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SBC Foundation Awards $5 million in Technology Funding to 436 Nonprofit Organizations
SBC Foundation Awards $5 million in Technology Funding to 436 Nonprofit Organizations
Published 11-17-04
Submitted by SBC Communications Inc.
Now in its third year, SBC Excelerator has provided more than $27 million to nonprofit organizations around the country to build stronger communities and improve lives by supporting improved technology resources. This year, 436 nonprofit organizations throughout the SBC 13-state region received SBC Excelerator grants.
"More than a thousand nonprofit organizations have used SBC Excelerator grants to build their technology capabilities and deliver more services at the local level," said Forrest Miller, SBC group president of external affairs and planning. "We support these organizations that make a profound difference in our communities and in the lives of people across the country."
SBC Excelerator was founded on the idea that technology access and resources can improve the lives of people in communities across the nation. The 2004 SBC Excelerator grants were awarded to organizations that connect people with little to no access to technology, including at-risk youth, and underserved urban families. The program provides access to important resources in the community, such as Internet access, hands-on computer training, math and reading classes, and job skills programs.
The more than 400 2004 SBC Excelerator grants provide nonprofit organizations with the necessary tools to better equip the communities they serve through:
For instance, the Cloud County Community College in Concordia, Kansas received an SBC Excelerator grant to support the CLOUD TECH initiative to provide technology workshops to nonprofit agencies in Cloud County. The El Puente Community Development Corporation in El Paso, Texas will use its SBC Excelerator grant to provide technology training to help build employment, educational and leadership skills of low income Hispanic women and their family members. In California, the SeniorNet organization in San Francisco received a grant to offer cyber crime prevention training for seniors across the nation.
"Our organization works hard to make Milwaukee neighborhoods safe places to work, live and raise families," said Barbara Notestein, executive director of Safe and Sound. "The 2004 SBC Excelerator grant will help us use technology to bring all of the youth and family service agencies together to use one reporting system. This will allow us to more effectively respond to the needs of our whole community."
Overall in 2004, the SBC Foundation distributed more than $8 million in SBC Excelerator grants to community-based organizations. Earlier this year, the SBC Foundation announced three $1 million national SBC Excelerator grants to the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the National Urban League and the AMBER Alert Plan.
LULAC received a $1 million SBC Excelerator grant to support its Empower Hispanic America with Technology initiative, which will provide computer equipment and high-speed Internet access, technology curriculum and technology support to LULAC community centers throughout the 13-state SBC territory. The National Urban League received $1,070,000 in SBC Excelerator funds to launch 12 Digital Empowerment Academies, which will offer technology job skills training to African Americans in low-income communities. Finally, the AMBER Alert Plan received nearly $1 million in funding for law enforcement agencies in each of the SBC 13-state region to enhance the technology used to locate missing children.
To qualify for an SBC Excelerator grant, an organization's major focus and project must emphasize education, community development, health and human services, or arts and culture. Grant funds will be applied toward data communications services, hardware, software, technology training, personnel, and application development. Grants range from $2,500 to $25,000 and are one year in length. Collaborations by two or more organizations were considered for grants up to $50,000.
The SBC Excelerator program is the largest special grants program ever undertaken by the SBC Foundation, one of the top corporate foundations in the nation, according to The Foundation Center. The 2004 SBC Excelerator program marks a significant part of the SBC Foundation's 20th anniversary year. Since 1984, SBC Communications and the SBC Foundation have contributed more than $1 billion to nonprofit organizations across the country. According to Business Week magazine's 2003 Special Report on Corporate Philanthropy, SBC Communications ranks as one of the largest providers of corporate philanthropic funding in America.
The SBC Foundation is the charitable giving arm of SBC Communications Inc. The SBC Foundation supports efforts that enrich and strengthen diverse communities nationwide, particularly those with an emphasis on education and technology and those that benefit underserved populations. SBC Foundation-backed programs are designed to increase access to information technologies, broaden technology training and professional skills development, and effectively integrate new technologies to enhance education and economic development. The Foundation Center has consistently ranked the SBC Foundation among the nation's top six corporate foundations. In 2002, the SBC Foundation launched SBC Excelerator, a multimillion dollar competitive grants program that funds nonprofit organizations in their efforts to digitally connect communities.
SBC Communications Inc. (www.sbc.com) is a Fortune 50 company whose subsidiaries, operating under the SBC brand, provide a full range of voice, data, networking, e-business, directory publishing and advertising, and related services to businesses, consumers and other telecommunications providers. SBC holds a 60 percent ownership interest in Cingular Wireless, which serves more than 46 million wireless customers. SBC companies provide high-speed DSL Internet access lines to more American consumers than any other provider and are among the nation's leading providers of Internet services. SBC companies also now offer satellite TV service. Additional information about SBC and SBC products and services is available at www.sbc.com.
