Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

How Companies Can Celebrate and Support a New Generation of Global Leaders

Jan 11, 2017 2:45 PM ET
Campaign: Connecting Business to Cause

America's Charities CSR Blog

Each year in November, celebrities, dignitaries, and business leaders assemble in Washington, D.C. for one of the city’s largest annual fundraising events - Thurgood Marshall College Fund’s (TMCF) Annual Awards Gala.

Celebrating the achievements of the nation’s foremost visionaries who have used their status to positively impact the lives of students and publicly-supported Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), proceeds from the gala enable TMCF to continue its work as a critical link between students having greater access to higher education and the opportunity to become a part of a new generation of global leaders.

TMCF holds its Annual Awards Gala as the culmination of its award-winning Leadership Institute, a national program intended to develop students’ leadership skills, create a community of scholars, provide companies with access to a talented and diverse student population, and help students make connections that lead to careers.

A power-packed four-day conference, TMCF’s Leadership Institute prepares carefully selected students from the 47 publicly-supported HBCUs to compete in today’s very competitive global workforce. The conference culminates with a recruitment fair where Fortune 500 companies, government agencies and graduate program representatives offer jobs, internships and continuing education opportunities. TMCF’s 16th annual Leadership Institute was attended by over 400 HBCU students from 46 of TMCF’s member-schools and over 70 corporate and government partners, with over 600 formal interviews scheduled for the event. Additionally, 30 middle and high school students attended as part of TMCF’s partnership with the U.S. Army, the Vivian Burrey Marshall STEM Pilot Initiative.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who was honored with the International Humanitarian Award at the 2016 Awards Gala, spoke about the USDA’s ongoing partnership with TMCF, saying:

“This isn’t really about making a donation or providing an internship so that a young person can have an internship or a college education.  It’s about far more than that.  It’s about building a stronger and more stable and secure America. You see, when you bring these young people into your life, they enrich you and they enrich any organization or entity you happen to be connected with. USDA is far more creative, far more innovative, far more productive and far more efficient because of these young people coming into our offices all across the United States and all across the world. They bring a different perspective.”

Changing the World...One Leader at a Time

Despite the universal challenges that face today’s college bound student, TMCF’s programs transform the lives of thousands of students each year by providing unparalleled access to a funnel of opportunities for students to journey to college, through college and into a career.

To achieve its vision of "Changing the World ... One Leader at a Time,” TMCF focuses on four areas:

Entering its 30th year, TMCF has provided over $250 million in scholarships, programmatic and capacity building support to students and member schools.

However, for every student that TMCF helps, there are others they cannot assist due to TMCF’s limited financial resources.  As a business, there are many ways your organization can empower TMCF’s continued work, including:

  • Sponsor TMCF’s 29th annual Awards Gala.  Click here for a recap of this past year’s gala partnership opportunities and to learn more about the event. Contact Amy Goldstein at amy.goldstein@tmcf.org for 2017 gala information and partnership opportunities.
  • Workplace giving and matching gifts. Feature Thurgood Marshall College Fund in your workplace giving program and offer matching gifts to incentivize employees to join you in supporting TMCF’s incredible work. Click here to learn more.
  • Partner with TMCF.  Click here to learn about partnership opportunities and to discover the variety of scholarship, capacity building, and educational programs you can help TMCF offer.
  • Support TMCF through a well-designed corporate philanthropy program.  As TMCF’s workplace giving partner, America’s Charities can help you design and implement a program centered on supporting TMCF’s work - through workplace giving campaigns, employee fundraising, cause-focused signature programs, volunteer management, Dollars-for-Doers and other employee engagement and philanthropic initiatives. Click here to get started.

Example company-sponsored TMCF employee giving campaign using America’s Charities powered by Causecast solution: