Operating Grants for Nonprofits

Charitable Contributions

Costco Wholesale’s primary charitable efforts specifically focus on programs supporting children, education, and health and human services in the communities where we do business. Throughout the year we receive a large number of requests from nonprofit organizations striving to make a positive impact, and we are thankful to be able to provide support to a variety of organizations and causes. While we would like to respond favorably to all requests, understandably, the needs are far greater than our allocated resources and we are unable to accommodate them all.

Warehouse Donations:

Warehouse donations are handled at the warehouse level - please consult your local warehouse for up-to-date information regarding their donations contacts and review process.

Grant Applications

If the request is under consideration, you may be contacted by staff for any additional information needed. Applications are reviewed within 4-6 weeks, and decisions are made based on several factors, including: type of program; identified community need not otherwise available; indication that evidenced based data will establish measurable results of intended outcomes; community collaboration; broad base of financial support; project budget and operating expenses.

Philanthropy

In 1906, when Leo Samuel founded the company that would become The Standard, he had two radical — at least for the time — ideas for business: it should provide local services for customers and it should contribute to the well-being of the community. Our company has grown considerably since those early days — we have customers and offices around the country. Our dual focus on exceptional customer service and supporting the places we live and work continues to guide The Standard today

Corporate Giving

At The Standard, our business purpose is to help people achieve financial well-being and peace of mind. This focus means that our company exists to help people. Our more than 3,000 employees are a huge part of that culture of caring. Not surprisingly, our corporate giving reflects that culture of caring. We work with employees to find ways to make a difference and support our communities through corporate giving and grants. The philosophy behind our charitable giving is shaped by the same attributes that help make us a leading provider of financial services: integrity, commitment and doing things differently. Through our corporate giving program, we support organizations that align with our four focus areas: Healthy Communities, Disability and Empowerment, Cultural Development, and Education and Advancement.

The Standard Charitable Foundation

In 2006 we celebrated our 100th anniversary, and to mark the occasion — and properly honor our rich legacy of philanthropy — we launched The Standard Charitable Foundation.

The mission of The Standard Charitable Foundation is to make a positive difference in the communities we serve by supporting community development, education and disability organizations. While the foundation has a broad goal of making a positive difference in our communities, we place special emphasis on helping individuals and families who have experienced a major disability or the loss of a loved one.

Organizations We Support

Healthy Communities

Strong, vibrant communities are a critical source of security for all residents. We fund organizations that provide support, training and rehabilitation to individuals and families facing significant challenges. We also fund programs that help individuals and families develop capabilities to increase self-sufficiency.

Disability and Empowerment

Our business is about helping people overcome hardships and empowering success. We support organizations that help people with disabilities thrive independently and overcome barriers to social and economic success. We also support programs that provide relief during transitions to independent living.

Cultural Development

Arts and cultural organizations play a major role in vibrant communities. We support organizations that offer multicultural art programs and provide enhanced access for the under-served. Specifically, we encourage programs that build audiences and promote the arts through education, interactive media and artistic excellence.

Education and Advancement

The future health and well-being of our communities is in the hands of children, who are the workers, innovators, leaders and artists of the future. We fund organizations that foster strategic learning initiatives to better prepare children for success. We emphasize programs that strengthen the quality of education, early childhood education and workforce development.

Funding Guidelines for The Standard's Corporate Giving Program

Types of Support

• General operating support
• Program support
• Capital support
• Event sponsorship
• Exhibitions
• Performance/Productions

Range of Support: $500 to $25,000. The average gift is $3,000.

Focus Areas 

• Healthy Communities
• Disability and Empowerment
• Cultural Development
• Education and Advancement

Funding Guidelines for The Standard Charitable Foundation

Types of Support 

• General operating support
• Program support
• Capital support

Range of Support: $5,000 to $25,000. The average gift is $10,000.

Focus Areas

• Healthy Communities
• Disability and Empowerment
• Education and Advancement

NOTE: We are shifting to a rolling process for identifying and vetting organizations. This will allow us to revisit some of the most promising ideas in our existing pool and see how they are progressing, while also searching for new ideas.

If your organization meets the above criteria and you believe your idea is a fit for The Audacious Project, we encourage you to complete the brief survey. We will review every submission on a rolling basis and the link will stay open all year; over time, we may contact a small number of survey responders to submit an application.

