OVERVIEW: The Charitable arm of Enterprise Holdings, the Enterprise Mobility Foundation, awards grants to groups working in human service, youth, education, community development, conservation, veterans and more.
IP TAKE: The Enterprise Mobility Foundation’s largest grants are conducted through ongoing partnerships with large national and international organizations, but with $75 million in grants going out the door in a recent year, there’s plenty of room for smaller organizations to gain support. Unfortunately, the foundation only accepts funding requests from employees or their spouses on behalf of nonprofits, so if you don’t have any employees in your orbit, you will have to court some volunteers. As a corporate funder, Enterprise appears to be “hands off,” and many grantees receive multi-year support. Food banks and youth programs will likely have the easiest time here.
PROFILE: Established in 1982, the Enterprise Mobility Foundation(EMF), formerly known as the Enterprise Holdings Foundation, is the philanthropic vehicle of Enterprise Holdings, the parent company of the Enterprise, Alamo and National car rental companies, as well as several other transportation related businesses. Enterprise was established in 1957 by the late Jack C. Taylor, and the company is still privately owned and steered by members of the Taylor family. The company’s annual revenue has been in the $30 billion range for the past few years.
The foundation’s mission is to “strengthen the communities where team members live and work by actively supporting a range of charitable causes such as the environment, health and human services, education, military and disaster relief.” It gives through signature programs and existing partnerships, but also accepts applications from team members who volunteer or serve on boards of nonprofit and community organizations. Missouri is a strong geographic priority, but giving is global in scope.
Grants for Community Development, Education, Work and Opportunity
ROAD Forward appears to the the foundation’s largest and broadest giving initiative. Established in 2020, the program aims to “advance social equity by focusing on closing gaps in three areas–early childhood development, youth health & wellness and career & college preparation.”
- Giving prioritizes communities where Enterprise operates businesses, and grants have so far supported over 1,000 organizations in 400 communities in North America and Europe.
- The foundation does not name specific goals for its giving in each sub-focus, but grants appear to prioritize educational programs for underserved children and youth.
- In the St. Louis area, the foundation has made grants to the Matthews-Dickey Boys & Girls Club, Parents as Teachers, the St. Louis Public Schools Foundation and Ranken Technical College.
- Other U.S. grantee partners include My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, Girls Inc., the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Morgan State University in Baltimore.
- Outside of the U.S. the foundation has supported organizations including the Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada, Children’s Books Ireland and Spain’s Fundación MAPFRE, which works broadly to “to improve people’s quality of life and social progress through our multinational programs and activities.”
- The foundation provides ongoing support to chapters of the United Way where its parent company maintains operations. Employee donations are matched at 50% during the company’s annual Stronger Together Employee Giving Campaign.
Grants for Food and Nutrition
Grants for hunger and food insecurity account for a significant portion of EMF’s giving. The foundation’s Fill Your Tank initiative was launched in 2016 to address food insecurity around the wold, prioritizing areas where Enterprise operates businesses.
- Three key partners receive ongoing support: Feeding America, Food Banks Canada and the Global FoodBanking Network.
- Many grants have also supported locally-operated food banks in the U.S. grantees include the Capital Area Food Bank in D.C., Feeding South Florida, the Atlanta Community Food Bank, the Greater Boston Food Bank and St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance in Arizona, among others.
Grants for Environmental and Freshwater Conservation
EMF’s environmental giving is mainly conducted through two signature partnerships.
- EMF partners with the Arbor Day Foundation’s Urban Tree Initiative to support tree-planting projects in areas around the world. Planting projects support neighborhood beautification, as well as cooling and air filtration for communities in cities including Glendale, Arizona; Riviera Beach, Florida; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Mississauga, Ontario.
- EMF’s Routes and Roots Healthy Rivers Project is a $60 million commitment to the Nature Conservancy’s work to preserve and protect freshwater ecosystems of rivers around the world. Since the program’s launch in 2017, the project has improved conditions for an estimated 13,000 miles of rivers and related freshwater ecosystems.
- Only a few additional grants support smaller organizations involved in environmental causes. Recipients include California’s Yes Nature to Neighborhoods, the Riverbed Environmental Education Center in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania and the Bonneville Environmental Foundation in Portland, Oregon.
Grants for Military and Veterans Causes
The foundation names Veteran and Military Families as an area of priority and mainly partners with the Fisher House Foundation, a national organization that “no-cost housing for military and veteran families while a loved one is in the hospital.” Only a few other grants are awarded for veterans outside of this collaboration. Grantees include Clark County Veterans Assistance in Washington, U.S. Vets and the Military Bowl Foundation.
Grants for Disaster Relief
Grantmaking for Disaster Relief is mostly channeled to the American Red Cross.
- The Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program has received $1 million a year from EMF since 2015.
- Note that Enterprise’s automobile rental businesses have waived fees to evacuees who need one way transportation to safety during emergency situations.
Grants for Animal Welfare
The foundation does not name animal welfare as an area of priority, but recent giving has supported several animal rescue and pet adoption organizations.
- Grantees include Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League in Florida, New Jersey’s Homeward Bound Pet Adoption Center and Good Karma Pet Rescue in Florida.
Important Grant Details:
EMF’s grants range from $1,000 to $6 million, with an average grant size of about $25,000. Grants of over $500,000 typically represent ongoing partnerships. In a recent year, this funder made close to $76 million in grants, with over 500 grants going out the door.
- Human services and food insecurity emerge as the foundation’s strongest grantmaking interests.
- The foundation supports organizations of all sizes, with many small grants supporting small community groups in areas where Enterprise operates businesses.
- The foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals for funding, but employees and their spouses may submit applications on behalf of organizations with which they are involved.
- Contact EMF via email at giving@em.com. The foundation’s phone number is listed as (312) 514-5000.
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