New York (CNN Business) Leaders of the Local Initiatives Support Coalition (LISC) say their organization has received a record total of about $2 billion dollars in donations this year from companies looking to aid people of color.
“This is by far our biggest fundraising year on record,” LISC President and CEO Maurice Jones told CNN Business.
Netflix, Lowe’s and Square are just three of the major corporations that made multimillion dollar donations to LISC in the aftermath of the George Floyd tragedy.
LISC is a non-profit financial institution funds community development initiatives in 44 states. It allocates money to local groups that provide emergency aid, wealth-building and career development resources to underprivileged communities whose residents are primarily Black and Latino.
The organization’s leaders say their efforts have never been in higher demand. Corporations looking to help people facing institutional obstacles — including millions who have lost jobs due to coronavirus concerns — have turned to LISC for guidance and stewardship in greater numbers. Additional multimillion dollar donations were provided by Dick’s Sporting Goods and Verizon, among others.
Jones says the estimated $2 billion donation total came from more than 25 Fortune 500 companies and far exceeded the $1 billion fundraising goal he set for himself back in the spring.
LISC says 75% of the funds it received this year went to organizations that support low-income housing residents, many of whom were furloughed or laid off due to Covid-19 issues. Roughly 15% of the charitable funds went to grant and loan programs supporting minority-owned small businesses.
