Participants in the Spelman College 136th Commencement celebrate in College Park, Ga., in May, 2023. Historically Black colleges and universities, which had seen giving from foundations decline in recent decades, have seen an increase in gifts particularly from corporations and corporate foundations over the last several years. Participants in the Spelman College 136th Commencement celebrate in College Park, Ga., in May, 2023.
Natalie Coles will never forget receiving an unexpected phone call in 2020. On the line was Virginia-based Dominion Energy, offering to give money to Wilberforce University, the small historically Black college where she is in charge of fundraising. The company’s $500,000 donation went in part toward laptops and hot spots for students when the pandemic shut down the college’s campus outside of Dayton, Ohio.Historically Black colleges and universities, which had seen