Big Lots invests in partnerships that improve and enrich the lives of families and children. Support is provided in the form of monetary gifts, gift cards, and merchandise in-kind. Significant partnership projects and capital requests are by invitation only.
Please note that we have two grant request deadlines per year.
Complete grant applications will only be considered by the deadlines provided.
January 1st at Midnight PST
Organizations will be notified of their application status in June.
July 1st at Midnight PST
Organizations will be notified of their application status in December.
Providing nutritious food or meals
Providing emergency food assistance
Educating families or individuals about the importance of healthy eating
Preventing families or individuals from losing their housing
Providing affordable, stable housing
Providing emergency shelter for families and individuals
Improving healthcare through research and education
Providing preventative education and care
Providing affordable, critical medical care
Providing service-learning curriculum that aligns with education standards
Promoting servant leadership through academic and experiential learning
Improving classroom learning outcomes through innovation
Visit our application to get started with your request.
Donation RequestYes. Giving back to our communities is an important company value. The company and our associates have a long history of sharing that belief. The Big Lots Foundation was created in December 2014 to amplify and augment this important work.
The Big Lots Foundation provides support to registered, non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations that fit within our philanthropic focus and meet our guidelines. A non-profit 501(c)(3) organization is a tax-exempt charitable organization as designated by the Internal Revenue Service.
Support is provided in the form of monetary gifts, gift cards, and merchandise in-kind. In addition, Big Lots associates volunteer thousands of hours in the community.
Big Lots Foundation directs its support to nonprofit programs or organizations with a focus on healthcare, housing, hunger and education.
Big Lots Foundation accepts requests ONLY from 501(c)3 public nonprofit organizations where we operate stores, distribution centers or our corporate office. Priority is given to projects that have a Big Lots associate actively involved. Requests from individuals, families, and other sources will not be accepted.
• Organizations that are not 501(c)3 public charities
• Individuals, for any purpose (e.g. hardship, illness, scholarship)
• Political candidates, committees, or organizations
• Athletes, teams, sporting events or tournaments of any kind, including charity golf tournaments
• Fraternal, labor, social, or veteran organizations
• Churches and religious sectarian organizations, with the exception of those that have an outreach program that benefits the whole community
• Non-academic educational activities such as bands, choirs, proms, after-proms, graduations, etc.
• Individual K-12 schools and public service agencies such as police and fire departments
• Organizations that spend more than 20% of their revenue on overhead and fundraising costs
• Organizations that discriminate against people on the basis of age, race, creed, gender, handicap, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or national origin
• Staff positions for government agencies
Before submitting an application via our online application portal, please review the Giving Guidelines to assess whether your organization meets our criteria. After reviewing our guidelines, have your charitable tax ID/EIN number ready to submit your request via the application portal.
Grant and sponsorship requests currently are accepted on a rolling basis through the application portal. Big Lots Foundation staff will notify nonprofits directly with the determination three months after the application deadline of January 1 or July 1. Please do not phone for status of your request. Please note: Faxed, mailed or emailed requests will not be considered.
Because demand for in-kind donations outweighs our resources, we will consider a limited number of donation requests for auctions, fundraising raffle items, or bulk merchandise donations to eligible nonprofit partners that directly serve neighbors in need. Priority is given to organizations that align with our giving areas and have a Big Lots associate involved as an active volunteer, board member or committee member. Organizations may only request one in-kind donation per calendar year, submitting an application via the online application portal.
