MacArthur among five foundations injecting $1.7bn into fight against COVID-19

The John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, Charitable Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation have announced a joint commitment to increase their payouts to nonprofit organisations with more than $1.7 billion. 

The foundations said the decision was taken to help stabilise and sustain a nonprofit sector facing devastating economic effects due to COVID-19pandemic.

In a statement on Thursday, they said the financial commitment, which will run within the next three years, represents new funding above the previously approved budgets by each foundation’s board. 

Each foundation, it is said, will determine priorities for the distribution of the new funds based on its grant-making guidelines and priorities.

The funds are expected to cover grant making aligned with each foundation’s mission, including racial equity and social justice, arts and culture, higher education, human services, climate solutions, and other areas to provide financial support to communities that are most vulnerable and hardest hit by the impact of COVID-19.

The donors are hoping that this infusion of capital will help the nonprofit recipients to be more resilient and durable organisations, able to proactively work to build more sustainable and viable operating models in a post-coronavirus environment.

Ed Henry, president and chief executive officer of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, said: “The nonprofit sector is essential to building a just and thriving society, and in this moment, their work is more critical than ever. Working with foundations across the country, we will drive forward with a reinforced dedication to our missions and step up our support to vitally important human services, public health, research, environmental, and arts and cultural organisations.”

Darren Walker, president of Ford Foundation, said COVID-19 presents an existential threat to nonprofits, and they must respond in creative and innovative ways.

He said the pandemic has brought into sharp relief the results of decades of growing inequality. 

“The virus is only compounding that inequality, taking a disproportionate toll on the poor, people of colour, immigrants, people with disabilities, and others who were already marginalised before the crisis hit,” he said. 

“Our goal for the additional funds is to help shore up, strengthen, and deepen the resilience of key organisations that are advancing the fight against inequality and injustice at a time when the need is greatest.” 

On his part, John Palfrey, president of MacArthur Foundation said the pandemic is wreaking tragedy across the world and, in particular, in African American communities. 

He said in the face of an extraordinary social and economic crisis, the global communities require a transformation. 

“Our response to the pandemic will focus on supporting the reinvention of systems that create a more just, equitable, and resilient world,” he said. 

COVID-19 has infected over seven million persons globally and 421,343 deaths.

Cable Newspaper Journalism Foundation (CNJF), in October, was named as one of the beneficiaries of the MacArthur Foundation’s $6.3 million in journalism and media grants for Nigeria.