Annual Report 2020

Building a Pipeline of Change

Welcome to UNCF‘s annual report for the 2020 fiscal year. Seventy-six years of success. Seventy-six years of impact. Seventy-six years of lives tremendously changed. Seventy-six years of endowing America with talented young people who otherwise would not have been able to share their gifts with us unless you and your support of UNCF had not made it possible.

READ THE LETTER

Michael L. Lomax, Ph.D.
President and CEO UNCF

William F. Stasior
Chair, UNCF Board of Directors

READ THE LETTER

Impact

“As we observe this milestone and celebrate 76 years of UNCF’s outstanding success, we must all recommit to the fight to expanding opportunities and advancing justice for communities of color and for all Americans, and to building the more perfect union that generations of courageous Americans have sacrificed to build.”
— Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi

75+ Years and Counting

UNCF: A Big American Idea that Became a Reality

When Dr. Frederick D. Patterson, Mary McLeod Bethune, John D. Rockefeller and other legendary American education, business and social leaders came together in 1944 in New York City to incorporate the United Negro College Fund in April 1944, their vision was to fuel historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) across the United States far into the future—all the while not knowing how long the mission would last or how many lives it would touch.

Benedict College's chapel at Clack Plaza

Benedict College Named “HBCU of the Year”

UNCF-member HBCUs are laboratories of greatness and deliver a huge amount of impact for their size—or as we at UNCF like to say, they “punch above their weight.”

Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute Expands its Role

Research is often thought of as a dry topic, but for UNCF, it has often the basis of how the organization moves mountains.

UNCF directly supports

member HBCUs

FUTURE Act Becomes Law

Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019, delivered a victory for UNCF and many of its students like no other.

How We Make a Difference

$ M+

in scholarships is awarded annually

Our Reach is Far and Wide

Member Colleges Scholarships Fundraising Events Local Offices

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37

Historically Black colleges and universities belong to the UNCF network of member institutions. UNCF provides these colleges and universities with a range of support that enables them to keep their academic programs strong and their tuitions affordable.

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7,473

Students received scholarships during fiscal year 2020 across the United States from UNCF.

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63

Fundraising events were conducted during fiscal year 2020 to help UNCF support its mission of getting as many students to and through college as possible.

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23

UNCF local offices are located throughout the United States, which help provide organizational fundraising support, mission awareness and HBCU representation in local communities across the country.

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Innovate

“I do this for the seventh grader who computes math on a third grade level. The third grader that reads on a first-grade level and the kindergarten student that enters the school system already at a deficit because their families lack the resources.”
— Isis Spann, Walton/UNCF K-12 Education 2010 Fellow, Johnson C. Smith University

Smart Steps Forward

UNCF’s Portfolio Project Empowering Students to Successfully Complete their Applications to Get to College

Anyone who’s ever applied to college, or helped a friend or relative apply, knows what a challenge it can be—communicating to colleges and financial aid providers a full and compelling portrait of everything a student would bring to his or her education. And for first-generation learners—students like most UNCF students, who are the first in their family to attend college and don’t have easy access to guidance and advice from parents and siblings that many can take for granted—it is even more of a challenge.

UNCF invests in students by providing more than

400

programs and 10,000 scholarships every year

UNCF Introduces “The HBCU Effect”®

In July 2020, UNCF’s Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute in partnership with EMSI Data, Equifax and UNCF-member institutions, released research entitled, the HBCU Effect®.

One of the two panels from the Imparting Wisdom rollout. From left to right, Dr. Brian Bridges, former vice president for research and member engagement, UNCF; Dr. Nina Gilbert, director, Center for Excellence in Education, Morehouse College; Dr. Hakim Lucas, president, Virginia Union University; Marquise McGriff, founder and executive developer, Club 1964; and Amanda Aiken, president, A. Leigh Solutions, Spelman College alumna and UNCF K-12 Walton Fellow alumnus; and Dr. Carmen Walters, president, Tougaloo College.

Imparting Wisdom to K-12 Educators

For years, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have educated tens of thousands of African Americans, prepared them for post-college careers and created steady pathways to upward mobility.

Walton Fellows Program Turns 10

The 2018-2019 academic year marked the 10th anniversary of the Walton Family Foundation’s collaboration with UNCF, a collaboration that’s kicked efforts to improve K-12 education by and for African Americans into a true reality.

Inspire

“Receiving a scholarship from UNCF and attending an HBCU was just a validation of self-worth and what was possible when you’re in a community that is culturally validating. That experience really changed my life and set me on a course that helped me understand that truly anything was possible.”
— Greg Cunningham, U.S. Bank, UNCF Board of Directors

Through The Power of One

Toi Salter: A Million Dollars and More

Toi Salter doesn’t just meet expectations. She blows through them. Driven by her commitment to youth, education and her beloved Chicago, Salter is a perfect UNCF partner who stands atop the world.

