Annual Grants: Higher Education Requests

The John William Pope Foundation offers annual grants to enhance the well-being of North Carolinians through public policy, education, human services, and the arts. It prioritizes organizations that promote free-market principles and intellectual diversity, focusing on projects that directly impact the community. With a commitment to fostering critical thinking and personal responsibility, the Foundation accepts proposals year-round, issuing grants biannually in spring and fall. The Foundation aims to empower the next generation with the knowledge and skills necessary for success.

Note: The John William Pope Foundation accepts proposals for funding throughout the year. However, we traditionally act on proposals only twice a year spring (April/May) and fall (October/November). Most public policy and higher education grant requests are considered at our spring board meeting.
Foundation Mission & Philosophy
“Self-reliance, self-confidence, and integrity are the keys to success. Endurance is also critical, and the responsibility for success lies on the shoulders of the individual,” said the late entrepreneur and philanthropist John William Pope.
John William Pope inherently understood those values. He entered the family business running his father’s five discount-variety stores after World War II. With ‘American dream’ ambition, he built those holdings into Variety Wholesalers Inc. — the parent company of Roses and Maxway stores (among others), serving hundreds of communities and providing employment for thousands. The success of Variety Wholesalers enabled the Pope family to create the Pope Foundation in 1986.
With the goal to improve the well being of North Carolinians, the John William Pope Foundation makes grants to support public policy groups, educational institutions, humanitarian efforts, and the arts.
From its first grant in 1986 to the present, the Foundation’s giving has totaled over $100 million, primarily to charities and organizations in North Carolina. Art (www.artpope.com) is the current Chairman of the Foundation.
Too many students graduate — whether from high schools, colleges, or universities — without the job skills needed to compete in our knowledge-based economy. Worse, many students lack basic information on the foundations of our free and civil society, the very concepts that allow our republican form of government to function and our nation to flourish.
The John William Pope Foundation believes that Americans have a duty to teach the next generation about the West’s rich tradition of liberty. We support Carolinas-focused educational institutions, academic centers, student groups, and national organizations that achieve those ends including programs at private schools and independent nonprofits.
But ensuring that future generations are taught about the blessings of freedom isn’t enough. The Pope Foundation also believes in impacting education for the current generation — creating educational excellence for today. That’s why we support student societies and policy groups that research education issues.
A key way that the Foundation meets its goal of impacting current students, and future generations of learners, is through academic centers at UNC-Chapel Hill; N.C. State University; Duke University; Clemson University, College of Charleston, and Wake Forest University.
These centers provide a needed freedom-centric perspective that is often overlooked in the classrooms of higher learning.
Principles
The primary goal of educational institutions is to encourage critical thinking, scholarly inquiry, and responsible teaching, not to indoctrinate students in a particular worldview.Schools, colleges, and universities should be strongholds of intellectual diversity, including the philosophies of economic freedom and prosperity.Educational institutions have a duty to provide value to their customers, the students.Philanthropists and alumni ought to be keenly interested in supporting our nation’s academic institutions.
The John William Pope Foundation’s philanthropic vision is rooted in improving the well-being of North Carolinians through the advancement of individual freedom and personal responsibility. To achieve this the Foundation’s giving is directed to four grant priorities:
Public policy – The foundation prioritizes organizations that advance free-market principles and organizations that are based in North Carolina and/or doing work that directly impacts North Carolina public policy.
Education – The foundation prioritizes institutions that encourage intellectual diversity and critical thinking and are based in North Carolina and/or doing work that directly impacts North Carolina higher education and K-12 education.
Human Services – The foundation prioritizes organizations that encourage opportunity and personal responsibility and are based in Wake and Vance Counties and/or doing work that benefits residents of Wake and Vance Counties.
The Arts – The foundation prioritizes organizations that create and promote the arts through performance and education and are based in Wake and Vance Counties and/or doing work that benefits residents of Wake and Vance Counties.
The Foundation accepts requests for general operating and project-specific grants in all of the four priority areas on a rolling basis. However grants are issued only twice a year — in the spring (public policy and higher education) and the fall (K-12 education, human services, and the arts). Urgent needs and projects that fall between meeting times may be considered at the discretion of the board.
Typical Request Amount
There is no magic number or ideal request. If you have a question regarding the suitability of your application, we highly encourage you to review our past year’s grantees. This will give you an idea of the types of organizations we typically fund.

Eligibility

The Pope Foundation is open to considering any proposal though there are some general geographic guidelines the Foundation traditionally follows when considering requests:Education (Higher education and student development): Primarily the Triangle, sometimes extending into other parts of the Carolinas.