Skip to main content
Donate to UNCF
  • Scholarships
  • Who We Are
    • Who We Are
    • Our Mission
    • Member HBCUs
    • Local Offices
  • Get Involved
    • Get Involved
    • Ways to Donate to Help Students
    • Events
    • Federal Policy & Advocacy
    • K-12 Advocacy
    • Volunteers
    • “A Mind Is…” Giving Society
  • Our Impact
  • UNCF for…
    • For Students
    • For Parents
    • For Alumni
    • For Colleges
    • For Churches
    • For Workplace
    • For Major Donors
    • Students
    • Parents
    • Alumni
    • Colleges
    • Churches
    • Workplace
    • Major Donors

Join us in our fight for better futures.

UNCF Logo UNCF — A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste®

Join us in our fight for better futures.

  • Scholarships
  • Who We Are
    • Who We Are
    • Our Mission
    • Member HBCUs
    • Local Offices
  • Get Involved
    • Get Involved
    • Ways to Donate to Help Students
    • Events
    • Federal Policy & Advocacy
    • K-12 Advocacy
    • Volunteers
    • “A Mind Is…” Giving Society
  • Our Impact
  • UNCF for…
    • For Students
    • For Parents
    • For Alumni
    • For Colleges
    • For Churches
    • For Workplace
    • For Major Donors
    • Students
    • Parents
    • Alumni
    • Colleges
    • Churches
    • Workplace
    • Major Donors
Donate to UNCF

UNCF

Donate
  • Contents
  • Introduction
  • Impact
  • Innovate
  • Inspire
  • Invest
  • Financials
  • Officers and Directors
  • Annual Report 2019
  • Financial Statement
  • Officers and Directors – Fiscal Year 2019
  • Our Mission
  • Download Annual Report
  • Introduction
  • Directors’ Letter
  • Impact
  • 42 Years and Counting: Anheuser-Busch
  • Dr. Lomax on the ‘State of the HBCU’
  • A Legacy of Education: Herbert Horner
  • 75 Years of Schools, Students and Stewardship
  • Why UNCF Matters Now More than Ever
  • Innovate
  • A Scholarships Scoop: Three New Named Scholarship Programs
  • STEM Scholars Update
  • “A Seat at the Table”: K-12 Advocacy Report
  • A New Generation of UNCF Presidents Arrives
  • Inspire
  • Strength Through Numbers Saved Bennett College When it was Most Needed
  • An Increasing Number of Female UNCF Presidents Makes an Impact
  • Senator Doug Jones: A Hero of HBCUs
  • A “Moses” Among HBCU Leaders: Dr. Billy C. Hawkins
  • In Memoriam: Oswald Bronson
  • Invest
  • HBCU Funding Increased
  • 75th Anniversary Gift by AKAs
  • Top Ladies of Distinction Lend Distinctive Touch to Workplace Fundraising
  • Five Fundraisers in Five States Across Two Nights
X
  • Back
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
UNCF Abstract Flame Icon Annual Report Image Background

Directors’ Letter

UNCF: Building a Pathway of Educational Support From K-12 Through College and Career

 

Lomax and Stasior headshots

Dr. Michael L. Lomax and Mr. William F. Stasior

 

Dear friend of UNCF,

Welcome to UNCF’s annual report for the 2019 fiscal year.

We are often asked the secrets behind UNCF’s success: 75 years and counting, more than $5 billion in contributions and 500,000 graduates from UNCF-member HBCUs with UNCF scholarships. “No secret,” we reply, “It’s all in the Annual Report.”

This year’s report is no exception. As we told a packed house in our first-ever annual address about the health and well-being of HBCUs (read “The State of the HBCUs”), ever since UNCF was founded in 1944,“HBCUs have persisted, producing educational results far beyond what would be predicted based on their size and funding.”

Another story, “A Scholarships Scoop,” reports on the second lane of UNCF’s work: the 400 scholarship, internship and fellowship programs UNCF offers each year, programs whose recipients have an average graduation rate of 70%, almost double the average rate for all African American students and significantly higher than the rate for students of all races and ethnicities.

UNCF is also active and effective in securing passage by Congress of legislation providing increased funding and flexibility for HBCUs and for low-income, first-generation college students—“Why UNCF Matters now More than Ever,” and UNCF research provides a rigorous and impactful foundation for UNCF’s advocacy of the right of every student to a K-12 education that prepares them for college and career.

Another story, “A Scholarships Scoop,” reports on the second lane of UNCF’s work: the 400 scholarship, internship and fellowship programs UNCF offers each year, programs whose recipients have an average graduation rate of  70%, almost double the average rate for all African American students and significantly higher than the rate for students of all races and ethnicities.

None of this would be possible, as this Annual Report documents, without the support and partnership of companies, like JPMorgan Chase, ExxonMobil and Coca Cola, that have been with UNCF since it was founded (read “75 Years of Schools, Students and Stewardship”); organizations like Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (read “The Enduring Power of Partnership”) and Top Ladies of Distinction (read “Volunteering to Make a Difference”) and loyal supporters like UNCF-member institution Morehouse College graduate Herbert Horner, who generously included UNCF in his estate plan (read “A Legacy Of Education”).

These are just a few of the “secrets” of UNCF’s success, and just a few of the articles in this Fiscal Year 2019 Annual Report. Read this Report straight through or browse through the articles that most interest you. We hope that whether you’ve invested in UNCF’s schools and students for years, or this is the first time you’re considering helping us send students to and through college, you’ll be inspired to make UNCF’s motto, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste”®, your own.

Sincerely,

Lomax and Stasior signatures

UNCF Logo UNCF — A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste®

Join us in our fight for better futures.

  • The Latest
  • UNCF Annual Report
  • 2024 Economic Impact Report
  • Media Center
  • Research
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • UNCF On Facebook
  • UNCF On Twitter
  • UNCF On Instagram
  • UNCF On LinkedIn
  • The Latest
  • UNCF Annual Report
  • 2024 Economic Impact Report
  • Media Center
  • Research
  • Careers
  • Contact

If you have questions about trusts, wills, bequests, or have other estate or planned giving inquiries, please contact the office of major gifts and planned giving at plannedgiving.uncf.org or call 202.810.0168.

© 2025 UNCF. All Rights Reserved

United Negro College Fund, Inc., is a recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit; federal EIN, 13-1624241.

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Linking Policy
  • Copyright
  • EEO Policy
  • DMCA
Also of Interest
  • UNCF Delivers Inaugural State of the HBCU Address
  • Annual Report 2019
  • Dr. Lomax on the 'State of the HBCU'