Through Cisco's Silicon Valley Impact Grant program, a set amount of $15,000 will be awarded to each approved grantee organization and is restricted solely to the approved program and associated costs as outlined in our eligibility requirements. Grants are awarded through a competitive annual process to carefully selected community-based nonprofits operating within 50 miles of Cisco's San Jose headquarters.
Following are the eligibility guidelines for the Silicon Valley Impact Grant program. Please be sure to review them with care before beginning an application.
Organizational Requirements
Organizations must be recognized by the IRS as tax-exempt under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c) (3) and classified by the IRS as a public charity.
If your organization has had any program funded for the last three years in a row, your NGO must sit out one full year before applying for either a new program or further funding of an existing program. Please reference our grant recipients page for past awarded grants to determine your eligibility.
Cisco Foundation does not fund organizations or projects whose general operating overhead expenses exceed 25%.
As a rule, we do not fund programs or organizations that re-grant or loan funds to other organizations or individuals. We do not fund organizations or programs that provide scholarships or stipends.
Only organization programs that fit the core parameters outlined in the Silicon Valley Impact Grant Program funding areas are eligible to apply.
We ask that organizations (including fiscal agents) coordinate internally such that only one grant proposal is submitted annually from each organization (or fiscal agent).
Program/Project Requirements
Programs that meet eligibility must operate within 50 miles of Cisco's San Jose headquarters. The physical headquarters of a program's sponsoring organization need not be within this radius, as long as the program itself operates within the specified area. On your grant application, be sure to enter the address where the program will operate. Mailing address should be noted under contact name information.
Are you within the 50 mile radius? Use Yahoo's map service to find the distance between our headquarters and your organization (or the distance between our headquarters and the site to be served by your program, if applicable). When you click the link below, you will see two sets of address fields: one for the starting address, and one for the point of program service location. Cisco's headquarters address will already be entered in the "Starting Address" fields. Simply enter your program address in the "Destination Address" fields, and click "Get Directions." On the screen that follows, the distance between Cisco and your organization will be listed in a table beneath the dark yellow bar. Find the distance.
We cannot consider incomplete proposals or programs/projects that fall outside our funding priorities. In addition, proposals in the following areas are not eligible for a Silicon Valley Impact Grant. Please review this list with care before beginning an application.
Ineligibilities: General Exclusions
Applications from non-profit organizations with less than one full year of operation.
Multi-year grants
General operating expenses (other than those directly associated with the program itself)
Proposals that fall outside our stated funding areas
Incomplete proposals
Ineligibilities: Schools & Scholarships
Public schools or school systems
Private schools
Charter schools
School foundations
Booster clubs or other fundraising organizations affiliated with particular school(s)
Colleges/universities
Scholarships, stipends or loans of any kind within a program
