Helping Build Stronger Communities

Mission

The Mission Statement of Vulcan Materials Company states that Vulcan “will be a good corporate citizen in each community in which we operate. We will support and take an active part in public and charitable projects.” Vulcan established the Vulcan Materials Company Foundation in 1988 to assist in carrying out that mission. Because contributions made by the Foundation are corporate-based business dollars, it is essential that they be made in a planned and consistent manner that best serves the combined interests of Vulcan and the communities in which we operate.

Vision

Helping Build Stronger Communities

Support Priorities

The Foundation supports many types of worthwhile organizations that enhance the quality of life in Vulcan’s communities. The Vulcan Materials Foundation focuses on three areas in particular:

• Working with schools;
• Supporting environmental stewardship; and
• Encouraging employee involvement.

Education

A major focus of the Foundation is to play a part in maintaining or improving the quality of life and standard of living through the support of education.

Elementary/Secondary Education

The Foundation will consider proposals that provide public education programs and projects that enhance the quality of learning for all students. The Foundation works to support efforts to improve educational systems and individual schools in Vulcan’s communities by partnering with public schools located in its operating areas. Vulcan has adopted 276 schools in its communities through support from the Foundation. It is Vulcan’s goal to increase the number of its school partnerships every year.

The Foundation is also interested in efforts to encourage young people to develop an interest in math, science and business. The Foundation, therefore, gives consideration to proposals designed to help maintain students’ curiosity and excitement about the world of math and science and to explore the world of industry and business. The Foundation is particularly interested in helping young people and their teachers understand the relevance of math and science to society, and supports efforts to link these subjects to their application in the workplace. The Foundation also will consider programs designed to educate our students about the vital role of business and industry in society.

Higher Education

Higher education will play an increasingly critical role in helping the economy effectively compete in the global market. The Foundation recognizes the invaluable contributions made by institutions of higher learning in educating the nation’s future workforce.

The Foundation will consider proposals from those institutions located in states where the Company has facilities, particularly proposals that focus on science and engineering or improving public education. Although proposals for capital improvements will be considered, the Foundation prefers to fund projects that directly affect the outcome of the educational process, such as scholarships and science and technology programs.

Environmental Stewardship

The Foundation supports the philosophy that economic development and environmental stewardship have common goals. Responsible economic growth provides the resources necessary to be a good steward of the environment, while this stewardship helps to sustain growth.

There are important links between industry, the environment and technological innovation. A society that is better informed about environmental issues will be able to participate more effectively in public policy debates. Grantmaking will focus on organizations and programs that seek to develop an understanding of the connection between environmental stewardship and sustainable development. 

The Foundation will consider supporting those environmental organizations that adhere to fact-based, balanced environmental principles.

Employee Involvement

Vulcan has a history of encouraging its employees to participate in volunteer activities in their communities. We recognize that our workforce offers a unique resource to provide leadership in the communities where we operate. Thus, high priority will be given by the Foundation to proposals from those organizations in which company employees are actively involved, especially in our focus areas of education and environmental stewardship.

Geographic Funding Priorities

In addition to the corporate headquarters, located in Birmingham, Alabama, there are eight Construction Materials divisions. Further, Vulcan has 400* active aggregates facilities located in 22 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. Virgin Islands, Canada, and Mexico and the Bahamas. Regarding proposals submitted to the Foundation, first consideration will be given to those organizations that will benefit the communities where Vulcan employees live and work. The Foundation’s giving program is decentralized to spread ownership of the program to a wider base. Because unit managers are directly involved with the communities where they do business, decentralization enables the Foundation to be more informed about, and to better address, local needs. Proposals submitted to the Foundation should be sent directly to the charitable contributions officer in the appropriate geographical area.

* Updated after the acquisition of U.S. Concrete

The J. Bulow Campbell Foundation was established in 1940 through the estate of J. Bulow Campbell, an Atlanta businessman, civic leader, and philanthropist. Mr. Campbell was modest and frugal and did not seek recognition for his good works. He was skilled in business and also a deeply committed Christian. The Foundation is guided by Mr. Campbell’s instructions and seeks to reflect his philosophy of giving, his legacy of careful stewardship, and his Christian faith.

The Campbell Foundation began with $7 million in 1940 and, since then, has awarded over $800 million in grants. The Foundation awards grants without public recognition, and is governed by a board of seven trustees who serve without compensation. 

Focus Areas

The Foundation focuses on organizations in Atlanta and Georgia, but it also can consider grants to those in the five surrounding states. It meets quarterly and awards most of its grants for capital purposes within the areas of education, youth development, human services, public spaces, and cultural institutions.

