OVERVIEW: Walmart.org supports workforce advancement, environmental sustainability, food access, disaster resilience and community connection. It also operates accessible local-giving programs and makes significant investments in Northwest Arkansas.
IP TAKE: Walmart.org has two very different doors. Local nonprofits can pursue small grants and fundraising tools through Spark Good. Start by completing verification, identifying nearby stores, clubs or distribution centers whose service areas overlap with your work, and building relationships with local managers and associates. Round Up, Registry, volunteer opportunities and storefront events can raise visibility, but they are not Walmart Foundation grants and do not guarantee funding.
Larger strategic grants are mostly developed proactively and awarded by invitation. Cold proposals are unlikely to advance, and Walmart.org does not grant invitations upon request. Limited exceptions include rolling concept notes for Healthier Food for All and occasional RFPs, including opportunities through the Northwest Arkansas Giving Program.
The strongest warm-entry paths run through current grantees, implementing partners, issue-area coalitions, universities, government agencies, technical intermediaries and peer funders working in Walmart.org’s priority areas. In Northwest Arkansas, regional institutions and community leaders may also provide useful connections.
A warm introduction is only a starting point. Competitive organizations typically bring credible evidence, strong partnerships and a model that can scale, influence systems or generate field-wide learning. Grantseekers should also distinguish Walmart.org from the Walton family’s separate philanthropic vehicles.
PROFILE: Walmart.org represents the combined philanthropic work of Walmart Inc. and the Walmart Foundation. Its giving draws heavily on Walmart’s commercial footprint, supply chains, workforce and presence in thousands of communities. Walmart.org reports that Walmart and the Foundation contributed $2 billion in cash and in-kind donations globally in FY2025, but that figure is much broader than the Foundation’s grantmaking alone. Although it is a corporate foundation, it is affiliated with the Walton family, one of the richest families in America. Walmart is majority-owned by the Waltons through a combination of their holding company, Walton Enterprises and the holdings of individual family members.
Walmart.org’s overarching goal is to help “people live better one community at a time.” Current work falls under three broad umbrellas: Creating Opportunity, Advancing Sustainability and Strengthening Community. Walmart.org’s site also continues to display the Center for Racial Equity, but the center’s own page says the special five-year initiative completed its work in June 2025.
Grants for Work and Opportunity
Walmart.org’s Creating Opportunity strategy focuses on frontline workers and people whose skills may not be recognized through traditional college-degree requirements.
- Its current Retail Opportunity strategy supports four related priorities:
- Expanding skills-first hiring and advancement practices;
- Improving data and information about workers’ skills;
- Changing employer narratives about workers without four-year degrees; and
- Making skills data more portable across employers and technology systems.
- The funder works with nonprofits, employers, educational institutions, government agencies, associations, technology providers and other grantmakers. Walmart.org says it invested more than $140 million in frontline, skills-based advancement over the five years preceding the current program page.
- Strong prospects include established workforce intermediaries, community-college partnerships, credentialing organizations, employer coalitions and research groups that can influence hiring or advancement systems at scale.
- Direct job-training programs may be competitive when they contribute to a broader model, employer network or evidence base.
- Applications are generally by invitation only.
Grants for Environment, Climate Change, Sustainable Agriculture and Supply Systems
Walmart.org’s Advancing Sustainability portfolio is closely connected to the company’s environmental goals and global supply chains. Its four current priorities are climate, waste, nature and people in supply chains.
- The Climate program supports initiatives that can both reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and protect natural resources.
- Funding may support research, field-building, technical assistance and adoption of more sustainable practices.
- The Soil Health Institute is one current grantee highlighted by Walmart.org.
- Project Gigaton, which seeks to reduce emissions in Walmart’s value chain, provides important strategic context but is a corporate supplier initiative rather than a nonprofit grant program. Climate grants are invitation-only, and unsolicited proposals are not accepted.
- The Waste portfolio supports efforts to reduce plastic, food and textile waste.
- Interests include materials innovation, recycling infrastructure, consumer behavior, food-waste measurement, food recovery, transportation capacity and circular textile systems.
- This work extends beyond Walmart’s own handling of unsold products. Philanthropic grants support research, infrastructure, education and new models that can change wider systems. Featured grantees include the Recycling Partnership, ReFED and Textile Exchange. Applications are by invitation only.
- The Nature strategy supports forests, oceans, land and water.
- Walmart.org backs place-based partnerships, research, conservation, restoration and adoption of more sustainable practices, often in regions or supply chains connected to Walmart’s business.
- Priorities include forest protection, responsible seafood, regenerative agriculture, soil health and water stewardship.
- Featured partners include Conservation International, FishWise and the Nature Conservancy.
- This portfolio favors organizations with significant technical expertise, industry relationships and the ability to work across sectors or geographies. Applications are invitation-only.
- The People in Supply Chains portfolio supports responsible labor practices, worker and community voice, smallholder farmers, entrepreneurs and women participating in global supply chains.
- Specific interests include responsible recruitment, worker dignity, labor data and transparency, market access and economic opportunity.
- The funder may support research, training, technical assistance, standards, business adoption and multi-stakeholder initiatives.
- This is a global, invitation-only portfolio.
Grants for Community Development, Food Access and Disaster Response
Walmart.org’s Strengthening Community work includes Spark Good, healthier food, disaster preparedness and response, community connection and concentrated giving in Northwest Arkansas.
