The Enterprise Holdings Foundation recently celebrated its 40th year of giving. Since it was established, the Foundation has contributed more than half a billion dollars to thousands of local non-profits and made wide-reaching commitments—from global philanthropic initiatives to community-focused projects.

Philanthropy has long been part of Enterprise Holdings’ culture and DNA. This commitment was inspired by the values of company founder Jack Taylor, who emphasized the importance of giving back to local communities and formalized the creation of the Enterprise Holdings Foundation in 1982. Taylor’s inspiring vision on corporate giving, “We strengthen our communities, one neighborhood at a time,” rings just as true today as it did four decades ago.

“Dad instilled in his teams—and his family—the importance of always doing the right thing for our neighbors and communities,” Enterprise Holdings Foundation Chairperson Jo Ann Taylor Kindle said. “It was out of this commitment that the Enterprise Holdings Foundation was born as the home of our organization’s work to promote community growth by giving of our time and resources.”

The Enterprise Holdings Foundation supports a range of causes, including health and human services, environmental issues, education, public and social benefits, disaster relief, the arts and veterans across the corporation’s global locations. The Foundation also plays a unique role in helping respond when hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, floods and other natural disasters strike by providing aid through partnerships with the American Red Cross® as well as focused grants and transportation support.

What makes the Foundation special is its employee-led giving strategy. Nearly all Foundation grants are determined by Enterprise Holdings employees from around the world who are encouraged to submit grant applications, which helps focus giving efforts where they're needed the most. In FY22 alone, the Foundation gave $74 million to global philanthropic initiatives and community nonprofits, with 98% of grants given by the Foundation fulfilling requests submitted directly from employees to support community causes that are important to them.

In addition to local grants for organizations selected by employees, the Enterprise Holdings Foundation oversees a variety of initiatives focused on creating positive impacts through long-term partnerships with nonprofit organizations. 

Some recent Enterprise Holdings Foundation partner highlights include:
 

• Giving more than $1.8 million in aid in response to disasters including Ukraine conflict relief and Hurricane Fiona in FY22.
• Serving 26.9 million meals to more than 654,000 seniors in local communities through the “Fill Your Tank” program and partnership with Feeding America.
• Providing $750,000 to the Heroes’ Legacy Scholarship—which is open to the dependent, unmarried children (under 23) of those who have died or become disabled through their active military service—and giving $250,000 toward building homes on military hospital grounds  through a partnership with Fisher House Foundation.
• Reaching a record 17 million trees planted through the Enterprise “50 Million Tree Pledge,” in partnership with Arbor Day Foundation. 
• Helping The Nature Conservancy and partners improve the health of an estimated 9,879 river miles and conserve over 7 million acres in priority watersheds, benefitting biodiversity and local communities through the “Routes & Roots®: Enterprise Healthy Rivers Project.”
• Distributing $14 million in local grants in FY22—part of a $55 million commitment over the next five years—to help advance social and racial equity through the Enterprise ROAD Forward initiative and partnerships with My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, United Negro College Fund, Girls Inc. and Parents as Teachers.

Since the beginning, Enterprise Holdings has strived to act as an engaged corporate citizen that makes a meaningful difference in the communities where it operates. Foundation President Carolyn Kindle emphasized this by stating, “Together with Enterprise Holdings employees and our philanthropic partners, we will continue to honor my grandfather’s vision by doing our part to enable positive change and create healthier, more equitable communities.”