NOTE: To view the other grant priority areas for the Daniel Foundation of Alabama, please follow these links:

• Health Grants
• Education & Youth Grants
• Community Needs Grants

Daniel Foundation of Alabama: Arts, Culture and Community Asset Grants

Arts, Culture and Community Assets

The Daniel Foundation recognizes that a thriving arts community contributes immeasurably to the quality of life in Birmingham and Alabama. Furthermore, the availability of arts and cultural offerings weave together our diverse population in important ways. We also believe that preservation of our unique historical, natural and cultural resources in Alabama is an important piece of this cultural backdrop.

We understand that our arts providers need both physical spaces and ongoing operational support to provide the stability and sustenance that they are uniquely positioned to provide. Regarding operating support, we specifically seek to assist arts organizations in achieving financial sustainability – preference for operating grants is therefore given to organizations that show strategies focused on this goal.

Our priorities:

• Operational support for arts organizations, particularly those with orartsganizational sustainability strategies.
• Capital needs for arts organization, with preference given to organizations that the Foundation has supported in the past
• Community heritage, culture and historic preservation
• Projects that preserve greenspace and increase access to nature

NOTE: Capital Campaign grants will be considered in the first and third quarters of each year (deadline February 1 and August 1). Grant applications pertaining to the Black Belt Region will be considered twice a year, on January 16 and June 16.

Since 2009, the Mike & Gillian Goodrich Foundation has been providing grants to nonprofit organizations in our community, the Black Belt, and the state as a whole to support a variety of programs. From education to the environment, from the cultural arts to neighborhood revitalization, the Foundation has distributed over $26,000,000 in grants to 221 organizations whose work we are proud to support.

The Mike & Gillian Goodrich Foundation seeks to strengthen communities and improve the quality of life primarily in the Birmingham metropolitan area and the State of Alabama.

Our Service Area

The Mike & Gillian Goodrich Foundation focuses its grantmaking in the Birmingham metropolitan area. Special consideration is given to support programs that serve the Woodlawn community in Birmingham.

The Foundation will also support efforts that build opportunities in the Black Belt of Alabama, particularly Hale and Greene Counties. Grants that impact the State of Alabama as a whole or that impact policy issues affecting all Alabamians will also be considered.

Grants from the Mike & Gillian Goodrich Foundation are made to support programs that impact:

• The Birmingham metro area;
• The Woodlawn area of Birmingham;
• The Black Belt area in Alabama;
• The State of Alabama as a whole, through influencing policy change at the state level.

Our Program Areas

The Foundation is interested in developing partnerships with nonprofit organizations to achieve measurable results in the following areas:

• Education
• We believe that every child should have the educational resources to become a successful adult. Based on our belief that education is still the best road out of poverty, the Mike & Gillian Goodrich Foundation supports a strong education pipeline. Grants are made to support efforts in early childhood to help children be ready to learn when they enter the school system. Other grants support teachers, students and families to help more children achieve and succeed. These include grants to improve academic outcomes through teacher and principal coaching as well as support for meeting non-academic needs, like physical and mental health needs.
• Neighborhood Revitalization
• We believe in the Purpose Built Communities’ holistic model for rebuilding strong neighborhoods. A strong cradle – to – adult educational pipeline, affordable mixed-income housing, wrap-around social services and local economic revitalization are necessary components for creating livable communities and helping to break the cycle of poverty.
• The Environment
• We believe that the protection of our natural resources and green spaces are vital to the environment and to the health of our communities.
• The Arts and Culture
• We believe that the cultural arts enrich lives and are an integral part of a dynamic and vibrant community.
• Positioning Strategic Community Assets
• We believe that the success of our community depends on the strength of its intrinsic partners – those institutions that represent the best of Birmingham. We are committed to their success.

Grant applications must be geared toward achieving specific results in these focus areas.

Program, Operating and Capital Campaign Grants

We fund capital campaigns and provide grants for operating and programmatic support to organizations engaged in activities that align with the Foundation’s funding interests listed above.

• Program grants are grants of up to $30,000 to support a specific program.
• Operating grants of any amount may be applied for in up to three year increments with an annual review.
• Our goal is to help our grantees focus more on their missions and less on application cycles.
• Capital Campaign grants of any amount will be considered in the first and third quarters of each year (deadline February 1 and August 1).

Vision

A strong community that nurtures and supports all its families and children with access to opportunity, enrichment, and achievement.

