The Venable Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Venable LLP, recently awarded more than $2.9 million in grants to approximately 350 organizations, finishing the 2020 grants season. This year, the Foundation awarded a total of $4,134,666, a marked increase over the 2019 funding total of $3,284,334.
The Foundation’s philanthropic investments provided essential resources earlier this year to nonprofit organizations and their clients during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Foundation awarded $1 million in grants to support 18 organizations that were working to meet the increased need for support for vulnerable groups during the pandemic. These organizations included food banks and community foundations, such as DC Central Kitchen, Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland, the Los Angeles-based California Community Foundation, City Harvest in New York, and the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank. The Foundation was also responsive to community needs involving racial justice, contributing $100,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and an additional $100,000 to organizations in our communities that were making a difference for this cause.
The Foundation is continually recognized for its positive impact on the communities in which Venable employees live and work. In addition to being honored as a platinum-level participant in DC Access to Justice's 2019 Raising the Bar Campaign, the Foundation was also recognized by the Washington Business Journal among the area’s 2019 top corporate philanthropists by cash giving, ranked by the Baltimore Business Journal in 2020 among the largest corporate philanthropists by the sum of cash contributions paid to charitable organizations in the area, and ranked by the San Francisco Business Times in 2020 among the regions’ most active and inspirational nonprofits that have made a difference in their communities through both financial and volunteer philanthropic work.
The Venable Foundation was established in 1983 to support a wide variety of charitable, civic, and cultural endeavors, and serve public interest law in our communities. In the past 12 years, the Venable Foundation has granted more than $32 million to worthy organizations that provide critical support to those in need. These include children's services and funding for disadvantaged families and individuals; homeless shelters and food programs; community organizations, hospitals, hospices, and local chapters of national health organizations; and educational, artistic, and cultural events and organizations. The Foundation is funded by the partners of Venable LLP.