Case Study: United Negro College Fund secures $85M annual HBCU funding in perpetuity with FiscalNote

How FiscalNote Helped UNCF (United Negro College Fund) Secure $85 Million for HBCUs in Perpetuity

FiscalNote provided the advocacy platform that the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) used to avert the loss of $85 million in annual mandatory funding for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Facing a deadline for the FUTURE Act and resistance from lawmakers, UNCF needed a fast, large-scale grassroots push to show bipartisan public support and keep funding from expiring.

Using FiscalNote’s Advocacy Suite, UNCF built targeted contact lists, launched an action center, and sent templatized but editable messages that supporters could personalize—making it easy to contact representatives. The campaign generated over 65,000 combined letters and calls (including 62,000+ letters and 2,000+ phone calls), helped secure bipartisan sponsors, and contributed to passage and White House signing of the FUTURE Act, preserving $255 million in combined MSI funding and $85 million annually for HBCUs in perpetuity.

United Negro College Fund

Emmanual A. Guillory

Director of Public Policy and Government Affairs