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  • Contents
  • Introduction
  • Impact
  • Innovate
  • Inspire
  • Invest
  • Financials
  • Officers and Directors
  • Annual Report 2021
  • Financial Statement
  • Officers and Directors – Fiscal Year 2021
  • Our Mission
  • Download Annual Report
  • Introduction
  • Directors’ Letter
  • Impact
  • Historic Financial Support Ignited with Patty Quillin and Reed Hastings $120 M Gift
  • The Power of We: Direct Mail, Online Fundraising Delivered in FY 2021
  • Historic UNCF National Virtual Walk for Education
  • UNCF Creates Executive Leadership Institute
  • UNCF Remained a Vigilant Advocate for HBCUs in FY 2021
  • Innovative HBCU Leader Found His Calling: Dr. Walter M. Kimbrough
  • Innovate
  • CVS Health Foundation Establishes $5 M Scholarship for Black, Latinx Students Pursuing Healthcare Careers
  • UNCF Partners with Activision Blizzard to Help Diversify the Gaming Industry
  • Inspire
  • Tony Signore: A Personal Commitment to Preserving the Legacy of Frederick Douglass and Supporting HBCU Students Nationwide
  • UNCF, DJ D-Nice Partying with a Purpose
  • Invest
  • Legacy of a Compassionate Educator: Vincent J. Butler
  • 3M Partners with UNCF Minneapolis to Launch New Scholarship Program for St. Paul, MN, Students to Attend HBCUs
  • Alaska Airlines, UNCF Celebrate Education and Equity with a Special Aircraft
  • Crown Castle Donates $1 M to UNCF; CEO Jay Brown Matches It
  • Synovus Contributes $1 M to UNCF; Names Scholarship to Honor Georgia State Rep. Calvin Smyre
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Annual Report 2021

UNCF Annual Report Image Background
Annual Report 2021 Intro

Pushing Through a Pandemic—And Reaping The Rewards


Welcome to UNCF’s 2021 fiscal year Annual Report. And quite the year it was. As the newest chairman of the UNCF Board of Directors, I am pleased to present this annual report with UNCF President and CEO Dr. Michael L. Lomax. We write this letter amid some of the most challenging times in our 77-year history—yet one of our most successful years ever.

READ THE LETTER

Portrait of Milton H. Jones, Jr.
Milton H. Jones, Jr.
Board Chair, UNCF
Portrait of Dr. Michael L. Lomax
Dr. Michael L. Lomax
President and CEO, UNCF

READ THE LETTER

We Impact

At a time when all colleges and their students face unprecedented challenges from COVID-19,
a terrible recession and the ongoing legacy of racism, it’s critical that HBCUs and PBIs, the bedrock of African American higher education, are strong.”

Group of 3 people smiling
SUCCESS STORIES

Historic Financial Support Ignited with Patty Quillin and Reed Hastings $120 M Gift

Higher-education institutions, especially HBCUs, faced a seemingly insurmountable task during the pandemic to continue educating students and keep their doors open.

Read More about SUCCESS STORIES
Graduation Ceremony

The Power of We: Direct Mail Online Fundraising

Direct mail and online fundraising performed extraordinarily well in FY 2021. UNCF’s Direct Response Program generated $18.9 million in revenue, nearly 2.5 times the revenue in the previous fiscal year.

Walk D Nice DJ'Ing

Historic UNCF National Virtual Walk for Education

During a historic day, UNCF conducted its first-ever National Virtual Walk for Education online in Fiscal Year 2021.

HBCUs have produced more than
1 MIL
associate, bachelor, master and doctoral degrees combined since 1984.
Executive Leadership Meeting

UNCF Creates Executive Leadership Institute

In 2021, UNCF launched its Executive Leadership Institute (ELI) to increase engagement, knowledge-sharing and collaboration among presidents and board members at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and predominantly Black institutions (PBIs).

Text: No HBCU has had to permanently cease operations during the pandemic

UNCF Remained a Vigilant Advocate for HBCUs in FY 2021

In a series of appropriations bills, UNCF’s engagement helped direct $5 billion in federal funds to HBCUs, tribal colleges and universities and minority serving institutions.

Group portrait outdoors in Dillard T-Shirts

Innovative HBCU Leader: Dr. Walter M. Kimbrough

Entering his 10th year at the helm of Dillard, President Kimbrough has led the university to unprecedented growth.

How We Make a Difference

$  M+

in scholarships is awarded annually

Our Reach is Far and Wide

Member Colleges Scholarships Fundraising Events Local Offices
+ SHOW STAT
Map of US Showing Member Institution Data Points

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.

