OVERVIEW: The PPG Industries Foundation’s grants mainly support STEM education in K-12 and higher education settings. This funder also supports community development.
IP TAKE: The PPG Industries Foundation’s largest area of giving is education. In higher education, it works globally to support STEM programs and provide scholarships to high-achieving and underrepresented students who aim to pursue careers in science. At the K-12 level, the foundation gives to in- and out-of-school programs that offer hands-on learning experiences in STEM disciplines.
This accessible funder accepts applications on a rolling basis and posts funding guidelines on its website, but getting in touch with the foundation staff in the U.S. or abroad can be difficult. They’re not particularly responsive or approachable, but a phone number is provided below.
PROFILE: The PPG Industries Foundation is the philanthropic offshoot of PPG Industries, formerly known as Pittsburgh Plate Glass, a global paint and coatings company that was established in 1883. The foundation, which was established in 1953, makes grants to support education and community development, but its philanthropy has also involved product donations and employee volunteering. While PPG grants have supported organizations around the world, a significant portion of its grants go to organizations and schools in the states of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois.
Grants for STEM Education
Higher education is the PPG Industries Foundation’s largest area of giving. The foundation works globally to support competitive STEM programs and scholarships for high-achieving and underrepresented students. In China, the foundation runs its signature University Talent Power Program, which “provides financial assistance to help students complete their education and encourages them to explore scientific research.” Another signature program based in China, the Career Intelligence Class Program, supports students at 15 Chinese universities with “workforce development and soft-skills training.” In the U.S., PPG partners with the National Merit Scholarship program and the American Chemical Society Scholars Program to provide scholarships to students in STEM programs. Many grants have also supported STEM programs at public and private two- and four-year colleges including the University of Michigan, Pennsylvania State University, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Illinois, Notre Dame University and Sowela Technical Community College in Louisiana, among others.
PPG’s STEM education funding aims to share its parent company’s “passion and joy for experimentation with future inventors.” At the K-12 level, funding supports in- and out-of-school programs that offer hands-on activities in STEM concepts as well as programs that allow secondary students to explore STEM career opportunities. In addition to grants, PPG has run programs that involve its employees with STEM education as mentors and project leaders. The foundation recently gave $7.5 million to Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Science Center to establish its PPG Science Pavilion, “a hub of learning to inspire the next generation of creative thinkers and prepare them for the workforce of the future.” Other recent STEM grantees include the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Junior Achievement of Western Pennsylvania, the Great Lakes Museum of Science, Environment and Technology and Illuminate Stem, an organization that offers Saturday and summer STEM classes for K-12 students in Texas and Michigan.
Grants for Housing, Homelessness and Community Development
The PPG Industries Foundation supports housing and community development through its community sustainability initiative. The program’s two goals are to revitalize communities with grants and donations of PPG products and volunteers and to help residents of communities affected by disasters to rebuild. PPG’s signature Colorful Communities program coordinates product donations and volunteer teams around the world to “protect and beautify” public spaces, schools and hospitals with paint. The disaster relief portion of the program consists of monetary grants and product donations for rebuilding efforts. After the 2017 earthquake in Mexico, PPG gave $6 million to Fideicomiso Provivah, a nonprofit that supported the rebuilding of single-family homes for people affected by the disaster. Other grantees of this program include regional chapters of the United Way, the City of Madison, Alabama and the Family Services Center of Huntsville, Alabama.
Grants for Public Health
The PPG Industries Foundation does not name public health as an area of grantmaking interest but supports hospitals in need of renovation via its Colorful Communities program. In France, the program helped to renovate hospitals in seven major cities with a grant of over €100,000 and over 3,000 employee volunteer hours. U.S. recipients include the Blanchard Valley Health Center and St. Jude’s Ranch for Children. In 2020, the PPG Industries Foundation also made donations of masks, hand sanitizers and antibacterial paint to hospitals and front-line workers responding to the COVID-19 crisis.
Important Grant Details:
The PPG Industries Foundation makes between $3 and $5 million a year in monetary grants and another several million in product donations yearly. Grants are generally awarded in amounts up to $500,000, with an average grant size of about $10,000. This funder works globally, but a significant portion of its grantmaking remains in the states of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois, and more than half of its grants support education. For additional information see the foundation’s past grantees list or its recent tax filings.
PPG runs an ongoing open application process. Prospective grantees should read the funding guidelines to determine eligibility and contact either the PPG Foundation or a global community engagement representative for application instructions. The foundation does not provide a direct way of getting in touch, but U.S. foundation staff may be reached by telephone at 412-434-2962.
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