Howard University Alumna Creates Platform to Fundraise for HBCUs
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Despite recent grants made to support the development of new facilities and opportunities for HBCUs, they still aren’t receiving the same amount of funding as PWIs. As a result, funding disparities amongst HBCUs continue to occur. Fortunately, several alums are working to provide HBCUs with the additional funding they deserve.
Dominique King, a Howard University Alumna and owner of I Heart My HBCU, is one alum working on collecting donations for HBCUs. I Heart My HBCU is a digital platform founded in 2017 that allows users to round up their credit or debit card purchases and donate the remainder to their top five list of HBCUs. These tax-deductible donations go towards developing scholarships, the enhancement of academic and athletics programs, the improvement of campuses, and much more.
As reported by NewsOne, the company recently established a two-year partnership with Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) to advance the school’s mission to make HBCUs across the nation more accessible. The partnership aims to have 10,000 people join XULA’s donor community on I Heart My HBCU’s platform. For every donor that signs up, the platform will donate anywhere from $1 to $10,000. Aside from the donations, the platform allows users to network with other HBCU alums, discuss ideas, and support black-owned businesses and HBCUs.
King made the following statement about her platform:
“While HBCU alumni are large in numbers, preserving our HBCUs will take a community effort,” she said in a statement, according to Forbes. “I Heart My HBCU’s chat integration takes the app from just being a donor marketplace to a donor community for HBCU alumni and friends of HBCUs to network, exchange ideas, support other Black-owned businesses, and, most importantly, support HBCUs.”