190. Where the artist formerly known as Prince donated his money

Welcome to Progressive Pockets! I go by GG, that’s short for Genet Gimja. This is a show about our money and our power and one of the sources of power that our money has is in our giving. Where do you donate your money? Are you looking for some inspiration in thinking about how you want to give?

Today’s episode is a part of the summer celebrity giving series. The idea is that it can be fun to talk about celebrities and what they’re doing and sometimes we can be inspired and other times we can look at what they’re doing and get some real clarity on what we DON’T want to do.

Today’s episode is about where the artist formerly known as Prince donated his money.

Prince Rogers Nelson. We didn’t hear much in the headlines about where he was giving his money when he was alive, but today let’s get into what I could find.

Prince had a philosophy: Give generously, but don’t draw attention to yourself. According to my research, he routinely requested privacy for his donations. Many details only came out after his passing. Pause and consider that- most celebrities seem to seek as much recognition as possible for their charitable work, but for Prince, anonymity was more his speed.

Here’s a story shared after he died: Prince wrote a surprise $200,000 check to convert a Minneapolis nursing home into a charter school. Recipients said that the money just showed up, with little advance notice, no press, and only a brief note from him. No fanfare.

In the late 90s, Prince established a charity called Love 4 One Another. The Foundation supported causes nationwide, like education, health care, social justice, and disaster relief. From 2005 to 2007, tax records show donations of more than $1.5 million, but these years are just a snapshot.

For example, Prince hosted benefit concerts, sometimes casual, sometimes full-scale, to raise money for the Foundation. The New York Times once reported on a concert where tickets were $50 each, with proceeds going directly to local charities through Love 4 One Another. He made sure these events felt inclusive, often inviting fans and community members rather than just celebrities.

Prince’s connection to youth programs was consistent. He donated $1 million to the Harlem Children’s Zone in New York, and $250,000 to the Uptown Dance Academy. In Minnesota, where he grew up, Prince gave both money and musical instruments to public schools. These donations often created beautiful opportunities for students: arts classes, workshops, even career mentorship. Those organizations remember the impact not just in terms of dollars but what grew from it- music rooms, summer camps, dance scholarships.

He also backed technology training for young people. One example is #YesWeCode, launched with help from Prince, aiming to connect urban youth with skills needed for tech jobs. Apparently Prince was an early supporter and quiet champion for youth learning to code, seeing tech as an essential path for empowerment.

And when disasters struck, Prince took action. After the Minneapolis interstate bridge collapsed in 2007, he quietly donated $50,000 to help victims and their families. During Hurricane Katrina, local organizations in New Orleans received direct and unrestricted funding from the Foundation. Just a reminder that unrestricted funding lets nonprofits decide how to spend the money. It’s a beautiful way to give.

In interviews, nonprofit leaders described Prince’s support as “immediate” and “without strings attached.” He didn’t require branding or lengthy proposals just a belief in the organization’s mission and the urgency of the need.

Prince’s philanthropy also followed a strong social justice thread. For decades, he quietly supported campaigns for racial equality and civil rights. He donated to Green For All, a group focused on environmental justice in underprivileged communities, helping build solar panels and green jobs training programs in low-income neighborhoods.

Apparently, Prince was also quietly helping during protests in Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore, covering activists’ legal fees and helping community groups displaced by unrest. Civil rights leaders have praised him for his support of their critical work.

Prince once gave an entire concert’s proceeds to the city of Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray, a young Black man who died in police custody. The event raised hundreds of thousands for local nonprofits and encouraged dialogue around police reform and youth outreach.

His giving extended across education, health, disaster relief, social justice, animal welfare. He was an artist with a wide philanthropic reach. Prince supported the Elton John AIDS Foundation, PETA, City of Hope, and the Jazz Foundation of America. He made donations to dance troupes in New York, funded healthcare initiatives, and even helped pay for animal rescues. According to Look to the Stars, Prince’s name appears on more than a dozen major charity lists, often alongside other artists at collaborative events.

He rarely spoke about these commitments. Most organizations learned of his support through silent contributions or anonymous donations, with some realizing only after his death that Prince had been among their funders.

It’s been said by friends, collaborators, and recipients that Prince didn’t want the credit. His ex-wife, Manuela Testolini, told The Washington Post that Prince’s example is what motivated her to start her own charity. For him, the best giving was rooted in humility and in empowering others, not in building his own legend.

After his death in 2016, a lot of organizations came forward with stories about Prince’s impact. In memorial articles, the newspapers described his surprise gifts, testimonials from school principals, dance instructors, and activists. Many circles- music, tech, social justice, recognized they’d lost not just a creative genius, but a consistent supporter of their work.

Prince’s own estate has continued some aspects of his philanthropic mission, especially in Minneapolis, but it’s fair to say the style changed: the gifts have become more public, not overly public, but maybe not as private as they would have been back when Prince was alive.

To recap,

- Prince’s philanthropy reached across the U.S., from big cities to small towns, touching causes in education, health, civil rights, technology, arts, and emergency relief.
- His method was simple: act, but avoid credit. He valued the causes more than the recognition.
- The true scale of his giving may never be fully known. The exceptions are the stories, posthumous receipts, and gratitude of those who were helped.

So yeah. That’s where Prince donated his money. Next time I hear “Purple Rain” or “Raspberry Beret,” remember that Prince’s legacy isn’t confined to music. It’s alive every day in schools, dance studios, tech workshops, animal shelters, hospitals, and civil rights meeting halls across the country.

If you have more time today, here’s another episode to check out, this one is the episode about Rihanna’s giving. This is such a great episode. I can’t stop talking about it enough. That’s episode 88 and I really should re-record that one because it is from before this podcast got renamed to Progressive Pockets.

I hope you’re enjoying the summer celebrity giving series. Something light to enjoy as we squeeze in these last weeks of summer. Please share this episode with a friend. Or send it to your enemy and confuse them with how sweet you’re being in sending them something fun to listen to.

Let’s end with a quote…of course it comes to us from Prince, may he rest in peace.

Compassion is an action word with no boundaries

Let’s talk again soon!