OVERVIEW: The Honda USA Foundation primarily supports programs that expand mobility, access and opportunity for people with disabilities in communities where Honda associates live and work. Honda also makes corporate grants for education, the environment, traffic safety and community needs. Programmatic funding may support local, regional or national programs, but funded work must primarily benefit communities in 16 states and the District of Columbia where Honda has major operations and a strong community presence.
IP TAKE: This is a surprisingly accessible corporate funder, although grantmaking is limited by specific interests and geographic priorities. This is an accessible but geographically and programmatically specific corporate funder. Importantly, grantseekers should distinguish between the Honda USA Foundation and Honda corporate giving. Honda’s five Corporate Social Responsibility pillars describe the company’s broader giving framework, but all five are not necessarily open for competitive funding in a given year, nor are they all standing Honda USA Foundation programs. In recent cycles, the Foundation’s clearest focus has been Mobility for people with disabilities, while Honda corporate has funded other pillars.
Honda and the Foundation run an annual programmatic funding process, generally opening applications in the fall and announcing decisions the following spring. This is not an invitation-only funder overall, although Honda says individual award categories may sometimes be restricted to invited community partners. Grantseekers do not appear to gain an advantage by cultivating Honda employees: Honda says applicants should receive equal access to funding and prohibits associates from advising organizations on eligibility or recommending particular award categories. The best strategy is to closely follow the current funding guidelines, establish a strong fit with the year’s available opportunities and demonstrate meaningful impact in a Honda community.
PROFILE: The Honda USA Foundation, also known as the American Honda Foundation, is the philanthropic arm of the American Honda Motor Co., Inc. The foundation seeks support “society in the areas of education, mobility, the environment, and traffic safety by strategically collaborating with like-minded organizations to drive sustainable change in marginalized communities throughout the nation where Honda operations are located.”
Honda’s broader corporate social responsibility work is organized around five pillars: Education, Environment, Mobility, Traffic Safety and Community. Honda says available Pillar Awards can change from year to year. For example, in 2024, Honda corporate accepted applications for Education, Environment and Traffic Safety, while the Honda USA Foundation’s open funding opportunity focused exclusively on Mobility. The 2025 application cycle, meanwhile, offered Education, Environment and Mobility opportunities.
Grants for Disabilities and Mobility
The Mobility program supports organizations that remove barriers and expand opportunities for people with disabilities so that they can experience greater mobility, access and independence. This area invests in mobility modifications, therapeutic and adaptive services, comprehensive care and other programs that expand access for people with disabilities.
- This program has broadened its scope in recent years. Older Honda guidelines emphasized young people with disabilities and serious illnesses, but in 2024, the Foundation explicitly expanded its Mobility funding to people of all ages with disabilities. Grantseekers should rely on current Honda guidance rather than older eligibility descriptions still appearing in tax filings and archived application materials.
- Recent Foundation-supported programs illustrate a practical, service-oriented approach to mobility. The Foundation has supported Disability EmpowHer Network’s EmpowHer Camp in New York, which helps girls with disabilities build independence, leadership and self-advocacy skills, and Guide Dogs for the Blind’s orientation-and-mobility training for people who are blind or visually impaired. Honda also highlights its support of Camp Twin Lakes and Riverwood Therapeutic Riding Center.
- Recent tax filings also show mobility-related grants for organizations such as the James Whitcomb Riley Memorial Association, which received $95,000 for wheelchair-skills training for children in Indiana and Michigan, and Flying Horse Farms, which received $100,000 for accessibility improvements benefiting children with serious illnesses.
Grants for K-12 Education, STEM and Workforce Development
Education is a major Honda corporate giving interest, although it should not be described as a continuously open. Honda currently emphasizes education and career readiness, with a particular interest in developing a future-ready workforce.
- For the 2025 application cycle, Honda gave priority to hands-on programs that strengthen the manufacturing workforce, including technical training, design, data analytics, automation and artificial intelligence. Recent corporate-supported programs include the Guilford Technical Community College Aerospace Manufacturing Engineer Program in North Carolina and Rosie Riveters’ nationwide STEM education programming for elementary and middle school students.
- The Foundation itself has a significant historical record of supporting K-12 STEM and environmental education. Its latest tax filing includes $100,000 grants to Friends of Cabrillo Marine Aquarium’s Young Scientists Program, the Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council for environmental education and the Aquarium of the Pacific for K-12 ocean science education. These grants are useful indicators of historical giving, but grantseekers should consult the current funding cycle before assuming that education is available through the Foundation in a particular year.
Grants for Higher Education
Higher education receives support through Honda’s broader education, workforce and institutional initiatives, but there is no evidence of a standalone, continuously open Honda USA Foundation higher education program.
- Honda’s education strategy encompasses colleges and universities as well as K-12 and workforce training institutions. Current giving emphasizes technical skills, manufacturing, engineering and career readiness.