- HIDE
+ SHOW STAT

8,548

Students received scholarships during fiscal year 2021 across the United States from UNCF.

- HIDE
+ SHOW STAT

69

Fundraising events were conducted during fiscal year 2021 to help UNCF support its mission of getting as many students to and through college as possible.

- HIDE
+ SHOW STAT

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.

- HIDE

We Innovate

Man Wearing Surgical Mask

UNCF has an impressive track record of impacting minority education and improving graduation rates for students, while making a meaningful difference in the lives of selected scholars.”

SUCCESS STORIES

CVS Health Foundation Establishes $5 M Scholarship for Black, Latinx Students Pursuing Healthcare Careers

College students who receive UNCF scholarships outperform the national population of students journeying to and through college.

Read More about SUCCESS STORIES
UNCF invests in students by providing more than 400 programs and
10 K
scholarships every year.
Activision Blizzard Logo

UNCF Partners with Activision Blizzard to Help Diversify the Gaming Industry

Through a partnership in 2021, UNCF and Activision Blizzard, established programs that connect students to skills- building activities that will equip and empower them to design video games to play on X-Box, and other systems, and compete in the tech/gaming workforce.

We Inspire

UNCF has an impressive track record of impacting minority education and improving graduation rates for students, while making a meaningful difference in the lives of selected scholars.”

Woman in Graduation Garb
SUCCESS STORIES

Tony Signore: A Personal Commitment to Preserving the Legacy of Frederick Douglass and Supporting HBCU Students Nationwide

Tony Signore’s lifelong passion for education and equality, inspired by the great Frederick Douglass, has resulted in a personal and professional commitment to support HBCU students across the country.

Read More about SUCCESS STORIES
DNice Party Promo

UNCF, DJ D-Nice Partying with a Purpose

As the COVID-19 pandemic sent billions around the world scrambling into quarantine, D-Nice emerged. The Los Angeles Times described the celebrity DJ “as perhaps the hottest name in pop culture, a majordomo of a music universe that is reconstituting itself online in performances livestreamed on social media platforms.”

HBCUs produce nearly
20%
of all African American College graduates.

We Invest

Man Focused on Desktop Computer

Mr. Butler not only embraced and enhanced my artistic abilities, he always brought a humor to his classroom that treated his students not as random kids but as peers who also sought his wisdom as a mentor.”

SUCCESS STORIES

Legacy of a Compassionate Educator: Vincent J. Butler

Vincent J. Butler is described as “…that one teacher a student can only dream about having,” by Roseann Palumbo Montemarano, one of Butler’s former students. This sentiment is widely shared among the alumni of Morristown High School (“MHS”) in Morristown, NJ.

Read More about SUCCESS STORIES
3M Headquarters

3M Partners with UNCF Minneapolis to Launch New Scholarship Program for St. Paul, MN, Students to Attend HBCUs

$5 M gift from 3M to UNCF.Support more than 100 students on STEM-related studies at HBCUs.

Since its inception, UNCF has raised more than
$5 B
in funding.
American Airlines Jet printed with 'The Time is Always Right to Do What is Right' - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Alaska Airlines, UNCF Celebrate Education and Equity with a Special Aircraft

This partnership with Alaska Airlines takes education and equity to the skies as we help students achieve their dreams of a better future.

Crown Castle Opportunity Scholarships Program: Students at Graduation Ceremony

Crown Castle Donates $1 M to UNCF; CEO Jay Brown Matches It

Crown Castle owns, operates and leases more than 40,000 cell towers and approximately 80,000 route miles of fiber supporting small cells and fiber solutions across every major United States market.

REP. Calvin Smyre

Synovus Contributes $1 M to UNCF; Names Scholarship to Honor Rep. Calvin Smyre

Named in honor of Georgia State Rep. Calvin Smyre, the Synovus/Calvin Smyre Scholarship Fund will provide one scholarship annually to a student enrolled at Smyre’s beloved alma mater Fort Valley State University, an HBCU in Fort Valley, GA.

Two Women Smiling focused on object off screen

“Since our founding in 1944, UNCF has had two major constituent groups—our historically Black colleges and universities and our students. We are more determined and more committed than ever, believing as we do, in the power of our cause and our shared belief that ‘a mind is a terrible thing to waste®,’ but a wonderful thing to invest in.”
—Dr. Michael L. Lomax, President and CEO, UNCF

Financial Highlights

Charitable Income

Chart by Visualizer

Assets and Liabilities

Chart by Visualizer

VIEW FINANCIALS

Hugging at Graduation Ceremony

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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