About

Housed at TED, which has a long track record of surfacing ideas worth spreading, and supported by The Bridgespan Group, the project is a unique partnership between some of the most respected organizations in philanthropy and the public. The Audacious Project attempts to address a major frustration faced by the world’s change-makers. Without access to venture capital or stock markets, social entrepreneurs have to pitch donors one-by-one, often a deeply inefficient process for all involved. The Audacious Project aims to: (1) encourage the world’s greatest change-agents to dream bigger than ever before (2) shape their best ideas into viable multi-year plans and (3) present those ideas in a compelling way to potential supporters. Our goal is to make philanthropy more collaborative, more inspiring — and more effective.

Launched in 2018, The Audacious Project has already shown what humanity can accomplish when bold ideas meet real resources. From the thousands of people in the US awaiting trials from home because of The Bail Project’s fast growth, to the hundreds of thousands of smallscale farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa enjoying better harvests because of One Acre Fund’s increased capacity, The Audacious Project is empowering social entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders to take on the world’s biggest and most urgent challenges.

The Process

Every year, The Audacious Project works with proven change-makers to surface their best, boldest ideas for tackling global problems.

Each candidate goes through a rigorous ideation and due diligence process, with research and vetting done by teams at both TED and The Bridgespan Group. From the initial spark of an idea to a completed project proposal, the candidates are narrowed down to a group of finalists whose ideas feel truly audacious with a clear and viable path to execution. These finalists are presented privately to groups of donors and unveiled at the annual TED conference. The goal is that each attracts a community of supporters, from both the philanthropic space and the public.

Then the hard work starts. Ideas that are part of The Audacious Project typically have a timeline of three to five years. While public supporters give meaningful donations online, donors typically commit financial support paid annually, provided project milestones are met. We offer regular updates and pass on all supporters' ideas, messages of encouragement and offers of other resources. Several years on, we will celebrate success together — or learn from failure. Either way, we will have participated in a new form of philanthropy.

Note: UPS does not accept or respond to unsolicited grant proposals. Nonprofit funding is determined in one of two ways: The UPS Foundation solicits grant proposals from preeminent organizations within our focus areas or through a recommendation made by a UPS employee who is actively volunteering with the agency. The best way for your organization to be considered for funding by UPS is to engage UPS volunteers and then ask them to log their volunteer hours in the Neighbor-to-Neighbor tracking system. Any hours logged are open for funding opportunities by our local offices.

The Logistics of Caring

UPS founder Jim Casey established The UPS Foundation in 1951 with a mission to help build stronger, safer and more resilient communities around the world. And that's exactly what we've been doing for more than 60 years now.

To us, giving means more than writing a check. It means combining employees' skill, passion and time with our logistics expertise, transportation assets and charitable donations to make a measurable difference in society. In 2016, we invested nearly 2.7 million volunteer hours and more than $116 million dollars into our global communities. 

As our communities continue to grow and evolve, so do we. The Foundation's current philanthropic approach focuses on four areas that represent the purpose of our mission and reflect UPS's corporate values and expertise.

Focusing Our Efforts

Diversity & Inclusion

UPS’s longstanding policies and inclusive culture make it one of the most diverse companies in the world. We know an internal focus isn’t enough, and so The UPS Foundation also supports community efforts to provide diverse populations with advancement opportunities.

Volunteerism 

UPS employees are passionate about making the world a better place, which is why they volunteered more than 2.7 million hours in local communities with their favorite nonprofit organizations last year. The UPS Foundation provides those organizations with the operational expertise, leadership development and technology enhancements they need to tackle today's societal challenges.

Community Safety 

UPS aims to make the world a safer place by using our company's logistics expertise and training to teach safety practices in the local and global communities we serve. The UPS Foundation supports these efforts by creating and funding programs focused on road safety and humanitarian relief and resilience. In 2016, The UPS Foundation donated $13 million in financial and in-kind contributions to organizations that embody community safety.

Environmental Sustainability 

Every day, UPS delivers nearly 17 million packages by air, land and sea. We’re constantly operating within the environment, so it’s important that we do our part to preserve and protect it, long-term.

To do so, The UPS Foundation provides financial and employee volunteer support to environmental programs with a focus on reforestation and conservation, carbon reduction efforts and environmental research/education.

Helping the Disadvantaged Become Self-Reliant

Gupta Family Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, USA. Our mission is to support organizations that provide focused intervention in the lives of people who have been disadvantaged in some way to help them become self-reliant. We take a very broad view of “disadvantage” to include anything that holds a person back from realizing their potential, such as poverty, physical or mental disability, social alienation, etc. The foundation also supports relief agencies that serve people affected by emergencies such as natural disasters.

