Bridge Philanthropic Consulting (BPC) is proud to release the latest installment in its Iconic Impact series highlighting the philanthropy of Pearl C. Anderson, who, without fanfare, made her first major donation in 1955 to the Dallas Community Chest Trust Fund, known today as Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT).
An exert from the series reads:
Pearl Carina Bowden Anderson (1898-1990) became one of the wealthiest Black women in the history of Dallas, Texas. She was a devoted civic leader and philanthropist, a noun that was rarely used to describe a Black woman during this country’s unceremonious times. Her life was dedicated to making the world a better place by helping those less fortunate across racial lines and developing equity in the Black community primarily in education, food security, and business development.
The first major donation by Anderson in 1955 was a residual interest in a trust of prime real estate in downtown Dallas, valued at $325,000, which she gifted to the then two-year-old Dallas Community Chest Trust Fund. Not only did her generous gift establish the Pearl C. Anderson Fund, but it was also the first time that a philanthropist who happened to be Black, donated a transformative, six-figure gift of this size to the Dallas Community Chest Trust Fund. Founded in 1953, and now known as Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT), one would say Anderson’s generosity was catalytic to the prestige that CFT enjoys today. The donation also acknowledged Anderson, a resident of South Dallas, as one of the state’s most generous philanthropists – a title that was unheard of for a Black woman in the midst of segregation and the Jim Crow South.
Since her 1955 donation, Communities Foundation of Texas has become one of the most influential community charitable fund holders, partners, and nonprofit grantees in Texas and the country. CFT manages more than 1,200 charitable funds for individuals, families, and corporations. In 2021, CFT’s assets grew 25 percent to $1.5 billion. CFT has cumulatively granted $2.2 billion in grants to nonprofits, working to support programs and initiatives that grow community giving, expand community impact, and advance community equity.
Click HERE to Read the Pearl Carina Bowden Anderson Story