Directors’ Letter

Our Momentum Toward Growth Continues

A message from the Chair of the Board and the President and CEO

Dear Friend,

Welcome to UNCF’s 2024 Annual Report. In a word, the 2024 UNCF fiscal year was “remarkable.”

We celebrated UNCF’s 80th anniversary with the theme “Honoring the Legacy, Transforming our Future.” Celebrations of the 80th anniversary began in January 2024, highlighting UNCF’s impact over the last eight decades as the nation’s largest private provider of scholarships to underrepresented students and its work to transform its 37 member institutions and other historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

These institutions are the engines propelling the economic and upward social mobility of underrepresented students so they can achieve greater outcomes in society. Founded on April 25, 1944, UNCF has raised more than $6 billion to help more than 550,000 students go to and through college.

During the 80th anniversary year of celebration, Forbes magazine ranked UNCF 58th on its list of top 100 U.S. charities and recognized UNCF in a feature cover story. “With an ambitious capital campaign, CEO Michael Lomax has led his nonprofit back onto the Forbes list of America’s Top 100 Charities, ranked by private donations,” the national magazine reported.

The 80th anniversary celebration kicked off with a historic $100 million gift from Lilly Endowment, Inc.—UNCF’s largest unrestricted private grant—to support UNCF’s capital campaign. You will learn more about the capital campaign and the gift in this annual report.

The anniversary also served as an opportunity to celebrate Team UNCF and to honor the vision and legacy of our founders, donors and supporters.

In the words of UNCF’s Chief Operating Officer Early Reese, “FY2024 was a season of robust achievement!”

Over the past four years, UNCF has raised $1.1 billion to provide scholarships, emergency student aid, scholarship endowments and capacity building for UNCF-member institutions.

We achieved 54% of our $1 billion capital campaign revenue goal—while still in the “quiet phase.” This new campaign is deeply committed in its size, components and timeline to move from “a moment to a movement,” and we are very pleased to report this early progress.

Supporting UNCF’s-member institutions is our top priority. The generosity of our donors and steadfast work of our fundraising team positioned UNCF to provide substantial increases in resources to our member schools. In fiscal year 2024, we delivered on our promise to pay out 100% of our annual distribution to member institutions, which was more than $15 million.

In fiscal year 2024, UNCF’s direct response program again showed its extraordinary fundraising power and resilience by generating $13.88 million from individual donors through our direct mail and online giving engines. This was made possible by the generosity and steadfast support of more than 150,000 individual donors.

Thanks to this strong donor support and our dedicated UNCF team, we continue to deliver on our ongoing mission.

As we look beyond our 80th anniversary and into the future, UNCF remains more committed than ever to continue the legacy of our founders in building a robust and nationally recognized pipeline of African American students and helping them become highly qualified graduates and leaders in our society.

Our work never ceases. Four record-setting years of fundraising does not erase decades of systemic racism and economic injustice. Despite the challenges facing our students and HBCUs in fiscal year 2024, UNCF remains steadfast thanks to you, our loyal supporters, partners and donors. This annual report highlights several of the amazing accomplishments we have achieved with your help.

As you read this report, you’ll see stories that clearly demonstrate how HBCUs fuel the American middle class and elevate the social mobility of Black students, mostly first-generation and from low-income families.

Learn how UNCF partnered with Axim Collaborative and Harvard University to continue the development of HBCUv^®—a shared online platform currently under development which aims to offer best-in-class remote education, community engagement and career pathways for students seeking an HBCU education.

 This year’s annual report includes information from a special study commissioned by UNCF and PGIM, the global asset management business of Prudential Financial, Inc., which highlighted the critical need for investment support to strengthen private HBCU endowments. This study, entitled “Investing in Change: A Call to Action for Strengthening Private HBCU Endowments,” identified the main constraints private HBCUs face in growing their endowments and explored how the asset management industry can help optimize their investment returns in the long term.

Read stories about financial support UNCF received in fiscal 2024 from several of our corporate partners, including Lilly Endowment, Inc., American Express Company and FanDuel Group.

This annual report also features a story about the leadership and commitment to HBCUs of James D. Sinegal, co-founder and former CEO, Costco Wholesale Corporation. For 30 years, Sinegal has supported UNCF’s vision of equal access to a college education for all Americans. Over these many years, his generous contributions have enabled UNCF to impact the lives of many students. UNCF was honored to recognize Sinegal as our UNCF 80th Anniversary Changemaker of the Year in UNCF’s Pacific Northwest Area.

As you peruse these articles within the fiscal year 2024 annual report, know that the investment of your talent, time and treasure is greatly appreciated and valued. We will need your continued support to help us transform HBCUs to develop the future generation of diverse, American college-educated talent to lead us all to better futures. Finally, whether you’ve invested in UNCF’s schools and students for years, or this is the first time you’re considering joining us, let our more than 80 years of success inspire you to make our indelible motto, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste”^®, your own.

Sincerely,