PwC Charitable Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The PwC Charitable Foundation supports K-12 education, disaster relief and preparedness, veterans causes and social entrepreneurship. This funder tends to provide multi-year support to large, well-established organizations.
IP TAKE: According to a recent annual report, PwC is “dedicated to addressing root causes, effecting systems-level change and helping to make a sustainable impact.” This corporate funder tends to provide multi-year support to large, well-established organizations with national operations in the U.S., but smaller outfits may be eligible for Reimagine Grants, which go to organizations nominated by PwC partners and principals. This grantmaking space is crowded, making it harder for new grantees to secure funding.
The foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals but can be reached via its online contact form. Networking with local management may also be helpful here.
PROFILE: Established in 2001, the Tampa, Florida-based PwC Charitable Foundation is the philanthropic arm of PricewaterhouseCoopers, a global accounting and professional services firm based in London. According to its website, the foundation “supports the people of PwC in times of need and invests in emerging solutions to society’s greatest challenges in education and humanitarianism.” This foundation maintains three main cause areas of funding: education, humanitarianism and the “People of PwC,” which prioritizes organizations in which PwC employees are involved. The foundation has also recently named veterans and economic opportunity as “special commitments.” PwC tends to provide ongoing or multi-year support to large, well-known organizations with national presence. Funding is mainly limited to the U.S.
Grants for K-12 Education
Education is one of PwC’s largest giving areas, with grants supporting “programs that target and teach relevant technological skills for 21st century employment.” One recent area of interest appears to be financial education. The foundation runs a signature program, Earn Your Future, a free digitized financial literacy program that is available to “five million teachers and students in underserved populations.” The foundation has also supported the Mind Research Institute, which offers digital financial literacy and mathematics education modules to educators and students across the U.S.
PwC also prioritizes social studies education and has made grants for educational programs to the National Women’s History Museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the HistoryMakers, which used funding to make the oral histories of thousands of African Americans available to schools.
Grants for Humanitarian Relief
The PwC Foundation supports disaster relief and humanitarian aid via its humanitarianism initiative. This funding program’s three goals are to help communities prepare for natural disasters, to support relief organizations and to invest in “cutting-edge humanitarian ventures that advance socially inclusive models of support.” Recent funding has gone to U.S. and global operations of Team Rubicon, a disaster response NGO, and the American Red Cross’s Visual Interactive Event Wizard, a disaster management system that uses visual data to direct resources and volunteers to where they are most urgently needed.
Grants for Work and Economic Opportunity
PwC names economic opportunity as a special commitment for its philanthropic giving. Grantmaking in this area focuses on helping people in underserved communities gain “access to education and training, and/or access to networks of financial resources to maximize their potential.” Grants have supported career-oriented education and training organizations like Code Nation, the Los Angeles Urban League and Upwardly Global
Grants for Military and Veterans’ Causes
Veterans’ causes represent a new area of funding for the PwC Foundation, which has recently made a $10 million commitment to support veterans and their families. Early grantmaking has focused on education and employment. One grantee, FourBlock, offers career development and job placement services to veterans in urban centers across the U.S. Other grantees include Hire Heroes USA, Tennessee’s Dixon Center for Military and Veterans Services, Student Veterans of America, Columbia University’s Center for Veterans Transition and Integration and the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation.
Other Grantmaking Opportunities
In addition to its stated grantmaking initiatives, PwC funds Partner Remembrance Scholarships to honor late partners of the company and Reimagine Grants, which go to organizations nominated by PwC partners and principals and whose “philanthropic missions are aligned with that of the foundation.” Recent areas of interest include underserved areas near PwC 79 U.S. locations and vocational programs for veterans and others.
Important Grant Details:
The PwC Charitable Foundation gives away between $10 and $15 million a year. Its grants range from $10,000 to over $2 million and often represent multi-year commitments to grantee-partners. Most grants support large organizations with national operations. For additional information about past grantmaking, see the foundation’s grants, stories or annual report pages.
This funder does not accept unsolicited applications for funding, opting instead to identify organizations whose work aligns with its mission. Prospective grantees with connections to the company may reach out to partners and principals regarding PwC’s Reimagine Grants. Other inquiries may be directed to the foundation’s executive director, Charlotte Coker Gibson, via the foundation’s online contact form.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
LINKS:
