Verizon Foundation Funding Goals and Partnership Guidelines

The Verizon Foundation is in the business of improving lives in literacy, knowledge and a readiness for the 21st Century.

Specifically, we help people to:

  • Increase their literacy and educational achievement
  • Avoid being an abuser or a victim of domestic violence
  • Achieve and sustain their health and safety

Eligible organizations seeking grants from the Verizon Foundation must be prepared to track and report program outcomes as well as specific results that demonstrate measurable human impact. In the grant application, organizations must indicate what outcomes are targeted through programming and what results, as specified on the grant application, the organization will measure.

Defining Program Results

The Verizon Foundation targets our philanthropic investments to partners and programs that achieve meaningful outcomes and measurable results in specific areas within each of our Funding Priorities. Grant applicants are required to select one or more outcomes and results for grants in each of our Funding Priorities. Click on a funding area below to see the list of targeted outcomes and results that are specified in the online grant application. We suggest you click here to review a complete set of guidance and examples to assist you in completing your on-line grant application.

Outcomes and results will be reported by the grantee on a quarterly basis. The Verizon Foundation uses this information to guide grantees in achieving stated outcomes and results, and to measure the social impact of Verizon's philanthropic investments in its community partners and the programs it supports.

Eligible Requests

Proposals will be considered from eligible tax-exempt organizations in certain 501(c)(3) subsections as defined by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Proposals will also be considered from elementary and secondary schools* (public and private) that are registered with the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Proposals may also be considered from eligible tax-exempt organizations in the subsection 170(B)(1)(a)(i) - Church, provided that the proposal will benefit a large portion of a community without regard to religious affiliation and does not duplicate the work of other agencies in the community.

  • 170(B)(1)(a)(ii) - School*
  • 170(B)(1)(a)(iii) - Hospital or medical research organization
  • 170(B)(1)(a)(iv) - Organization which operates for benefit of college or university and is owned or operated by a governmental unit.
  • 170(B)(1)(a)(v) - Governmental unit
  • 170(B)(1)(a)(vi) - Organization which receives a substantial part of its support from a governmental unit or the general public
  • 509(A)(2) - Organization that normally receives no more than one-third of its support from gross investment income and unrelated business income and at the same time more than one-third of its support from contributions, fees, and gross receipts related to exempt purposes.
  • 509(A)(3) - Organizations operated solely for the benefit of and in conjunction with organizations described in the previous seven items.

*The Verizon Foundation does not sponsor field trips of any kind for secondary or elementary schools.

To be eligible for funding consideration organizations must:

  • Not duplicate or significantly overlap the work of public agencies on the federal, state or local level.
  • Serve the community without discrimination on the basis of age, color, citizenship, disability, disabled veteran status, gender, race, religion, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, military service or status or Vietnam-era veteran status.
  • Keep books available for regular independent outside audit and make the results available to all potential contributors.
  • Comply with applicable laws regarding registration and reporting.
  • Observe the highest standards of business conduct in its relationships with the public.

Ineligible Requests

The Verizon Foundation does not provide funding for any of the following:

  • Individuals.
  • Private charity or foundation.
  • Organizations not exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and not eligible for tax-deductible support.
  • Religious organizations, unless the particular program will benefit a large portion of a community without regard to religious affiliation and does not duplicate the work of other agencies in the community.
  • Political causes, candidates, organizations or campaigns.
  • Organizations that discriminate on the basis of age, color, citizenship, disability, disabled veteran status, gender, race, religion, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, military service or status or Vietnam-era veteran status.
  • Organizations whose primary purpose is to influence legislation.
  • Endowments or capital campaigns.
  • Film, music, TV, video and media production projects or broadcast program underwriting.
  • Research studies, unless related to projects we are already supporting.
  • Sports sponsorships.
  • Performing arts tours.
  • Association memberships.
  • Organizations that have received a grant from the Verizon Foundation in the last three consecutive years - organization may reapply after a one-year hiatus.

Due to Federal regulations we cannot provide support in the form of Verizon Products or Services nor can we give cash grants intended for the payment of Verizon Products or Services.

How To Apply

Verizon Foundation only accepts electronic proposals through its Apply Online process. Successfully submitted online proposals receive an electronic notice confirming receipt of the application via e-mail. Please allow up to ninety (90) days for a final decision.

When to Apply

The Verizon Foundation reviews unsolicited proposals on a continuous calendar year basis from January 1st through October 31st.

Helpful Hints & Suggestions

Before starting the online application process, please review the partnership guidelines outlined above, our Frequently Asked Questions page and information describing each of our Priority Funding Areas:

Save yourself time and effort by reviewing our basic eligibility screener eligibility screener before you start your application. If your organization or project does not meet our requirements we may be able to suggest some other avenues of support.

An online example form is available for cash grants. This sample form provides all of the application fields on a single screen. Print this out before applying and reference it to compose your responses offline in your favorite word processing program (MS Word, WordPerfect, etc.). Spell check your work, log into the grant application, and then copy and paste each response into the appropriate fields on the form. The fields will expand when you paste information into them or if you continue to type. Please note that the fields will not accept special formatting (bold, underlining, etc.). Also please note that grant requests of $10,000 or more are required to include a project budget breakdown, which is shown in the sample form.

All required information on the application is indicated in red and is also marked with an asterisk (*). You may save responses to some of the questions on a form and leave others blank. Please note that you will not be able to submit your application until all of the required questions on all of the forms have been completed.

Hints have been provided for any items that require further explanation. Please pay attention to character limitations in the larger paragraph fields. All dates must be in MM/DD/YY format. Any currency field will accept a combination of numerals, commas, dollar signs, and decimal points (i.e., $9,999.99) but no letters.

Please do not use your browser's "Back" button to navigate through the application -- doing so may cause data discrepancies in your proposal. Instead, use the "Save and Proceed" button on the bottom of each form to move forward in the application or use the links in the timeline of each page to jump between any of the sections.

To save an application and return to it later, click on the "Save and Proceed" button that appears at the bottom of every section. You can then safely close your Web browser or surf elsewhere on our site. To resume work on an incomplete application, simply log back into the system and click the "Continue" link next to the application you want to edit. You can have multiple applications going at the same time.

To delete an application that is incomplete or erroneous and has not been submitted to the foundation, just click on the trash can icon next to its project title. You will be brought to a confirmation screen where you can review all of the information that you are about to delete and then click confirm. Please note that we cannot retrieve applications once they have been deleted.

To review a submitted application that your organization has already sent to the foundation, click the View link next to the appropriate project title. Please note that you will not be able to revise an application after you have submitted it to the foundation.

If you have any content questions about the application please direct them to your local Community Relations Manager. If you encounter any technical difficulties while completing your application, click on the "Need Support" link located at the bottom of every page (confirm this appears on each page) to contact Technical Support. Please note that technical support is available from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM ET on all business days.

Notice of Non Discrimination: As a matter of policy, the Verizon Foundation does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, age, religion, national or ethnic origin, or physical disability. The Verizon Foundation is neutral on, and does not fund, programs that support pro-life or pro-choice issues.