Michelin Corporate Foundation
/OVERVIEW: Based in France, the Michelin Corporate Foundation supports a wide range of organizations around the world. It makes grants to support travel and transportation, health, education, community development, the environment and arts and culture.
IP TAKE: This accessible foundation awards grants to organizations in regions where Michelin has a business and employee presence. This corporate foundation tends to seek out innovative and unusual projects that are unlikely to secure funding from other sources. About half of Michelin’s grantmaking funds organizations in France, with the remainder spread across North and South America, Africa, Asia and the Pacific. The Michelin Corporate Foundation accepts applications at any time via its online grant portal. However, its responsiveness sometimes lags.
PROFILE: The Michelin Corporate Foundation was established in 2014 and is the philanthropic arm of the Michelin Group, the international tire company founded in 1889 and headquartered in Clermont-Ferrand, France. The foundation seeks to “to sponsor long-term projects in the countries where Michelin is present,” and operates under its broad “signature theme” of “helping people move forward.” Michelin’s main grantmaking programs include Sustainable Mobility, Sport and Health, Education and the Community, Protecting the Environment and Heritage and the Arts. While more than half of all Michelin grants remain in France, U.S. organizations number significantly among its recent grantees.
Grants for Global Development
The Michelin Corporate Foundation’s grantmaking for global development stems from its Sustainable Mobility initiative. The program supports organizations focused on increasing automobile safety, sustainable transportation and road building. Past grantees in this area include HandiCap Evasion, which used funding to make mountain roads and trails accessible for physically disabled persons and the Yellowstone Park Foundation, which received a grant to study traffic flow patterns within the park. Another grant supported the French organization La Main à la Pâte, which works to promote road safety awareness among nine- to 11-year-old elementary school students.
Grants for Global Health
Michelin’s Sport and Health program focuses on community recreation and healthcare access for underserved communities. The program has also awarded grants for global health emergencies including natural disasters and disease outbreaks. Past global health grantees include the Palliative Care Fund, which received a grant to support its work with vulnerable elderly populations and their families, and the French Red Cross, which received funding for its emergency response and relief work in Liberia during the Ebola epidemic.
Grants for K-12 Education
Michelin’s Education and the Community program supports education as an important means to achieve a more equitable society. Past grantees in this space include L’Usine Extraordinaire Foundation, which organized an exhibit to “give young people and the general public a positive image of industry by highlighting its inclusive approach in recruiting from wide social backgrounds” and Fondation pour l’Innovation et la Transmission du Goût, which provides nutrition and health education programs for elementary school age children in France and other French-speaking areas.
Grants for Environmental Conservation and Climate Change
Michelin’s Protecting the Environment initiative which seeks to address the “fundamental challenges for the future of our planet” by focusing on the “fight against global warming, the renewing of energies, the preservation of resources and biodiversity.” The foundation’s grantmaking in this area is intentionally broad because the foundation is willing to consider innovative projects that are unlikely to receive funding from other sources. One past grantee, the World Wildlife Federation, received a grant to support its environmental protection and conservation work in Sumatra. Another recent grant went to the International Study Group on Chemical Pollution of the Environment, which received funding for its work addressing the chemical industry’s impact on health and the environment. Other past grantees include Climate Chance, the Solar Impulse Foundation and UniLaSalle, a college for earth sciences with campuses in Rouen and Beauvais.
Grants for Humanitarian and Disaster Relief
While Michelin does not have a grantmaking program specifically dedicated to either refugees or disaster response, its giving history indicates an interest in both funding spaces. Past disaster grantees include the American Red Cross, which received a grant to purchase an emergency response vehicle to help victims of Hurricane Harvey, and the French Red Cross, which received funding to support its work with refugees across Europe.
Grants for Visual Arts, Film, Creative Writing, Theater, Dance, Music
One of Michelin’s most dynamic grantmaking programs is its Heritage and the Arts program. This funding area “supports cultural creating and contributes to the preservation of local heritage.” Its grantmaking history indicates a strong funding interest in this space. In France, the foundation has supported the historical site of Château De Versailles, the Centre Lyrique Clermont-Auvergne and L’Orchestre Symphonique Des Dômes. In the U.S., the foundation has supported the International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina.
Important Grant Details:
In a recent year, the Michelin Corporate Foundation made upwards of €18 million. Michelin grants typically range between €5,000 and €100,000. About half of the foundation’s grants go to organizations based in France, with the remainder of its grantmaking spread over North America, South America, Africa, Asia and the Pacific. Grantees outside of France tend to be NGOs with multinational operations, but a handful of smaller outfits have also received support. Michelin appears to seek out unusual and innovative projects in its areas of interest.
The Michelin Corporate Foundation accepts unsolicited requests for funding year-round via its online application portal. For general inquiries, use the foundation’s contact form.
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