GIFTS OF KINDNESS FUND
$4.9 million
granted from the Gifts of Kindness Fund at The Columbus Foundation since 2014. Today we partner with 45 local nonprofits to help lift up our neighbors and inspire others to give the gift of kindness.
EQUITABLE SMALL BUSINESS FUND
$5 million
allocated to the Equitable Small Business Fund, a Program-Related Investment that was launched earlier this year to provide critical capital to entrepreneurs of color and Black-owned and Black-led businesses in our community. A committee of small business champions, pictured above, oversees the evaluation and decision making for investments.
Pictured (l–r): Equitable Small Business Fund committee members Elizabeth Blount McCormick and Anthony Joseph; The Columbus Foundation's Senior Director for Grantmaking Emily Savors; committee members Timmy McCarthy and Sandra Moody Gresham; The Columbus Foundation's Chief of Staff Steve Moore; committee member Doug McCollough; and The Columbus Foundation's Associate Director for Donor Services Chris Donovan.
SCHOLARSHIPS
$3.2 million
in scholarship grants distributed to date in 2022 to help students achieve their education goals. The Columbus Foundation is on pace to exceed last year’s scholarships total of $3.7 million, a record high.
Pictured: Columbus Foundation scholarship recipient Miles Balfour.
CRITICAL NEED ALERT
$670,000
raised through The Columbus Foundation’s “Our World, Our Community" Critical Need Alert in 2022, providing immediate financial resources to seven nonprofit organizations serving refugees in central Ohio.
Photo courtesy of Ethiopian Tewahedo Social Services.
CLIMATE ACTION
$760,173
granted in 2022 to organizations and projects that are working at the intersection of climate change mitigation and equity. Grant recipients are working to improve both the natural environment and the lives of our community members most impacted by climate change.
BETTER TOGETHER
19
Better Together projects completed to date in 2022. These online crowdfunding projects have raised more than $120,000 to support a variety of initiatives throughout the community this year, such as providing athletic shoes to local children, covering the cost of professional cleaning and laundry services for older adults, and purchasing food and supplies for rescue dogs adopted by veterans.
RECENT CATALYTIC GRANTS
$500,000
to the RAPID 5 Project Fund at The Columbus Foundation, established earlier this year to receive support from companies and the community for RAPID 5, whose goal is to create the largest interconnected park system in the country.
$250,000
to the American Journalism Project, a national effort with ties now in Ohio, dedicated to helping local nonprofit news organizations grow and sustain their newsrooms.