- Spark Good Local Grants are Walmart.org’s most accessible competitive grants. Walmart U.S. stores, Sam’s Clubs and distribution centers award grants of $250 to $5,000 for work benefiting their local service areas.
- Eligible applicants may include qualifying public charities, government entities, schools and faith-based organizations proposing projects that benefit the broader community.
- Applicants must establish a Spark Good account and complete verification through Deed.
- Applications are accepted during published grant cycles, and organizations may apply to multiple facilities when their proposed work benefits each facility’s service area.
- These grants are modest, but the local decision-making structure creates a genuine relationship-building opportunity. Organizations should identify the most relevant stores, clubs or logistics facilities; demonstrate local credibility; and cultivate connections with managers and associates before applying.
- Spark Good also includes several programs that are not Walmart Foundation grants:
- Spark Good Round Up allows customers to round up purchases made on Walmart.com or in the Walmart app and recommend the difference to an eligible organization. Donations are distributed through a donor-advised fund operated by Network for Good.
- Spark Good Registry lets nonprofits and eligible schools create lists of products and gift cards that supporters can purchase.
- The Storefront Reservation Program allows eligible organizations to request space outside Walmart stores and Neighborhood Markets for fundraising or community-awareness events.
- Associate Programs allow eligible organizations to post volunteer opportunities and receive voluntary donations from Walmart and Sam’s Club employees. Walmart also offers periodic associate matching campaigns.
- Participation generally requires a Spark Good account and verification through Deed. These tools may increase local visibility and engagement, but nonprofits should not assume that participation will lead to a larger strategic grant.
- Healthier Food for All aims to increase access to healthy food and strengthen connections between nutrition and healthcare. Current priorities include filling gaps in food access and accelerating food-as-medicine programs for people with chronic illnesses.
- Funding may support charitable-food infrastructure, benefits access, technology, nutrition interventions, research and partnerships connecting food providers with health systems. Walmart’s corporate food donations and support for Feeding America are part of the broader context, but they should not be confused with the program’s strategic grants.
- This is the clearest national entry point for an unsolicited idea. Walmart.org’s FAQ says organizations may submit program-related concept notes on a rolling basis. Staff will invite a full proposal only when an idea fits the portfolio and warrants further consideration.
- The Disaster Preparedness and Response program supports both long-term resilience and immediate relief. Preparedness grants prioritize scalable models, technical assistance and the capacity of trusted organizations and local governments to serve vulnerable communities.
- During disasters, Walmart and the Foundation may provide grants, products, gift cards, mobile response units or other assistance.
- Support is coordinated according to the circumstances of each disaster, and Walmart.org does not publish an open rapid-response application for nonprofits.
- Featured preparedness grantees include the Geos Institute and SBP.
- Building More Caring and Connected Communities supports stronger social connections across lines of difference. Its approaches include storytelling, trust- and empathy-building, training community leaders and strengthening shared spaces such as parks and recreation centers.
- Featured partners include StoryCorps, Welcoming America and the Trust for Public Land.
- Organizations working in narrative change, bridge-building or public-space activation may be relevant, particularly when they can demonstrate credible community partnerships and a model with broader learning value.
Grants for Northwest Arkansas
Walmart.org maintains a significant regional program in Northwest Arkansas, specifically benefiting Benton and Washington counties. Organizations do not necessarily need to be headquartered in the region, but proposed work must directly benefit residents of one or both counties.
- Recent public RFPs have supported healthier-food access, nutrition education, public-benefits enrollment, arts and recreation access, scholarships, field trips and free community programming.
- Regional sustainability and workforce investments are generally invitation-only.
- Walmart and Sam’s Club also offer Northwest Arkansas event sponsorships through RFPs twice each year. Organizations should monitor the regional program page and join Walmart.org’s email list rather than submitting a general unsolicited request.
Past Grantmaking for Racial Equity
The Center for Racial Equity was established in 2020 as a one-time, five-year, $100 million initiative. It supported research, advocacy and interventions addressing gaps experienced by Black and African American communities in education, health, finance and criminal justice.
The center completed its work in June 2025. Its past grants remain useful for understanding Walmart.org’s interests and relationships, but the center is no longer a current application pathway.
Important Grant Details:
Walmart’s grants range from a few hundred dollars to over $30 million. Most grants, however, fall in the $50,000 to $600,000 range. The latest Walmart Foundation filing reported approximately $119.9 million in charitable disbursements for the fiscal year ending January 2025.
- Walmart.org generally funds U.S. public charities and equivalent charitable organizations, as well as eligible government entities, schools and community-serving faith organizations under certain programs.It does not fund individuals, political candidates or campaigns, association memberships or athletic teams and sponsorships. Private foundations are generally ineligible. Healthier Food for All accepts rolling concept notes, but full proposals are issued by invitation after staff review.Walmart.org occasionally issues RFPs for otherwise invitation-only portfolios.T
- The Grantee Search is useful for reviewing recent strategic grants, although it does not capture all Walmart corporate donations, local giving or customer-directed contributions.
- Grant applications are only accepted for the Spark Good program. Guidelines and an FAQ are available at the website.
- All other grants applications are accepted by invitation only. Walmart will only occasionally post RFPs on its website.
- Walmart.org does not offer a way to get in touch, but social media handles for some of its staff members are provided on the team page. A phone number listed for Walmart’s corporate giving program is (479) 273-4000.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only.)
LINKS:
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