- Honda also maintains a longstanding commitment to historically Black colleges and universities through its Drive the Legacy initiative initiative and related programs. These include scholarships, educational and career programming, institutional support, mentoring and the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge. These programs should be understood as separate Honda partnerships and initiatives rather than a general open higher education RFP from the Foundation.
Grants for Environmental Conservation, Climate and Clean Energy
Environmental giving is part of Honda’s corporate CSR strategy. Current priorities include decarbonization, clean energy and resource circulation, including conservation and more efficient use of natural resources.
- In the 2025 open funding cycle, Honda gave priority to programs advancing decarbonization, clean energy and efficient use of natural resources.
- Recent Honda-supported work includes sustainable neighborhood redevelopment in East Cleveland and the Living Classrooms Foundation’s green-sector workforce and conservation initiative in Washington, D.C.
- The Foundation also has a significant history of environmental grantmaking. Recent tax records include $100,000 grants to the Ohio Hispanic Coalition for youth environmental and sustainability programming, the Nature Conservancy for conservation initiatives, and several environmental and science education organizations. These grants should be treated as evidence of historical Foundation funding rather than proof that an Environment Award will be available through every future Foundation cycle.
Grants for Traffic Safety
The Traffic Safety program remains one of Honda’s five CSR pillars, with funding supporting safe driving, bicycling, pedestrian safety and traffic-safety education.
- Current grantees and partners include Safe Kids Worldwide, ThinkFirst Foundation and the Texas A&M Foundation’s Teens in the Driver Seat program.
- In Honda’s 2024 competitive cycle, Traffic Safety was identified as a Honda corporate opportunity rather than a Honda USA Foundation award. It was not among the three categories opened for general applications in the 2025 cycle. This underscores the need for grantseekers to verify which Pillar Awards are available each year rather than treating Traffic Safety as a standing Foundation program.
- The Foundation nevertheless has a history of significant traffic-safety grantmaking. Its latest tax records include $100,000 awards to National Organizations for Youth Safety, ThinkFirst Foundation, Safe Kids Worldwide, Friends of the Underline and the National Safety Council for programs involving pedestrian, bicycle, vehicle and transportation safety.
Grants for Human Services
Community is another Honda corporate CSR pillar. Current giving addresses food security, social services and other basic community needs in areas where Honda associates live and work. Recent partners include Feeding America, local United Ways and other community-serving organizations.
- Community should not be presented as a continuously open Foundation award. Honda notes that its available Pillar Awards vary annually and may sometimes be offered by invitation.
- Grantseekers working in food security or human services should therefore monitor the company’s current funding opportunities rather than assuming there will be a general Community application every year.
Community Event Sponsorships
Honda corporate maintains a separate Community Event Sponsorship program. Unlike programmatic funding, the event sponsorship application is generally open year-round, although Honda may temporarily close the portal for maintenance or business reasons. Decisions are made on a rolling basis, and requests should be submitted at least eight weeks before the event.
- Requests may be for up to $25,000. Honda generally supports community festivals, parades and similar events celebrating the cultures, traditions and communities where the company operates. Honda is currently not accepting applications for new seated events such as galas and luncheons, although previously supported seated events may still be considered. Events must take place in one of Honda’s designated eligible counties.
- This is a Honda corporate sponsorship opportunity, not a Honda USA Foundation grant program.
Important Grant Details:
The Honda USA Foundation’s latest available tax filing shows 35 grants, with a median grant of $50,000 and a range of $25,000 to $100,000. The Foundation reported approximately $64.6 million in net assets at the end of its fiscal year in March 2025 and about $2.26 million in charitable disbursements.
The programmatic application window opens each fall, with funding decisions announced the following spring. Available award categories may change each year, and some opportunities may be offered by invitation only. The current programmatic application is closed; Honda expects to publish information about the 2027-2028 funding cycle in fall 2026, with decisions in spring 2027.
Programmatic funding is concentrated in communities where Honda associates live and work. The current eligible geography includes Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina and Texas. Local, regional and national projects may apply if their programs primarily benefit eligible Honda communities.
- Eligible applicants generally include U.S.-based 501(c)(3) public charities and qualifying schools or school districts. Organizations that do not hold their own 501(c)(3) status may apply through a tax-exempt nonprofit fiscal sponsor.
- Applicants must complete Honda’s online eligibility quiz before accessing the appropriate application. See the current funding page for updated criteria and application information.
- Grantseekers should also be careful when reviewing Honda’s recent award lists. Honda frequently publishes combined lists of Honda corporate and Honda USA Foundation grantees without identifying the funding source for every recipient. Those lists are useful for understanding Honda’s broader interests but should not be treated as Foundation-only grant records
- For funding opportunities in Canada, please visit Honda Canada Foundation.
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