About Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference organizes and governs intercollegiate athletics among its member institutions, promoting competitive championships, academic success and the well‑being of student‑athletes.
Focus Areas
College athleticsStudent‑athlete developmentSports championships and eventsAcademic supportCommunity and youth engagement
Funding Style
unrestricted / general operating supportflexible institutional supportcore / operating support
Topics
unspecified programmatic areaorganizational capacity / stabilityinstitutional sustainability
About Atlantic Coast Conference
Atlantic Coast Conference grantmaking is built around general support to its member universities, with each recent award framed as an allocation of general support. The largest grants in the record approach $47 million, including $46,850,044 to University of North Carolina and $46,549,033 to Clemson University in 2024. That same pattern continues across 2025, when the conference gave $46,415,388 to University of Louisville and $46,311,450 to Florida State University. Rather than supporting a single project, these awards reinforce the operating base of athletics programs within the conference structure. The recipient list also shows repeated support for institutions such as Duke University, University of Pittsburgh, Syracuse University, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Wake Forest University, University of Miami, NC State University, University of Virginia, and Georgia Institute of Tech. The scale and consistency of those allocations suggest a funding model centered on institutional stability and the ongoing administration of intercollegiate athletics. Across the top recent grants, the conference’s role is not project-based philanthropy but recurring support distributed to member institutions.
What Atlantic Coast Conference Funds
The Atlantic Coast Conference’s giving is concentrated in institutional support for college athletics. In 2025, it awarded $45,874,859 to Duke University for allocation of general support, and in 2024 it gave $45,485,338 to the same institution for the same purpose. That kind of pattern points to flexible support rather than restricted project funding. Student-athlete development and academic support also sit inside the conference’s stated focus areas, which align with the general-support structure seen in the grant list. Conference championships and events are another visible part of its activity, reflected in the way awards are attached to member institutions rather than outside organizations. Community and youth engagement appears in the stated focus areas as well, placing the grantmaking within a broader athletics-and-student-life framework rather than a single program line.
How Atlantic Coast Conference Gives
The typical grant size is large and tightly clustered: p25 is $39,674,290, median grant size is $43,775,117, and p75 is $45,235,737. The recent record shows repeated awards to the same institutions across multiple years, including University of Pittsburgh, University of Louisville, Florida State University, Syracuse University, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Wake Forest University, University of Miami, NC State University, University of Virginia, Georgia Institute of Tech, University of North Carolina, Clemson University, and Duke University. That repetition indicates a recurring allocation model rather than one-off grants. The foundation is classified as a regular funder, does not fund individuals, and does not make program-related investments. The grant descriptions consistently use allocation of general support.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$1.9B
Total Assets
$274M
Total Revenue
$711.4M
Total Expenses
$705.4M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $39.7M and $45.2M, with a median of $43.8M.
25th Percentile
$39.7M
Median
$43.8M
75th Percentile
$45.2M
Geographic Reach
Leadership
JAMES PHILLIPS
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