Welcome and thank you for your interest in the ConAgra Foods Foundation. Potential grantees should carefully review our program overviews, funding guidelines and criteria to determine if your project or program matches the Foundation's funding priorities for charitable investments. The Foundation's grant programs are competitive and organizations that best align with our goals and objectives in our core focus areas have the greatest opportunity to be awarded a grant.
The ConAgra Foods Foundation is committed to supporting innovative, sustainable solutions that efficiently and effectively create opportunities for children to have access to food and nutrition education. We partner with qualified nonprofit organizations that deliver high-quality programs and can demonstrate measurable results.
There are many more worthy endeavors than the Foundation can fund. Therefore, we use a two-step process to identify organizations that best align with our funding guidelines and criteria. Any organization interested in receiving a grant must complete an eligibility survey and submit a letter of interest . Only those most qualified will be invited to submit a full application for funding.*
Paper applications are no longer accepted by the ConAgra Foods Foundation. All letters of interest and applications must be received through the online grant application process. In addition, the Foundation will not accept or review unsolicited applications received in hard-copy or outside the pre-determined timelines established for each grant program.
The ConAgra Foods Foundation awards grants to qualified charitable organizations in three funding categories: National Strategic Partnerships, Community Impact Grants (currently under development) and an employee-driven grant making program, Nourish Our Community Grants.
*The Nourish Our Community grant program is driven by employee-nomination and a letter of interest is not required for this grant program.
Grantees selected to be national strategic partners are the anchors of the Nourish Today, Flourish Tomorrow platform and represent some of the most high-impact nonprofit organizations in the country. Potential partners implement high-quality, replicable programs that have well-defined goals and can demonstrate results. Our current strategic partners are leaders in the child hunger field and include:
-
Feeding America®: Donating more than $25 million and millions of pounds of food, the ConAgra Foods Foundation has been a longtime partner of the Nation's Food Bank network and its hundreds of local food banks. For more than a decade, Foundation support has made possible such innovative programs as Kids Cafes, the Summer Feeding Program, and the Backpack™ Program, which are designed to meet the needs of hungry kids beyond the USDA's School Breakfast and Lunch programs. The Foundation also helps feed America by building the network's capacity to feed more children and has purchased more than 160 trucks for local food banks.
-
Share Our Strength®: As the national sponsor of Share Our Strength's Operation Frontline®, a groundbreaking nutrition education program that brings together leading chefs and nutrition educators to teach families how to prepare tasty, balanced meals on a budget, the ConAgra Foods Foundation will more than double the program's capacity over the next three years and enhance program infrastructure, serve more families effectively, and provide enhanced support to local community partners.
The Foundation provides funding to national strategic partners in the effort to work closely with the grantee to deliver more services to children and strengthen operational, technical and evaluative capacities for long-term sustainability and success. Interim and final reports are required throughout the duration of the grantee's relationship with the Foundation. The Foundation also anticipates that national strategic partners will actively plan for future funding to sustain programs beyond the grant period with ConAgra Foods. Given the competitiveness of this program, subsequent grants are not guaranteed and will be assessed based on program execution, stewardship, accountability and impact.
Applications for national strategic partnerships requests are open by invitation only and are reviewed annually.
ConAgra Foods Foundation's 2010 Community Impact Grants (CIG) program is open from January 11 - January 29 for eligible organizations to submit a Letter of Interest (LOI). The CIG program will award grants between $10,000 and $100,000 to impactful, grassroots organizations that leverage innovation and creativity to address childhood hunger and nutrition needs in communities where ConAgra Foods' employees live and work or states where 20% or more of children are food insecure. Organizations that demonstrate a strong alignment with the Foundation's giving strategies (i.e., direct service, capacity building, and advocacy) and core funding priorities have the greatest chance of receiving a grant. The CIG program is a two-step, competitive process that first requires the submission of an LOI and then the subsequent completion of a full application if invited to apply for a grant. For more detailed program information and guidelines please download the Community Impact Grants Program Overview. To begin the LOI process, please complete the eligibility survey in Step 3 above.
ConAgra Foods employees are dedicated to supporting organizations through their personal donations and time in communities across the country in which they live and work. In recognition of our employees' commitment, the Foundation awards Nourish Our Community Grants to non-profit organizations based on recommendations from employees.
While any organization that is working to address community needs is eligible for funding, preference will be given to those that seek to provide children and their families with access to food and nutrition education. Organizations must be located in the communities where our employees live and work in order to be considered for a Nourish Our Community grant.
Nourish Our Community grants typically range from $5,000 to $25,000, with an average grant of $10,000. The grant requests are reviewed by a committee representative of a cross-section of employees within the company. Organizations can receive funding for up to three consecutive years and then must postpone applying for support for one grant making cycle.
Applications for Nourish Our Community grant requests are reviewed annually. The application process for our current fiscal year (June 1, 2009 – May 31, 2010) is currently closed. Please check back for the launch of the FY11 program in May 2010.
