The Duke Endowment

The Duke Endowment is a private foundation based in Charlotte, North Carolina, established in 1924 by philanthropist James B. Duke. Guided by its original trust, the Endowment supports rural United Methodist churches, higher education, hospitals, child welfare, and spiritual life across North and South Carolina. Its Rural Church Division empowers clergy and congregations with grants, training, and partnerships to serve as anchor institutions in rural communities, fostering vitality through community engagement, literacy programs, and substance use recovery initiatives :contentReference.

Over the past century, The Duke Endowment has granted over $3.7 billion to educational and nonprofit causes :contentReference. It continues investing in rural church grants, technical assistance networks, and leadership initiatives like the Thriving Rural Communities program in partnership with Duke Divinity School.

For more information, visit their official website: The Duke Endowment