Charitable giving

Our vision guides us in improving the health and well-being of Rhode Islanders by leading access to high quality, affordable, and equitable care. It’s why we invest more than $1 million each year in Rhode Island nonprofit organizations that help improve the health of our community. Our aim is to fund organizations and initiatives supporting the many drivers of health, and for our philanthropic purposes, anchored on two key pillars: access to healthcare and social determinants of health.

Access to healthcare

For 20 years, we’ve made critical investments to increase access to affordable healthcare and improve health equity. This financial support has helped health and human service organizations, behavioral health organizations, and free clinics provide free or low-cost medical, dental, and behavioral healthcare for uninsured and underinsured residents. We know that improving access to integrated medical, dental, and behavioral healthcare is critically important for all Rhode Islanders. People with a consistent source of healthcare have better health outcomes, lower costs, and are less likely to experience health disparities compared to others in their demographic population. Although Rhode Island has made tremendous gains in coverage, access to a full range of services remains a challenge, in particular, behavioral health. We remain committed to providing support to help all Rhode Islanders achieve access to care.

Social determinants of health

Social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age. They affect people before they are born and last throughout their lives. It has been shown that these broader determinants of health and life can affect 40% or more of a person’s health outcomes — more important than genetics or the healthcare received. What’s more, they impact healthcare costs for everyone. When these social needs are not met, they lead to more illness, emergency room visits, and hospital admissions. Our investments will be aimed at addressing social determinants of health, which will improve health outcomes for everyone. Within this space, our work will continue to focus — as it has in recent years — on addressing the factors contributing to the child/adolescent obesity epidemic and supporting efforts to eliminate health inequities, especially for those at high risk. We will look to invest in the places where health and housing intersect. Housing is one of the best-researched social determinants of health, and selected housing interventions, particularly for low-income people, have been found to improve health outcomes.

How to apply

Interested in submitting a request for event sponsorship, program support, or general support? Please take a minute to review our Charitable Contributions Policy.

If you meet the eligibility requirements and believe your request is aligned with our areas of focus, please submit your proposal here.

It may take up to six weeks for us to review a sponsorship or charitable request. A meeting and/or additional information may be required prior to a final determination. You’ll be notified of a decision by email.

If you have any questions, please email blueangel_news@bcbsri.org.