Requests For Funding

Qwest Foundation® understands the long-term benefits of investing in education. The Foundation makes grants to non-profit organizations, primarily focused on promoting pre-k through grade 12 education.

Qwest Foundation awards grants to non-profit organizations that generate high impact and measurable results through community-based programs, and supports programs and initiatives that build lasting value for Qwest customers and the communities we serve.

We focus on enriching the lives of children by supporting solid preK-12 educational programs, and believe that educating children is the cornerstone for building strong and enlightened communities.

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Grant Guidelines

General:
The Qwest Foundation provides support to innovative programs that reflect the funding priorities described below. Organizations must be designated as a 501(c)(3) organization by the IRS, or be a governmental entity, such as a public school district, to be eligible for funding.

Funding
The Qwest Foundation considers program support requests from organizations that:

Deliver effective programs
Provide measurable outcomes
Demonstrate financial stability

Funding Priorities
Qwest Foundation® focuses on enriching the lives of children by supporting solid preK-12 educational programs. Educating children is the cornerstone for building strong and enlightened communities.

Qwest Foundation will consider programs that:

Effectively use technology to improve preK-12 public school instruction
Promote innovative models to strengthen preK-12 public school education
Improve the skills and leadership of educators and parents
Promote innovative early childhood education programs
Promote diversity awareness and cultural competency

United Way
Qwest provides direct support for United Ways that provide services where we do business.

The Board of the Qwest Foundation will consider, from time to time, making additional grants to meet urgent local, regional or national community needs, while maintaining a core focus on preK-12 education.

Funding Restrictions:
Qwest Foundation will not provide funding for:

Direct grants to individuals or scholarships to individuals
Political organizations
Sectarian religious activities
Capital campaigns, chairs or endowments
Private foundations or pass-through organizations
General operating funds for single-disease health groups
Goodwill advertising
Organizations that receive 3 percent or more of funds from United Way

Grants Application and Funding Process:

As of March 31, 2009, all proposals must be submitted through the online system — paper grants will no longer be accepted. In preparation to submit your request online, you will need:

Federal Tax id number of the non-profit organization for which you are requesting the funds
Familiarity with both the organization for which you are requesting the funds and the specific program that you are requesting to be funded
The following documents electronically in a doc, xls or pdf format:
- Board of directors list, including names, phone numbers and affiliations
- Copy of current year itemized operating revenue and expense budget for the organization
- Copy of the budget of the program or project for which you are requesting funds
- Accountants report or IRS form 990
- Tax exemption letter

When entering the online submission application, you will be required to establish a Qwest Foundation Grant application account. Once you establish this account, you will be able to submit a grant application, save a pending application to be submitted later, or check the status of a previously submitted grant. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed. Final notification of funding decisions is made within 6-8 weeks following the grant submission. If you have questions, please feel free to contact the Qwest Foundation at qwest.foundation@qwest.com.

To submit your funding proposal and access our online grant application system, please review our funding guidelines then select one of the following links:

Qwest Foundation Grant Application for Public Schools and Government entities

Qwest Foundation Grant Application for Nonprofit Organizations