Celebrating Black Philanthropy Month
Black Philanthropy Month, founded by Dr. Jackie Bouvier Copeland in 2011, recognizes and promotes Black giving, generosity, and honors all forms of collective support and community impact.
As an organization with a mission to support children and families, and that receives funding from the generosity of our diverse communities, each week we will highlight the impact and legacy of Black giving.
Maggie Walker – St. Luke’s Society
“First we need a savings bank. Let us put our moneys together; let us use our moneys; let us put our money out at usury among ourselves and reap the benefit ourselves. Let us have a bank that will take the nickels and turn them into dollars.”
– Maggie Lena Walker in her address at the Independent Order of St. Luke Annual Convention, August 20, 1901
Some stories become the stuff of legend, and these narratives become even more remarkable because they are true. This is the case with Richmond native, Maggie Lena Walker. Born during the Civil War in the (then) capital of the Confederacy to a formerly enslaved woman in a segregated neighborhood, Ms. Walker’s prospects for even the simple necessities of life were meager. Yet, against the backdrop of adversities, Ms. Walker built a legacy that inspired women during her time and paved the way for the contemporary Black Girl Magic phenomenon.
At a time when most Black women struggled to make ends meet, Ms. Walker provided a model for economic success. She championed educational opportunities leading to gainful employment so that Black women could create their own agency during a time when women could not even vote or, in some cases, hold their own lines of credit. Ms. Walker also encouraged children to learn how to save and make nickels into dollars so that prosperity, not poverty, was their model.
When she was 14 years old, Ms. Walker joined the Independent Order of St. Luke’s, an African American/Black organization with the mission of helping individuals who suffered from illnesses or coped with the tribulations that came with becoming elderly. She rose through the ranks of the organization, and, in 1902, she began publishing The St. Luke Herald, which provided her with a platform to reach African Americans and encourage them to build their own institutions and establish economic power and success. When she was 39 years old, she made history when she became the first Black woman, as well as the first woman, to charter a bank in the United States when she founded the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank. She served as the bank’s president, and her visionary leadership expanded the Bank’s presence into other parts of Virginia to include more than 50,000 members. While many other banks closed during the Great Depression, the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank endured. Nothing could stop her, not even family trauma when her husband was accidentally shot by her son or when illness required her to use a wheelchair in her elderly years.
The Walker home at 110 1/2 East Leigh Street was the warm, welcoming epicenter of African American social life. Since 1979, when it was purchased by the National Park Service, the home still anchors the Jackson Ward neighborhood (often dubbed the Harlem of the South). Annually in July, the historic site holds events and festivities to honor Ms. Walker’s life and legacy, which still inspires us today, especially in giving back to our communities and gathering our resources for collective, lasting change.
- https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/maggie-lena-walker
- https://www.rva.gov/richmond-city-council/maggie-walker
- https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/walker-maggie-lena-1864-1934/
- https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/maggie-lena-walker
- Norwood, Arlisha. “Maggie Walker.” National Women’s History Museum. 2017. www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/maggie-walker.
- Maggie Lena Walker – Maggie L Walker National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)
- https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/essence-black-girl-magic-history-black-womens-image-media
History of the Black Church and Philanthropy/Giving
The history of Black Church philanthropy is a powerful testament to faith, resilience, and mutual aid in African American communities. Black churches primarily arose in the 19th century, during a time when slavery, racial discrimination, and segregation was commonly practiced in the United States. These churches quickly became more than religious centers—they served as safe havens and community hubs where newly freed and enslaved people could organize, support one another, and build networks of care and resistance.
From its earliest days, the Black Church has served not only as a spiritual sanctuary but also as a central institution for social support, education, activism, and charitable giving within African American communities. There is also a unique early example of Black philanthropy providing foreign aid in 1847 from the First African Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia. Tyrone McKinley Freeman writes,
“The West African people put into slavery brought cultures of giving and sharing with them across the Atlantic. In 1847, for example, enslaved Africans in Richmond, Virginia, donated money through their church to Ireland’s potato famine relief efforts. I believe that their ways of looking after others and pooling resources to survive forms the basis of giving by African Americans today.”
In the 19th century, Black churches were vital institutions that funded schools, mutual aid societies, orphanages, and burial clubs. The National Philanthropic Trust writes, “Black mutual aid societies were vitally important to African American civic life before the Civil War, throughout Reconstruction and into the Jim Crow era. The co-operative organizations financed medical care, life insurance, banking and financial services and purchases of land and livestock.”
These early acts of giving formed a unique model of philanthropy—driven not by wealth, but by solidarity, faith, and survival.
The Civil Rights Movement amplified the Church’s role in organized giving. Churches served as fundraising and organizing hubs, collecting donations for marches, bail funds, and voter registration. Leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. mobilized congregations to give and act in pursuit of justice. Philanthropy became a tool for liberation.
Today, Black churches continue this legacy through scholarships, food programs, health clinics, housing support, and disaster relief. Many now partner with nonprofits or run their own charitable foundations. Despite systemic barriers, African Americans continue to give generously, often through their churches.