The foundation evaluates and awards annual and multi-year grants ranging from $5,000 to over $250,000 (USD). Our focus is on funding smaller organizations all around the world that are led by individuals with a deep personal commitment to their missions. 

Our selection criteria include:

• Mission alignment
• The organization is run by the founder or, if not, by a successor who embodies the original inspiration, passion and commitment of the founder.
• At least 90% of grant monies reaches the intended beneficiaries.
• The organization is non-sectarian, i.e.,
  • It does not, directly or indirectly, support or condone the proselytization of any religion,
  • It is not supported by or affiliated to a religious organization.

The Lawrence Foundation is a private family foundation focused on making grants to support environmental, human services and other causes.

The Lawrence Foundation was established in mid-2000. We make both program and operating grants and do not have any geographical restrictions on our grants. Nonprofit organizations that qualify for public charity status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or other similar organizations are eligible for grants from The Lawrence Foundation.  

Grant Amount and Types

Grants typically range between $5,000 - $10,000. In some limited cases we may make larger grants, but that is typically after we have gotten to know your organization over a period of time. We also generally don’t make multi-year grants, although we may fund the same organization on a year by year basis over a period of years.

General operating or program/project grant requests within our areas of interests are accepted.

NOTE: Applications may be submitted at any time during this funding cycle, open from Feb 1 to the deadline above. Please note that applications will only remain active in our system for 90 days, and at the end of this period they will be automatically rejected.

Guidelines

Local Community grants range from a minimum of $250 to a maximum of $5,000. Eligible nonprofit organizations must operate on the local level (or be an affiliate/chapter of a larger organization that operates locally) and directly benefit the service area of the facility from which they are requesting funding.Organizations may only submit a total number of 25 applications and/or receive up to 25 grants within the 2019 grant cycle.

About Us

A Community Thrives is a grantmaking and crowdfunding program from the USA TODAY NETWORK, which includes USA TODAY and Gannett’s hundreds of local media brands. The initiative is part of the Gannett Foundation and supports nonprofit organizations with projects focused on community building. Since 2017, the program has helped to distribute more than $6.5 million from donations and grants across the nation.

Let's build change, together!

We started A Community Thrives, a nationwide grantmaking and crowdfunding initiative, because your great ideas for how to improve your community need a great big network of people to bring them to life. A Community Thrives offers a way to get your neighbors, friends, family, and peers excited to support your community-building ideas, and most importantly, a chance at +$2,000,000 in grants to get them off the ground and running.

There are three types of grants in the A Community Thrives program. 

• National Project Grants can be awarded to any applicant accepted to the challenge after the organization meets the fundraising minimum. Grants will range from $25,000 to $100,000.
• Local Operating Grants can be awarded to any applicant that serves a local Gannett market, accepted to the challenge, after the organization meets the fundraising minimum. Minimum grants will be $2,500.
• Incentive Grants will be awarded based on fundraising success. A total of $200,000 will be awarded during the Fundraising phase of the Campaign to those qualifying organizations that raise the most funds or activate the most unique donors. See full description below. 

Nonprofits who would like to be considered for the National Project and Local Operating grants must fundraise through the crowdfunding campaign, A Community Thrives Challenge, and raise a minimum amount depending on the organization's operating budget. Organizations must fundraise to be eligible for the "bonus" incentive grants.Fundraising Minimum Requirements

• Tier 1 organizations will be those organizations that entered an Annual Operating Budget of less than $500,000 in their application, and must raise $3,000.

• Tier 2 organizations will be those organizations that entered an Annual Operating Budget of $500,000 or more in their application, and must raise $6,000 minimum.

Network for Good

Network for Good is a mission-driven technology company. We level the playing field for small nonprofits with simple, smart fundraising software, expert guidance, and actionable industry insights - because your missions matter.

Project Grow Your Good

Our goal at Network for Good is to help small and growing nonprofits expand their impact on communities. Each month, Project Grow Your Good's donation giveaway helps empower organizations creating positive change.

Apply today to win:

• $5,000 cash donation to kickstart your fundraising
• Personal Fundraising Coach 1:1 session ($400 value)
• One year of Network for Good’s Fundraising Software

There’s no limit to the number of times you apply.  Submissions from one month will not automatically be considered for the next month’s award; applicants must reapply to continue to be considered again.

One winner will be selected at random after the end of each application period. Winning organizations must be a United States-based 501(c)(3) organization.