OVERVIEW: The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation funds college scholarships for students from Nebraska and grants to colleges and universities in the U.S. It is also the top private funder of sexual and reproductive health and rights work worldwide.
IP TAKE: The Susan Thompson Buffet Foundation is a major funder in its areas of interest. While the size of this funder’s global health grants is staggering, it does not accept requests for funding and does not even mention its efforts on its website. Interested grantseekers will likely have difficulty securing funding without an inside connection, since this grantmaker prefers proactive funding activities. Accordingly, it does not accept unsolicited applications. Interested grantseekers will need to network deeply here. Beyond funding in Nebraska, grantees tend to be large, established nonprofits that can scale or have at least a national presence, if not global.
PROFILE: The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation (STBF) was originally established as the Buffett Foundation in 1964. Susan Buffett, wife to multi-billionaire Warren Buffett, passed away in 2004, after which Buffett renamed the foundation in her honor. In 2006, Warren Buffett pledged nearly $3 billion in Berkshire-Hathaway stock to the organization. Susan Buffett left around $2.5 billion of her fortune to the foundation, and in 2006, Warren Buffett pledged billions more (over time) to the foundation. In a recent year, STBF made grants of close to $250 million, mostly to support sexual and reproductive health and rights in the U.S. and abroad. Although this is a sizable foundation, it maintains a low public profile and does not articulate specific funding priorities other than its Nebraska scholarships program.
Grants for Higher Education
The Buffett Scholarship program awards grants of up to $6,050 per term to students who are “residents of Nebraska, graduates of a Nebraska high school with plans to attend a Nebraska public institution, and who have demonstrated financial need.”
- Applicants must complete a FAFSA to demonstrate their financial need. Applications become available on November 1 of each year and are due on the following February 1.
- The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation also awards a limited number of grants to colleges and universities in the U.S. Past grantees include Southeast Community College, the University of Michigan, Rutgers University, and Stanford University.
- This funder’s higher education grants typically range from $100,000 to $500,000, but have been as high as $10 million. Large, public universities tend to be the recipients of its largest grants.
Grants for Global Health, Reproductive and Maternal Health, Women and Girls
Despite the enormity of its giving, STBF does not tout its grantmaking for global and reproductive health or outline goals for this work. Tax filings, however reveal strong commitment to the health care infrastructure of developing nations, as well as women’s reproductive care and justice around the world. Annual giving is typically in the tens of millions. Geographic priorities include the U.S., Latin America and Africa.
- The foundation prioritizes large nonprofit organizations that work within the sexual and reproductive health and rights field on a global scale. In the past, the STBF has funded organizations like Ipas, International Planned Parenthood and the World Health Organization.
- Since the Supreme Courts Dobbs v. Jackson decision of 2022, grantmaking for U.S.-based organizations involved in women’s reproductive health has increased. Grantees include the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the National Network of Abortion Funds, the National Abortion Federation Hotline Fund and If/When/How: Lawyers for Reproductive Justice, each of which has received several millions in support.
- STBF has also made many grants to organizations involved in organizing for reproductive justice, including In Our Own Voice national Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, Black Feminist Future and Urge Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity.
- Global giving has supported a broad range of health-related causes in developing nations, especially in Africa and Latin America. Grantees include the Republic of Rwanda Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation Sierra Leone, the Amhara Regional Health Bureau in Ethiopia and the Ghana Health Service.
Important Grant Details:
The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation’s scholarships are awarded in amounts that relate to students’ needs. Grants for health and women’s reproductive rights range anywhere from $15,000 to over $50 million. The majority of awarded grants fall in the $50,000 to $750,000 range.
Global and reproductive health grants are often made in amounts greater than $10 million in support of large global nonprofits and NGOs.
This funder provides transparent application information for scholarships on its website but does not accept applications for its health grants.
Grantmaking for reproductive health is global in scope, but giving for U.S.-based organizations has increased significantly since the Dobbs v. Jackson decision of 2022.
- For questions about scholarships, the foundation may be reached via email at scholarships@stbfoundation.org. The foundation’s phone number is (402) 943-1383.
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LINK:
CONTACT:
Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation
808 Conagra Dr., Ste 300
Omaha, NE 68102-5025
402-943-1300