A Grant A Day…
~by Melinda Grismer, ILA President
Hi Fellow Adult Education Programs!
My New Year’s Resolution was writing a grant a day – hence the name of my ILA President blog. As they say, shoot for the moon and you’ll land in the stars. So, while I have fallen short of that original goal, by March I have done a record amount of grant writing for my local adult education program, as well as ILA, which at least matches up with my intention.
In my first blog post, I’d like to introduce you to a potentially overlooked resource in your community: Walmart SparkGood grants. I’ll admit, the Walmart giving process has become a little more cumbersome over the years since I began seeking assistance from them. At first, it was a “walk in and visit your local manager” and beg for money from their annual set budget. Then, it became a statewide online grant application process that was decided at the district level. Now, it’s an online giving tree with many branches that all need to be accessed through one portal called SparkGood.
SparkGood requires that you create credentials to access both the main SparkGood site (see these guidelines: https://www.walmart.org/how-we-give/program-guidelines/spark-good-local-grants-guidelines) and its philanthropy platform Deed (https://www.joindeed.com/). You apply for the grant through an online application on SparkGood, but you are vetted as an organization (where you upload your IRS determination letter and other documents that verify you hold a nonprofit status). The perk is that by getting vetted on Deed, you’re also eligible to be funded by other grantors (in addition to Walmart).
Once you jump through all the hoops of creating these accounts and vetting your 501c3 organization (whether school or community-based organization), you’re able to submit a maximum of 25 applications per organization at any time. Although once funded, reapplication to the same Walmart is not allowed within the same fiscal year.
In addition to applying for grants, your organization can take advantage of Walmart’s other charitable tools, including: 1) Storefront – where you can reserve times to fundraise out in front of your local store if you have a product, service or tickets to sell), 2) Associate Giving (https://www.walmart.org/how-we-give/program-guidelines/spark-good-associate-program-guidelines) – where Walmart employees who serve on your board of directors or as volunteers for your organization can trigger up to $1,000 in matching grants per person per fiscal year for your organization, 3) Round Up – where local residents can elect to “round up” their shopping trip to the nearest dollar so their change contributes to your organization’s bottom line year-round, and 4) Registries – where your organization can select products donors can buy for a cause your organization designates via Walmart.com.
Potentially, the most valuable part of going through Walmart’s SparkGood process is establishing a relationship with your local Walmart store manager and employees. These relationships – it seems – are the reason Walmart began driving most of its philanthropic efforts through its local stores. And it makes sense to connect local people with local nonprofit activities so they both benefit from the synergy this creates.
So, go out there and meet your local Walmart folks! It might not be easy, but I challenge you to persevere! If you’re like me living in a small town where Walmart is the one-stop-shop, you’re likely to be there anyway. Might as well make your visit count for your nonprofit, too!
