Grant Guidelines:

The LEGO Children’s Fund will provide quarterly grants for programs, either in part or in total, with a special interest paid to collaborative efforts and in providing matching funds to leverage new dollars into the receiving organization. We will give priority consideration to programs that both meet our goals and are supported in volunteer time and effort by our employees.

The Foundation awards grants to qualified tax-exempt organizations (as determined under section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue code) including educational organizations as defined in USC 26 § 170 (C) with specific, identifiable needs primarily in these areas of support:

• Early childhood education and development
• Technology and communication projects that advance learning opportunities
• Sport or athletic programs that concentrate on under-served youth

Interested parties must submit a proposal in accordance with specified Application Procedures. Grant-seekers must also be aware of what the LEGO Children’s Fund does not support as identified in the Areas of Exclusion.

Grant Amounts:

There are no restrictions on grant amounts up to the quarterly allocation. Typical awards, however are between USD $500 and USD $5,000.

Funds not allocated in a given quarter will be available for grants in subsequent quarters.

Grant Time Limit:

Each grant will be subject to a specified time frame for completion. One appeal to this time frame may be requested due to mitigating circumstances.  This appeal will be to the Grant Administrator.

Geographic Limitations:

While our main interests are local, there are no restrictions based on geography. The LEGO Children’s Fund supports local and national programs in the United States.  Applications from Connecticut and Western Massachusetts may be given preferential consideration, as this is where we have established North American headquarters and where our employees live, but applications from other geographical areas will not be excluded.

Types of Grants:

The LEGO Children’s Fund issues project grants, not general support grants. This allows the Foundation to direct its efforts towards specific areas and limits the duration of the Foundation's commitment.

Matching Funds:

The LEGO Children’s Fund will consider requests for matching funds for qualifying projects or qualifying organizations that support the Fund mission statement.

1. Complete the LEGO Children's Fund Application.
2. LEGO Children’s Fund must be acknowledged as “Matching Fund Donor” in any advertisement relating to the project.
3. Audited statement of contributions will be required before matching funds are disbursed.
4. Matching funds for individuals will be considered if the underlying project meets LEGO Children’s Fund guidelines.

Employee Involvement:

The LEGO Children’s Fund recognizes that employee volunteer efforts are to be commended and supported. To offer encouragement and to support these efforts, the foundation will give preferential treatment to requests for grants for projects to organizations in which our employees devote time and resources.

Unexpended Grants:

All grant funds unexpended by the end of the grant term will be returned to LEGO Children’s Fund.

Areas of Exclusion:

IRS Regulations prohibit the use of LEGO Children's Fund grant proceeds to acquire LEGO products. Any application which proposes the use of grant proceedings to acquire LEGO products will not be accepted.

Additionally, because the Foundation's funds are limited, each grant application is carefully evaluated to determine whether it falls within one of the areas of support. Applications that do not fall within these areas are not likely to receive grant support. To further clarify what types of applications are appropriate, this page describes areas that the Foundation does not support.

As a matter of policy, the Foundation does not make grants to:

• Individuals including scholarships, tuition, research, etc.
• Sectarian or religious oriented activities
• Political activities including direct or grass roots lobbying
• Offset the costs of tuition for undergraduate, graduate, or post-graduate education
• Direct humanitarian and/or disaster relief
• Capital campaigns
• Debt retirement programs
• Debt that has been incurred including mortgages, lines of credit, etc.
• Ongoing operating costs including completed projects, existing staff costs, existing organizational overhead, etc.
• Support general or annual fund raising drives
• Support institutional benefits
• Honorary functions
• General endowments, annual appeals or similar appeals
• Support overhead costs, operating budgets or staff salaries
• Capital projects including buildings, furniture or renovation projects
• Deficit financing
• Operating budgets
• Efforts routinely supported by government agencies or the general public
• Expansion or continuation funding of existing programs

As a matter of policy, the LEGO Children’s Fund also does not donate LEGO play materials to qualifying organizations, unless they have been donated to the Fund for such use.  For product and toy donations requests, organizations may submit inquiries to LEGO Systems, Inc. for consideration under a toy donation program independent of the LEGO Children’s Fund.  For more information on requesting products, click here.

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