Amazon
/OVERVIEW: Amazon.com, Inc. makes grants and in-kind donations to nonprofit organizations working in the areas of STEM education, housing equity, disaster relief and hunger.
IP TAKE: Amazon.com Inc. does not run a formal foundation but makes grants and donations in the form of products, technical resources and logistical support to organizations working in the areas of STEM education, affordable housing, disaster relief and hunger. This funder tends to maintain longstanding partnerships with large national and global organizations, which means it likes collaboration.
Amazon is not accessible, but it does provide an email address for organizations interested in partnering with its housing program. Other prospective grantseekers should check Amazon’s community impact page periodically for updates. Another way to get on this proactive funder’s radar is to network with previous Amazon grantees.
PROFILE: The Seattle-based online retail giant Amazon.com, Inc. supports communities around the world where it maintains operations by working “side-by-side with community partners to find solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges and build long term, innovative programs that have a lasting, positive impact.” Its current grantmaking focuses on STEM education, housing equity, disaster relief and hunger. In addition to these areas of interest, Amazon runs a “contributions program” that, since 2020, has donated large sums to organizations involved in COVID-19 relief and the Black Lives Matter movement. Amazon’s grantmaking programs are not affiliated with the Bezos Family Foundation and its grantmaking programs. Because giving stems from a variety of separate sources and locations within this large company, and because a significant portion of its philanthropy is in the form of in-kind donations, it is difficult to ascertain the scope and direction of Amazon’s philanthropy in its entirety.
Grants for STEM Education
Amazon supports STEM education via its signature Amazon Future Engineer program, which aims to “inspire, educate and prepare children and young adults from underrepresented and underserved communities to pursue computer science.” The program funds computer science curricula at over 5,000 U.S. K-12 schools, with the goal of reaching 550,000 students each year. The initiative also makes grants for teacher professional development in the subject area of computer science and out-of-school programs that teach coding to underserved students. Future Engineer also runs a scholarship program that provides 100 high school seniors with four-year scholarships of $10,000 and paid internships. Past grantee partners include Code.org, Carnegie Mellon University’s Computer Science Academy, the Alliance for Education and CodeVA.
In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, Amazon launched its signature Right Now Needs program, which helped students obtain the supplies and technology needed to succeed in virtual education programs during the pandemic.
Grants for Housing, Homelessness and Community Development
Amazon funds the development of affordable housing in key geographic areas where it maintains operations via its Housing Equity Fund. Launched in 2021, the $2 billion commitment prioritizes communities in the Puget Sound area of Washington, Arlington, Virginia and Nashville, Tennessee and aims to “preserve existing housing and create inclusive housing developments through below-market loans and grants to housing partners, traditional and non-traditional public agencies, and minority-led organizations.” An early grantee-partner of the program, the Washington Housing Conservancy, received $381.9 million in loans and grants for its development of more than 1,000 affordable homes in the Crystal House development in Arlington, Virginia. Another grantee, the King County Housing Authority received $185.5 million for a similar development project in Washington. Amazon has also supported organizations that provide legal assistance and rent relief to vulnerable residents including Legal Services of Northern Virginia, the Virginia Poverty Law Center and Legal Aid society of the District of Colombia.
Amazon has also demonstrated a strong interest in preventing homelessness in its home state of Washington and provides ongoing funding to the Seattle-based nonprofit Mary’s Place, which received $100 million in cash and donations to build Washington’s largest family shelter in an Amazon-owned property.
Grants for Disaster Relief and Humanitarian Aid
Amazon’s disaster relief and response initiative is global in scope and, in addition to monetary grants, consists of in-kind donations, logistical support, technical resources and volunteers. Grantee-partners tend to be large national and international organizations including Save the Children, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and Mercy Corps. Amazon has also created an emergency service network, the Amazon Web Services Disaster Response Action Team, which helps disaster response organizations access critical information in difficult conditions and channel supplies to the places where they are most urgently needed.
In 2020, Amazon increased its giving in the areas of hunger and basic needs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The company has partnered with food banks, schools and meal delivery organizations in more than 25 cities in the U.S., Australia, Japan, Singapore, Spain and the U.K. to provide meals to vulnerable individuals and families during the crisis. Grantee partners include Share our Strength, the Capital Area Food Bank, Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee and Northwest Harvest. Amazon has also donated $10 million to Water.org, a global nonprofit co-founded by actor Matt Damon.
Important Grant Details:
Amazon’s annual giving is in the hundreds of millions, but it is difficult to decipher the actual amount and range of its grantmaking because of the large size of the company and its proclivity to donate products and technical support in addition to grants. For additional information about Amazon’s grantee partners, explore the individual pages describing its various grantmaking areas of interest or its press center.
Amazon does not run open application programs for any of its grantmaking initiatives. Inquiries about the Housing Equity Fund may be submitted via email. Prospective grantees for other programs should check the company’s community impact page periodically.
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