UNCF 75 Gala Images, Photography by LeVern A. Danley IIIwww.LeVernDanley.com

Greg Cunningham, executive vice president, chief diversity officer, U.S. Bank

Greg Cunningham: “Why I Support UNCF”

UNCF has been blessed over the years with many dedicated staff and volunteers to lead the organization.

Nearly

55,000

students attend UNCF-member HBCUs for the education they need and deserve

Tina Bonner-Henry, Oprah Winfrey, Tiffany L. Jones and Sonja P. Nichols

Oprah’s “Stand and Deliver” Moment

When you’re a fundraiser, how do you break records when you keep pushing the line every time you go to bat? How do you find that moment at the plate where you “stand and deliver"...

Barbara Boyd: Nearly 50 Years’ a Volunteer

When some retire, they’re thinking of what they can do to slow down. But for others, they’re thinking of what they can do to stay busy.

Jillean and Joe Williams: Imparting a Jazz Legacy

A long-time member of the Las Vegas community and a person well-known to many in that city’s entertainment field, Jillean Williams has now left a yet another legacy—this time through UNCF.

Invest

“We have an extraordinary opportunity to move the needle for Black women pursuing degrees in computing by providing academic supports and mentorship. This initiative will grant participants access to a vast network of resources, and we believe will help change the trajectory of Black women within this significant area of our economy.”
— Dr. Chad Womack, Senior Director, UNCF National STEM Programs and Initiatives and HBCU Technology Innovation

Investing in Better Futures

Panda Cares Foundation Expands its UNCF Footprint

Private UNCF donors and supporters—large and small—are truly the ones who make “A mind is a terrible thing to waste, but a wonderful thing to invest in”^® a reality. Their gifts of funding and other tangible support enable impact that crosses color and social boundaries and empowers thousands of students, who would otherwise not be able to get to and through college successfully, to not only achieve success but to find rewarding careers and life-altering paths that would not have been possible without them. Those investments are what make better futures for all of us possible.

UNCF-member institutions awarded almost

8,000

degrees in 2019

Image of a professor and several students working together in classroom near computers

Black Females Moving Forward in Computing Program Launched

Making impact for students is important across the board and finding new avenues in growing industries is always key, especially for HBCUs.

Fund II Foundation Graduates its First Class of Students

When UNCF and The Fund II Foundation partnered in 2016 to create the UNCF STEM Scholars Program, the primary goal was to provide support to 500 of the country’s top African American rising freshmen and see them through to graduation.

“As the story goes, the great African American poet Langston Hughes—another HBCU graduate—was working as a busboy here … when he was discovered in 1925 by poet Vachel Lindsay. So you might say it is poetic justice that 95 years later, an organization dedicated to educating African American poets—and teachers and scientists and businesspeople—would have raised more than $5 billion in 76 years, would have helped graduate more than 500,000 students, and would be awarding more than 10,000 scholarships a year worth $100 million. And would be a powerful and laser-focused advocate for its 37 private HBCUs, and one of the nation’s most effective advocates for all HBCUs. Or that taken in aggregate, HBCUs would become an economic engine generating almost $15 billion in annual economic impact, and $130 billion in lifetime earnings for each HBCU graduating class? I think Langston Hughes would have been proud. And we hope that all of you are too.”
— Dr. Michael L. Lomax, President and CEO, UNCF

Financial Highlights

Charitable Income

Assets and Liabilities

VIEW FINANCIALS

Officers and Directors

The men and women who guide the actions of the organization are a diverse group of people, and with their help, the organization ensures as many students as possible make it to and through college successfully.

MEET THE BOARD

Our Mission

UNCF envisions a nation where all Americans have equal access to a college education that prepares them for rich intellectual lives, competitive and fulfilling careers, engaged citizenship and service to our nation.

UNCF’s mission is to build a robust and nationally recognized pipeline of underrepresented students who, because of UNCF support, become highly qualified college graduates and to ensure that our network of member institutions is a respected model of best practices in moving students to and through college.

UNCF’s North Star is to increase the total annual number of African American college graduates by focusing on activities that ensure more students are college-ready, enroll in college and persist to graduation. This is done through a three-pillar strategy:

• Positioning member institutions as a viable college option for students and investing in institutional capacity to improve student outcomes.

• Creating transformational support programs to ensure that students are enrolling and persisting through college completion.

• Building awareness of educational attainment and cultivating college-going behaviors within the African American community.

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