At The Duke Endowment, we are working toward one overarching goal: to improve life for the people of North Carolina and South Carolina. In 1924, our founder, James B. Duke, signed an Indenture of Trust that, to this day, guides our work and gives us direction on how to achieve that goal. A forward-looking businessman and philanthropist, Mr. Duke specified exactly what he wanted the Endowment to support — higher education, health care, child and family well-being, and rural United Methodist churches. At a time when government services and benefits did not always extend to everyone, he insisted that his philanthropy would.
Despite building a business empire that stretched around the globe, Mr. Duke never lost his love for the Carolinas and through his philanthropy, sought to make life better for the people living there. As he wrote in the Indenture, “I have endeavored to make provision in some measure for the needs of mankind along physical, mental and spiritual lines.” Over the years, we have remained true to Mr. Duke’s intent while appropriately evolving to address current challenges. Our founding document keeps us grounded and focused on Mr. Duke’s wishes and our work for the people of the Carolinas.
Mr. Duke was a visionary and believed in a targeted and strategic approach to business and philanthropy. For instance, he acknowledged in the Indenture that he could have given to more causes and to regions beyond the Carolinas, “but my opinion is that so doing probably would be productive of less good by reason of attempting too much.” A century later, that focus on sound strategy and efficient use of resources remains at the heart of our work in our four grantmaking areas. It also infuses our strategic focus on early childhood, which helps us address challenging modern social problems by searching for preventive solutions.
We have developed a set of guiding principles that summarizes our philosophy utilized both in our grantmaking and philanthropic approach. These include addressing current and emerging needs; providing ethical leadership informed by the insights of grantees, strategic partners and other funders; and building effective relationships with grantees by listening to them, learning about their communities and working together toward solutions. We also strive to achieve measurable impact, which is why we evaluate our programs with the most practical rigor. We study not just our successes, but also our mistakes, so that we can learn, continuously improve and apply lessons learned to develop the most effective strategies to achieve our philanthropic goals.
Trustees and staff of The Duke Endowment engage in our work because we believe in the power of philanthropy as a force for good. We believe we can help move the Carolinas forward, even if at times those advances seem small and incremental. Most importantly, we believe in and support the good work our grantees do every day in communities across North Carolina and South Carolina. It is the work of these remarkable organizations that inspires us and our grantmaking. They help children and families heal from trauma. They teach the next generation of leaders. They help us all live longer and healthier lives. They uplift spirits and build resources in rural communities. We do this work because, like Mr. Duke, we love the Carolinas and want to see all its residents prosper. One hundred years ago, Mr. Duke’s Indenture established the Endowment, launching and directing its journey for the past century and into the next. As we begin our second century of work, it lights our path more clearly than ever.