The Home Depot Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Home Depot Foundation funds programs and organizations dedicated to helping military veterans find housing and avoid homelessness. Smaller grantmaking initiatives support disaster relief and trades education.
IP TAKE: Though the Home Depot Foundation offers many different types of grants, it is also known as a major funder of veterans’ causes. It prefers to fund large, well-known organizations with which it has established relationships. This is not a transparent funder, as it does not provide much information about where funding goes or in what amounts. Grantseekers may find the foundation’s geographic restrictions limiting. Check out its founder’s Marcus Foundation for other grant opportunities.
PROFILE: The Home Depot Foundation is the philanthropic arm of its corporate sister, the Home Depot. The foundation “works to improve the homes and lives of U.S. veterans, train skilled tradespeople to fill the labor gap and support communities impacted by natural disasters.” Since 2011, Home Depot has given over $500 million to organizations that help veterans, and it has committed to invest over $750 million in veterans causes by 2030. In addition to Veterans, Home Depot also funds work in Disaster Relief and Trades Education.
Grants for Housing and Veterans
While it funds a variety of giving areas, the Home Depot Foundation conducts much of its philanthropy through a focus on veterans and military families. It has pledged to invest half of a billion dollars in veterans’ causes by 2025. Its Veterans program concentrates funding for three areas: combat-wounded veterans, aging veterans, and homeless and housing-insecure veterans.
Its National Partner Grants Program partners with large, national nonprofits that work in “homelessness, housing for senior veterans and veterans with service-connected disabilities.” Some of the organizations the foundation partners with include Community Solutions, Jared Allen’s Homes for Wounded Warriors, Gary Sinise Foundation, National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, Housing Assistance Council, and Operation Homefront. It also partnered with Habitat for Humanity to create Repair Corps, “a program that provides local Habitat organizations with the resources to repair or modify the homes of veterans and their families.”
The foundation’s Veteran Housing Grants Program provides grants to “develop and repair housing for veterans, including transitional living facilities and permanent supportive housing.”
Grant amounts range from $100,000 to $500,000.
While this is a national program, it prioritizes support for the cities of Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, Houston, Detroit, San Diego, Denver, Chicago, Atlanta and Tampa.
Check the FAQ on the program page for other requirements and guidelines.
The Path to Pro program works to provide veterans and others with a skilled trade education and help them find employment in the home improvement industry.
Grants for Humanitarian Relief
The Home Depot Foundation’s Disaster Relief program area mobilizes the company’s “merchandising, supply chain and operations teams” to provide relief services following natural disasters throughout the United States, including hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, blizzards, and earthquakes. In disaster situations, Home Depot offers its stores as “command centers” and coordination sites for first responders and relief personnel. A special branch of Home Depot’s philanthropy, the Homer Fund, provides support for Home Depot employees and associates who are themselves affected by such natural disasters.
Grants for Economic Development
The Home Depot Foundation’s Path to Pro program is “committed to educating more people in the skilled trades and helping them find careers in the home improvement industry.” Home Depot has collaborated with organizations including the Home Builders Institute, the SkillPointe Foundation and Atlanta Technical College to run in-person and online training, certification and career development programs. Priority populations include young people and veterans. Further information can be found on the program’s website.
Important Grant Details:
Home Depot does not provide detailed information about its past grants on its website but appears to work mainly through long-term partnerships with large, well-established organizations. See its individual program pages for additional information about these partnerships.
The Home Depot Foundation accepts applications for its Veterans Housing Grants, but applications are limited to established veterans housing organizations operating in Los Angeles, Seattle, New York City, Houston, Detroit, San Diego, Denver, Chicago, Atlanta or Tampa.
The foundation reviews proposals three times per year, with due dates falling in March, July and December.
The foundation generally takes about 45 days to review proposals, with final funding determinations requiring a third-party review.
Questions about the application process may be submitted to foundation staff via email.
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