The Black Church’s history of philanthropy is a testament to community, purpose, and resilience. It has shown how faith-fueled generosity—rooted in care and justice—can uplift individuals and transform entire communities.
A Legacy of Giving: The Cannons and the Power of Everyday Philanthropy
Known as the “Poor Man’s Philanthropist,” Thomas Cannon Sr. worked as a post office clerk and never earned more than $30,000 a year. Yet over the course of his life, he quietly gave away more than $150,000 (mostly in $1,000 checks) to individuals or local organizations he read about in the news: people who had shown courage, kindness, or endured hardship.
Born in 1925 in Chase County, Virginia and raised in poverty, Cannon Sr. dropped out of school at age 13 to support his family. He served in WWII, later using the GI Bill to earn a degree at the Hampton Institute, now Hampton University. He married Princetta Cooper and they lived in Richmond’s Church Hill neighborhood for many years with their two sons.
Over the years, Cannon would send checks anonymously or hand out envelopes of cash to strangers on the bus, asking for nothing in return. According to a Valentine Museum article written by, Laura Byrd Earle,
“…in 1972, the Westhampton Junior Women’s Club received Cannon’s first gift for their volunteer work at an elementary school in Richmond. While he usually gave $1,000 checks, there were also times when he would give smaller gifts. One Christmas, he boarded a Richmond city bus to hand out envelopes with $50 inside, and during the Bicentennial celebration, he donated $50 to each state.
He gave a $1,000 check to a young boy who turned in $40 he had found on the bus, even though he didn’t have enough money for lunch that day. Below is a story from the Richmond News Leader in 1984 where he gave $1,000 to a young man who had been burned rescuing an elderly neighbor from a fire.”
For Cannon Sr., giving was a spiritual calling, not a transaction. He referenced the biblical verse John 15:16 “You did not choose me, I chose you. And I appointed you to bear fruit and that your fruit should abide” as his inspiration and motivation for helping others. Cannon’s generosity eventually drew national attention. He was featured on Oprah, Nightline, and in 1998 he received a special postal cancellation in his honor from the Richmond Post Office. But he never sought fame. When he passed away in 2005 at age 79, he asked that people simply honor his memory by helping someone else.
That spirit lives on in his son, Thomas “T.C.” Cannon Jr. Cannon Jr. has shared his time, mentorship, and steady presence in the lives of young Black men in Richmond as a mentor and treasurer for Concerned Black Men of Richmond. Together, the Cannons remind us that philanthropy isn’t just about money—it’s about heart. His story is a powerful reminder that everyday people can make an extraordinary impact through compassion, consistency, and kindness.
Giving Circles (Sister Fund & Ujima Fund), Divine 9/scholarship funds, other social organizations
Like many of this nation’s institutions and cultural norms, charity in the United States has traditionally been rooted in white supremacy. The “white savior complex” was ever-present in charitable program and funding models, and the division between donors and beneficiaries often reinforced systemic racial and economic inequities.
While many non-profit organizations and development teams are moving towards adopting “Community-Centric Fundraising” (CCF) approaches today, Black/African-American communities have historically engaged in collective, community giving that upends the traditional model described above and debunks persistent stereotypes about “charity”.
From Black churches to Black sororities & fraternities (called the Divine Nine) to “giving circles”, there is a long, deep tradition of giving in Black/African-American communities. In Richmond, this legacy continues today. As we delved into in a previous post in this series, there are a number of historic Black churches that still actively support their communities with funding and resources to this day, including First African Baptist Church, Mt. Carmel Baptist Church, Third Street Bethel A.M.E. Church, Fourth Baptist Church, and Ebenezer Baptist Church. There are many chapters of the Divine Nine that are engaging in collective giving of their time, talent, and treasure in Richmond. These chapters include Delta Sigma Theta, Omega Psi Phi, and Alpha Kappa Alpha, who have all specifically supported ChildSavers through donations and volunteerism. There are several ChildSavers staff members who are also active in their local chapters.
Two incredible giving circles in Richmond also highlight the continued legacy of Black philanthropy in our city, especially through collective efforts—the Ujima Legacy Fund and the Sister Fund. Founders of the Ujima Legacy Fund named this giving circle after Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility), the principle of Kwanzaa focused on building and maintaining our community together – making our community’s problems our problems and solving them together. The Ujima Legacy Fund supports projects in the Richmond region that will positively impact youth and young adults, ages 12 to 21 years, with emphasis on underserved youth populations. Ujima is the largest giving circle of African-American men in the nation and since 2013, members have contributed more than $453,000 to 22 organizations. The mission of SisterFund is to improve the lives of Black women and girls by transforming local nonprofits, who also support the development of Black women and girls through significant financial investments. With over 45 members, the circle has granted over $320,000 to 14 local nonprofits since 2016.
As we close out Black Philanthropy Month, the ChildSavers (Development) Team aimed to spotlight some of the incredible, Black-led collective giving efforts in our community. We hope that you have learned something new through this series and discovered exciting pathways to support Black philanthropy in Richmond!
