessible application program with a due date of January 15 each year.
PROFILE: Pitney Bowes is the Stamford, Connecticut-based multinational technology company best known for its postage meters and mailing technology products. The company conducts its philanthropy through the Pitney Bowes Foundation, a corporate giving program and the Pitney Bowes Relief Fund. The Pitney Bowes Foundation focuses its grantmaking on early childhood, K-12 and worker education programs in select areas in the states of Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. The company’s corporate giving has, in recent years, made grants to public health, immigrants and refugee causes and global development. The Pitney Bowes Relief Fund, meanwhile, aims to help people who have been affected by natural disasters and other emergencies and is currently supporting COVID-19 relief efforts in the U.S.
Grants for Early Childhood Education
The Pitney Bowes Foundation’s early childhood education funding focuses on pre-literacy skills and parent engagement. One grantee, Reach Out and Read, supports the involvement of pediatric healthcare practices in low-income areas in the promotion of family reading. Another grantee, Connecticut’s Read to Grow program, provides free books and literacy information to parents of young children in Bridgeport. Other early childhood grantees include Children’s Learning Centers of Fairfield County, Connecticut; the Childcare Group of Dallas, Texas; the Rainbow Village Early Child Development Center in Atlanta, Georgia and the Caroline House’s Mother and Child Literacy Program in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Grants for K-12 Education
K-12 education is the Pitney Bowes Foundation’s largest area of giving. Recent priorities include literacy, mentoring, out-of-school learning, summer learning, entrepreneurship and STEAM programs. About half of all K-12 funding stays in the state of Connecticut. The foundation has a longstanding relationship with the national organization Reading Is Fundamental, which has used funding to run teacher development and book distribution drives for K-5 students. In its home state of Connecticut, the foundation has supported the Governor’s Prevention Partnership, a state-wide teen mentoring program that recently used funding to “align Connecticut mentoring programs to better serve LGBTQ youth.” Other grantees include numerous out-of-school and summer learning programs at local chapters of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, the Horizons National Student Enrichment Program, the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship and Maker Faire.
Grants for Economic Opportunity and Adult Literacy
The Pitney Bowes Foundation supports adult literacy and workforce education programs via its foundation grants. Grantees include ProLiteracy, which runs literacy and job skills training for low-skilled adults through public libraries, and Creating IT Futures, which trains adults from communities that are underrepresented in the technology field. Other grantees include STRIVE Bridgeport, Literacy Education for Low-Income Adults of Dallas, Connecticut’s Norwalk Community College, Dress for Success and the Vocational Development Center of Omaha Nebraska.
Grants for Mental Health
Pitney Bowes supports public health initiatives via its corporate responsibility program, which prioritizes geographic areas where the company maintains operations and programs that serve children and youth. Recent grants have gone to Connecticut’s Center for Sexual Assault, the Child Guidance Center of Southern Connecticut, NAMI of Connecticut, Atlanta’s Wings for Kids and CASA of the Fox Cities, which advocates for abused and neglected youth in Wisconsin.
Grants for Immigrants and Refugees
The corporate responsibility program has supported several organizations that work with immigrants and refugees in recent years, although Pitney Bowes does not outline specific goals for its grantmaking in this area, which has so far been limited to organizations operating in Connecticut. Grantees include the Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants, the International Rescue Committee’s Mentors for Success Program and the Building One Community’s Summer Reading Program for Disadvantaged Immigrant Children.
Grants for Global Development
Pitney Bowes has supported development programs in India via its corporate responsibility program. One grantee, the Navjyoti Foundation, mobilizes women and youth to work toward “inclusive socio-economic development.” Another grantee, the NIIT Foundation, brings job skills training and general education programs to disadvantaged communities. Other grantees include the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund and Manthan and Bhatkya Vimukta Jati Shikshan, an organization that aims to “make a difference in the lives of children from disadvantaged circumstances.”
Grants for Disaster Relief and Humanitarian Aid
Pitney Bowes established its Relief Fund in 1992 to support impacted communities in times of crisis. Recent funding has gone to the American Red Cross’s COVID-19 relief effort and the Red Cross/Red Crescent Society’s response to the Australian brush fires of 2019 and 2020.
Important Grant Details:
The Pitney Bowes Foundation makes close to $2 million in grants a year, while the corporate responsibility program gives away about $1 million a year through its giving programs. Since its inception in 1992, the company’s relief fund has given $3 million to organizations supporting people affected by disasters and other emergencies. Foundation grants are awarded in amounts up to $50,000. For additional information about these funding programs, see the company’s corporate responsibility reports, which summarize the work of all three programs.
While Pitney Bowes’s corporate responsibility program and relief fund do not accept unsolicited applications for funding, the Pitney Bowes Foundation runs an open application program for its education grantmaking programs. Preference is given to programs that demonstrate measurable outcomes, target diverse populations and have the potential for employee volunteer experiences. Guidelines and application materials are posted on the company’s website, and applications are generally due on January 15 of each year, with decisions announced in July.
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