Values

We encourage creativity and collaboration while expecting excellence in ourselves and others.

Our Approach

The work of the Foundation extends beyond grantmaking. We want to be partners in learning not just in funding and are invested in the success and effectiveness of the organizations that are supported. The Foundation staff often provides technical assistance on management and program issues and connects grantees with potential partners and collaborators and helps identify sources of additional support. We also work collaboratively with other grantmakers on important community issues and use our resources and collective voices for solutions.

Grantmaking Focus and Priorities

A healthy and educated community is the foundation’s priority and strategic commitment. In addition to grantmaking, we support the work of the Bold Goals Coalition of Central Alabama and seek partners who share common interests for collaboration and advocacy allowing for greater impact.

Community Health – Good nutrition, quality health care and positive emotional environments are vital to the health and well- being of children and adults. Many families in the Birmingham area lack access to healthy and affordable food and adequate health services. The foundation supports programs that:

• Expand and improve access to health care and healthy and affordable food for vulnerable populations.
• Encourage healthy behavior, improved mental and physical health and promote wellness and preventive measures.

Education – Opportunity and success are dependent on a quality education and all students need opportunities to prepare them to succeed in school and work. The foundation’s resources are targeted to underserved students to improve academic performance, graduation rate and job readiness.

• Promote school readiness and quality early childhood education
• Ensure students have reading and math grade level skills
• Provide youth development programs that offer mentoring and tutoring

Other focus areas include:

• Responding to community needs by providing basic human services for at risk children and adults living in poverty or with disabilities.
• Improving the community by providing families with safe places to live, exercise and play.
• Bringing arts and cultural activities to all people to enrich lives, build community and fuel a prosperous creative economy.

Types of Support

In some cases, we will consider general operating support grants for programs that match the foundation’s priority focus areas. We also make a limited number of multi-year and capital grants to organizations that can demonstrate broad community impact in one of our focus areas.

If you are considering applying for a multi-year or capital grant, we strongly encourage you to have a conversation with the Executive Director before submitting your application.

Innovation Fund

Our purpose at The Workers Lab is to give new ideas for and with workers a chance to succeed. Our Innovation Fund is one of the ways we achieve this purpose. It’s how we invest in innovators and entrepreneurs who are serving workers and addressing the challenges faced by workers.

Since 2014, the Innovation Fund has invested $5.7 million in 77 innovators.

We understand that bringing transformative ideas for and with workers to fruition requires investment. Far too many worker-led ideas, especially those by entrepreneurs of color and women, never see the light of day since they historically receive only a tiny fraction of the early investment enjoyed by others. The Workers Lab is changing that. The ideas we invest in are collectively making the ways our country serves workers more modern and inclusive to ensure that every worker is safe, healthy, secure, and has power. 

Selection Considerations

The following are considered as applications are evaluated:

• Innovators who are from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented among those who receive venture capital and startup funding, especially entrepreneurs who identify as women of color.
• Innovators with early-stage ideas (idea, solution, pre-pilot) centered around making the ways our country serves workers more modern and inclusive in the United States.
  • Idea - You’ve identified a critical problem facing workers and now you’re researching whether solutions exist.
  • Solution - You’ve begun honing in on the potential solution you want to develop (product, program, service, tool, strategy, etc.) and are scoping a prototype.
  • Pre-Pilot - You have a solution that you’ve conceptualized/designed a prototype for. Now, you’re seeking partners and seed funding for a future pilot.
• Innovators with plans for diversified future revenue streams that support long-term sustainability.
• Innovators who need startup capital and technical support, and have ambition for their ideas to be brought to scale.

Additionally, we’ve identified the following areas of interest and encourage applicants who are serving workers in:

• Key states where startup funding for worker-innovators is lacking including but not limited to, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Philadelphia, Texas, Florida, and the broader South.
• Key industries and subsets of the economy where there are fewer supports for workers, including but not limited to gig work, care (homecare, healthcare, childcare), as well as climate (energy and the environment).

NOTE:  Round 1 applications are due March 3, 2023. Select applicants will be invited to join the second- and third round RFPs.

Background

The national housing shortage continues to make headlines. Estimates on the number of homes needed to close the gap run in the millions. But one thing is clear: without a stable, affordable place to call home, it’s impossible to thrive.

In an effort to scale needed housing solutions, Enterprise and the Wells Fargo Foundation have teamed up to launch a new $20 million competition. The Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge will identify and propel implementation-ready innovations that transform current practices and reimagine access to affordable homes.

