PNC Foundation Grants for Michigan STEM

PNC Foundation Grants for Michigan STEM is sponsored by PNC Foundation. Funding for Michigan 501(c)(3) nonprofits offering STEM or early childhood education, community development, or economic development programs to serve low- and moderate-income communities where PNC has a significant presence.

PNC Foundation | Inside Philanthropy OVERVIEW: The PNC Foundation supports education, economic development, and arts and culture in geographic areas served by its parent banking company. It also conducts grantmaking for housing, work and opportunity, and community development. IP TAKE: PNC’s limits its grantmaking to specific counties in 31 states and Washington, D.

C. —areas served by the parent foundation’s parent bank. With the exception of a few grantee partnerships with large national organizations, this funder gives to small nonprofits that make a big impact on their local communities.

A community-based nonprofit serving underserved residents can find success if work falls within early childhood education, housing, small-business development, workforce training, essential services, neighborhood revitalization or arts and culture. This funder runs separate application procedures for its signature programs. Access varies.

Grow Up Great maintains an online application, while general Foundation requests start with an eligibility quiz and regional contact. Arts Alive uses competitive regional cycles. All other grantmaking is state specific, and the foundation provides contact information for representatives in each of the 31 states and Washington, D.

C. , where it operates. Be sure to read directions closely since eligibility and due dates vary by program.

PROFILE: Established in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1970, the PNC Foundation works with nonprofit organizations in geographic areas served by its parent banking corporation, including 24 states and Washington, D. C. PNC aims to “enhance educational opportunities, with an emphasis on early childhood education, and to promote the growth of communities through economic development initiatives.

” It names early education, arts and culture, and economic development as its primary focus areas, although this funder also awards foundation grants in the areas of housing, work and opportunity, and community improvement. Its signature programs are Grow Up Great and Arts Alive . Grants for Early Childhood Education PNC’s early childhood education funding stems from its signature Grow Up Great program and other foundation grants.

Grow Up Great generally works with established partners such as Sesame Workshop and the National Head Start Association to “provide innovative opportunities that assist families, educators and community partners to enhance children’s learning and development.

” PNC’s foundation grants are directed toward organizations serving low- and moderate-income communities and prioritize early math, science and arts programs for children from birth to age five. This $500 million initiative also actively seeks to aid bilingual children. Funded programs include direct services, teacher development, family engagement and volunteer opportunities for employees of the foundation’s parent company.

Recent early childhood grantees include Detroit’s Say and Play with Words program, children’s programming at the South Carolina Aquarium and the Bilingual Preschool of Charlotte in North Carolina. Grants for K-12 Education While the main focus of PNC’s education philanthropy is early childhood education, this foundation has given to private and charter K-12 schools. Recent grantees include Fayette County Public Schools in Kentucky, St.

Catherine’s School in Richmond, Virginia; the University School of Huntington Valley, Ohio; St. Albans School of Washington, D. C.

and the United Schools Network, which operates elementary and middle schools in Columbus, Ohio.

Grants for Higher Education PNC does not name higher education as an area of grantmaking interest, but a portion of its grantmaking has gone to public and private colleges and universities in the U.S. Giving here is best understood as economic mobility/opportunity-related work, not conventional university grantmaking, despite historical gifts to universities.

In 2024, through the Birmingham Promise , the Foundation committed $10 million over 10 years to help Birmingham City Schools graduates pursue postsecondary credentials through tuition assistance, career programming and student-success coaching. Past grantees include Villanova University, Kansas State University, Ohio State University, Canisius College and the University of Illinois.

Grants for Housing and Community Development PNC’s housing and community development grants stem from its Economic Development grantmaking initiatives. Housing grants prioritize affordable housing for low- and middle-income individuals, financial counseling for home ownership and transitional housing for homeless and recently homeless families.

Housing grants have gone mainly to local chapters of the United Way, including chapters in Southwestern Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Chicago and Southeast Michigan. Community improvement grants support organizations whose work helps to “stabilize communities, eliminate blight and attract and retain businesses and residents to the community. ” Grantees include Operation HOPE and Local Initiatives Support Corporation.

Grants for Work and Opportunity Work and opportunity represent a smaller area of funding for PNC. Areas of focus include entrepreneurship, job skills training and low-cost loans for small businesses. Grants have gone to organizations including Dress for Success, the Alvis House Workforce Development Certification Program in Columbus, Ohio and Christian Community in Action, which runs a career training center in Cary, North Carolina.

Grants for Arts and Culture The PNC Foundation established its arts initiative, Arts Alive , in 2009. The initiative supports arts and culture initiatives that benefit the communities served by its parent company in Philadelphia, Delaware & Southern New Jersey . The program periodically selects different geographic areas as the focus of its grantmaking.

Note that the Central Ohio geographic focus, extant as recently as 2025, no longer appears active. The minimum grant is set at $25,000, with an average award about $50,000. Past grantees include the Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s In-School Residencies in San Francisco, Columbus Museum of Art, the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Florida, the Clay Studio of Philadelphia and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

PNC employees can earn grants for Grow Up Great partner organizations through volunteering. In early 2026, PNC doubled the awards: an individual volunteering 40 hours can generate $2,000, while teams can generate as much as $6,000. PNC says employee volunteering has generated more than $12 million for Grow Up Great partner organizations.

While not a method to bypass the larger application route, an employee-relationship represents a real way in for modest funding. It should also be noted that PNC Bank serves as trustee for nearly 200 perpetual charitable trusts and private foundations. The current page says these trusts distribute about $70 million annually, with their own donor-defined areas of work.

These, of course, are not assets or grant programs of PNC Foundation, but significant if a grant seeker already peruses opportunities related to the parent bank. The PNC Foundation awarded around $80. 75 million in grants in a recent year and held $166 million in assets.

Arts Alive grants have a $25,000 minimum and $50,000 average, but PNC’s broader portfolio includes multimillion-dollar strategic grants, as well. While the foundation maintains some ongoing relationships with large national organizations, many of its grantees are small organizations that have a strong impact on the communities they serve. PNC maintains separate application procedures for different types of foundation grants.

The Grow Up Great program runs an ongoing online application system with guidelines linked to the foundation’s webpage. Arts Alive focuses on organizations operating in specific geographic regions and posts regional guidelines and application materials on the initiative’s webpage. All other grantmaking is state specific, with eligibility quizzes and contact information listed for each state and Washington, D.

C. , on the foundation’s web page . General inquiries should also be made to state-specific foundation contacts.

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