Duke-Durham Fund

Duke is deeply concerned about the impact of COVID-19 on our neighbors and is providing support through The Duke-Durham Fund. With an initial commitment of $5 million from Duke, the fund is providing assistance to area non-profits, small businesses, and community-based organizations.

As Duke works to fulfill its academic and health care missions at a critical time for our campus and broader communities, we remain committed to supporting our neighbors through purposeful partnerships.

In response to COVID-19, Duke pledged to expand the Duke-Durham Fund to provide funding and technical assistance to non-profits, small businesses and community-based organizations affected by the pandemic. Most of the grant recipients are long-standing partners with Duke in our community. The primary purpose of the Duke-Durham Fund was to address the immediate basic needs of the Durham community in several phases.


Emergency Relief for the Community

The Emergency Relief for the Community fund provided small grants up to $5,000 to community-based organizations for projects that address immediate, basic needs of food, shelter, and childcare for individuals and families affected by COVID-19. Total funding available was $1.05 million – one million was committed by Duke and more than $55,000 was raised by the Duke and Durham community. 89 organizations were funded.


The Corporate Partnership for Durham – COVID-19 Recovery Fund

Part of the Duke-Durham Fund, The Corporate Partnership brought together corporations, Duke University, local government and community leaders to identify and respond to our community’s most vulnerable Durham residents as a result of the pandemic by investing in non-profits responding to immediate COVID-19 Recovery needs. The Fund provided grants up to $75,000 to 31 large-scale nonprofits that address community-wide services related to food security, emergency housing assistance, education, support for healthcare workers, and other emergent issues stemming from COVID-19.

The Fund was hosted and administered by Duke University, which committed $1 million in seed funding. Nearly $400,000 was donated by corporate partners. Grant decisions were made by funders and community representatives. Read more about how the corporate partnership was formed.
31 nonprofits were funded.

Our Corporate Partners

  • Bank of America
  • BD
  • Biogen Foundation
  • Burt’s Bees
  • Capitol Broadcasting Company / AJ Fletcher Foundation
  • CISCO
  • Duke University
  • NetApp
  • RTP Foundation
  • RTI
  • Wells Fargo

Durham Small Business Recovery Fund

The City and County of Durham established of the Durham Small Business Recovery Fund program in partnership with Duke to assist small businesses adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund disbursed just over $1M contributed by Duke in grants to small businesses, while the City and County provided $2M in public funds for loans. Loan funds may still be available. The fund is administered by the Carolina Small Business Development Fund (CSBDF). Visit the loan site for more information.

Read about who received grants and loans in the city’s recovery fund report.


Emergency Relief for Carteret County

The Emergency Relief Fund for Community Organizations in Carteret County provided grants of up to $5,000 to eligible community organizations for selected projects that address immediate basic needs of food, shelter, and childcare for residents of Carteret County affected by COVID-19. Carteret County is home to the Duke University Marine Lab. Visit the Marine Lab’s website for more information.