Eligible applicants will compete for individual grants of $1 million, $2 million and $3 million to scale ideas that lay the groundwork for system-wide change. Winners also will receive two years of technical assistance to turn their ideas into real-world programs.

Focus Areas

The Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge aims to meet the nation’s affordable housing challenges across Native, rural, suburban, Tribal and urban communities.

Proposals must encompass one or more of three focus areas:

Construction

• Construction innovations must introduce transformative practices, processes or new materials that will create construction efficiency, streamline supply chains, bolster climate resiliency, or reduce building costs.
• Construction approaches can include but are not limited to:
  • Creation and use of innovative, environmentally sustainable materials 
  • Streamlining the construction supply chain (e.g., materials production, purchasing, delivery, assembly) 
  • Innovative development in the affordable housing construction workforce to accelerate production 
  • New economies of scale through efficiencies in building design
• Construction technologies can include but are not limited to deployment of enhanced building practices and new building technologies.

Financing

• Financing innovations must introduce new tools or strategies to transform or offer alternatives to current practices, broadening access to capital, unlocking or leveraging financial resources, and creating a more equitable housing market for renters and homebuyers.
• Financing approaches can include but are not limited to:
  • New investment strategies
  • New funding sources to support acquisition, development, or building operations
  • New financing mechanisms for acquisition, construction, or permanent financing
  • Improved efficiencies in financing and underwriting
  • Risk mitigation through new investment approaches
  • New credit enhancement strategies
  • Unique ownership structures
  • New approaches that reduce the cost of capital
• Financing technologies can include but are not limited to deployment of technology that accelerates the financing process, development of tools that reduce timelines for approval, and development of tools that facilitate efficient, equitable access to capital.

Access and Resident Support

• Access and Resident Support innovations must introduce new processes or models that improve the housing experience for residents, such as housing access, choice, and stability, advancing fair housing, promoting personal agency and creating pathways for upward mobility.
• Access and Resident Support approaches can include but are not limited to:
  • New models that increase housing choice for renters and homebuyers, such as:
    • Improved housing search process
    • Expanding acceptance of renter subsidies
    • Ensuring equitable access to capital to support homeownership
    • Identifying and addressing discrimination or differential treatment against protected classes
  • Services that connect residents with resources to support upward mobility
• Access and Resident Support technologies can include but are not limited to development and deployment of technology to improve access to housing options, resident experience and resident housing stability.

Innovations across all three focus areas must demonstrate how they center racial equity and, where applicable, integrate environmental sustainability.

What We Fund

The Community Foundation makes grants that present an opportunity for strategic investment – building organizational capacity, replicating successful programs, establishing a new program, launching a policy or systems change project and/or capital projects that support the following domains:

• Thriving Communities: Recognize, create, connect and strengthen assets of communities and neighborhoods in our region to support and enhance the quality for life for all.
• Equity and Inclusion: Include and value diverse voices, acknowledge the past and work towards healing, build trust and common ground, and work together to create fair, equitable systems.
• Regional Cooperation: Support cooperation among communities and municipalities to build, sustain and promote assets and resources.
• Economic Opportunity for All: Develop multiple, accessible pathways for people to achieve economic opportunity. Focus on those facing the greatest systemic barriers.
• Overcoming Persistent Poverty: Identify and work to break through enduring barriers that keep people from realizing economic security and well-being.

Grant Cycle 2

The Community Foundation has two grantmaking cycles that focus on the following results from our Results Framework

Cycle 2: Communities are sustainable, livable and vibrant
Individuals and families are economically secure

Grant Terms

Grant Terms: Funds may be requested over a one, two, or three year period based on the scale and schedule of the proposal.

Grant Amounts

There is no maximum request amount, but in recent years awarded grants have ranged from $5,000 to $125,000 with an average amount of $35,000.

CFGB prefers requests that do not exceed 25% of the budget for the proposed project. Potential or secured support for the remaining 75% of the budget should be identified. That total cost and scale of the project should be reasonable, feasible, and sustainable in relation to the applicant’s overall budget and activities.

Organizations with documented revenue under $25,000 may only request a Seed Grant of $8,000 or less.

Organizations requesting a grant of $75,000 or greater MUST have an annual or semi-annual independent audit.

About Alpha

Since its formation in 1997, the Alpha Foundation has been dedicated to improving the human condition. To this end, Alpha will select organizations to which grants will be made that further this objective. An emphasis will be placed on grants to educational, scientific, and charitable organizations. A major focus of Alpha's support is biotechnology to aid in the discovery and cure of diseases.