Giving Back to NFL Communities

GIVING BACK TO COMMUNITIES AND INSTITUTIONS

The NFL Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of those touched by the game of football. The NFL Foundation — in conjunction with the 32 NFL Clubs — supports the health, safety and wellness of athletes across all levels, including youth football and the communities that support the game.

Today, the NFL Foundation supports more than 45 grants. This includes championing the development of youth football through funding support of USA Football, the sport’s national governing body and a member of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.

In 2019, the Foundation issued a record number of grants to the charitable endeavors of current players and NFL Legends, clubs and organizations across the country supporting community wellbeing. The Foundation has been at the forefront in responding to natural disasters with financial support and resources for youth and high school football teams and coaches as well as education and fitness curriculum for schools and teachers.

The Foundation also provides multiple grant opportunities to support NFL players and Legends’ philanthropic and community efforts and gives multiple grant opportunities to current players and NFL Legends for these purposes, including the Legends Impact Grant — a new component to the NFL Foundation’s Player Foundation Grant program. This additional funding was provided to the most impactful foundations created by Legends.

The NFL Foundation is also committed to building and supporting a stronger society and helping individual boys and girls — athletes and non-athletes alike — and entire school communities learn about the importance of developing character and healthy relationships through social and emotional learning.

Through strategic partnerships, the NFL Foundation is advancing initiatives that are interactive, engaging, and provide tangible results. These programs work to ensure that middle and high school students have the education and tools necessary to build moral character, navigate complex decision-making and improve conflict resolution.

• InSideOut – The InSideOut Initiative provides a blueprint for systemic change that creates this space, elevates the purpose of the participation and holds school communities accountable using the InSideOut System and the InSideOut Philosophy.  Through well-defined pathways, supportive leadership and intentional coaching, students will develop much more than physical skills.  They will develop the capacity to lead productive, morally rich, empathetic lives that will result in the betterment of society.
• Character Playbook – Launched in 2016 in partnership with United Way and leading digital education provider, EVERFI, Character Playbook is an innovative digital learning experience that uses evidence-based strategies to educate students on how to cultivate and maintain healthy relationships during their critical middle school years. Thanks to the United Way and the NFL, for over three and a half years, schools across the country have had access to a digital social and emotional learning program called Character Playbook at no cost.

• 306 – The NFL is in its third year providing 306, EVERFI’s signature digital education program on African American history, to high school students. The league supports access to this resource for 175 high schools across Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Montana, and North Dakota. Sponsorship of the 306 program is part of the NFL's Inspire Change program, the social justice platform. In addition to providing students with access to African American history, 306 also serves as an important civic education tool, with 84% of students who have engaged in the program saying that they probably or definitely will vote in local, state or federal elections.

Sharing stories of African American accomplishments in the arts, science, sports, and academia supports the NFL’s commitment to education and economic advancement by inspiring positive change in communities across the country.

SUPPORTING THE PLAYERS

The Foundation provides multiple grant opportunities to support NFL players and Legends’ philanthropic and community efforts and provides multiple grant opportunities to current players and NFL Legends for these purposes including the Legends Impact Grant – a new component to the NFL Foundation’s Player Foundation Grant program. This additional funding was provided to the most impactful foundations created by Legends.

NFL Player Engagement initiatives provide future and former players with career training, health and wellness support, and other resources. Player Engagement programs stress education, community service and leadership development to student-athletes in football and other sports to help them succeed on and off the field. 

Through the NFL Legends Community former players can connect with peers and get resources to assist with transitioning into their next careers. 

The NFL helps current and former players in times of need. NFL Life Line gives players and their family members access to an independent crisis line for confidential assistance.

NFL Total Wellness mission is to build systems, create programs, provide resources and encourage culture change to enhance the overall wellbeing of the NFL community in the areas of physical, emotional, spiritual, social, and financial health.

These are just some of the ways the NFL is making a difference on and off the field. As steward of a sport watched and enjoyed by millions of people in America and around the world, the NFL has a special responsibility to further causes that contribute to the health and well-being of its fans and the community. The league looks forward to continuing this long tradition of public service for many years to come.

• Social Justice – As part of the NFL’s Inspire Change platform, the NFL Foundation has awarded more than 520 social justice grants to more than 300 current players and NFL Legends over the last year, totaling more than $1.5 million to support nonprofit organizations working in the social justice space in communities around the country nationwide. Since 2017, the NFL Foundation has funded nearly 650 grants totaling more than $3 million to organizations working in the areas of social justice and equality.
• Youth and High School Football – Through our grant programs and partnerships, hundreds of thousands of youth have been given the opportunity to learn the game of football, get physically fit, and stay involved in productive after-school activities with adult mentors. The programs supported by the NFL Foundation also have provided youth football participants with safe and accessible places to play, as well as programs and initiatives that address the importance of proper coaching, health, safety and wellness, academic and life skills development and character education programs.