The grants, which total $195 million, range from $15 million to $30 million. The Endowment made the grants through Character Development Through Youth Programs, an initiative designed to help youth-serving organizations create, test, implement and sustain strategies that support character development in the young people they serve in chapters and affiliates throughout the nation.
The grants will support a variety of approaches to fostering character development, which is central to the missions of the organizations. They include delving into the latest research about character development; aligning programs and curricula to focus more on character; expanding use of technology; offering new character development training for staff and volunteers; strengthening capacity to deliver more programs to more youth; and providing funding for local chapters and affiliates that choose to participate in new character development programs offered by their national organizations.
The funded organizations and grant amounts are:
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Tampa, FL | $22.5 million
- Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Atlanta, GA | $30 million
- Girls Incorporated, New York, NY | $15 million
- Girl Scouts of the United States of America, New York, NY | $30 million
- Junior Achievement USA, Colorado Springs, CO | $22.5 million
- National Boy Scouts of America Foundation, Irving, TX | $30 million
- National Council of YMCAs of the United States of America, Chicago, IL | $30 million
- National 4-H Council, Washington, DC | $15 million
“From the earliest days of its grantmaking, the Endowment has supported projects to encourage character development, especially among young people,” said Ted Maple, the Endowment’s vice president for education and youth programs. “We are heartened by the thoughtful and strategic approaches these youth-serving organizations are taking to support children and youth in developing character traits that will be important for them in their future roles as individuals, family members and citizens.”
In addition to Character Development Through Youth Programs, the Endowment is supporting projects that encourage character formation among young people in various other settings. In 2023, the Endowment made a $30.7 million grant to Wake Forest University to support the Educating Character Initiative (ECI). The aim of ECI is to provide a wide range of public and private colleges and universities in the U.S. with the resources, funding and other support needed to develop and implement ideas for integrating character education at their institutions.
In 2023, the Endowment approved a $45.5 million grant to the American Camp Association to support the creation of Character at Camp, a multiyear initiative to grow, improve and celebrate character development among young people at camps across the United States. Also, new Endowment grants in 2024 are supporting 15 children’s museums from throughout the country as they develop their efforts to enhance character traits in their exhibitions and other public programs (learn more about these grants here).
