Grant Guidelines

VegFund supports vegan advocates — individuals and nonprofit organizations — who promote messages and behaviors that are 100% plant-based and free of animal exploitation.

Grantees must be 18 years of age or older. If you are a young activist under the age of 18, please contact us about partnering with an adult to receive a grant from VegFund.

Applicants who are not vegan or plant-based should be aware that the project proposed for funding must be 100% vegan and devoid of any animal exploitation, and the message must be focused on promoting veganism or plant-based living. In these cases, applications from non-vegans will be considered for funding if the above conditions are met.

Applicants must be individuals or nonprofit entities. VegFund does not support for-profit entities or fundraising events/projects for nonprofits.

Events must be open to the public: Eligible events must be held in public spaces. We do not fund events in private homes.

Funding for marketing expenses: Approval of marketing expenses will depend on the number of individuals you project to reach and how targeted your marketing plan appears. Quotes or estimates should be presented, if available.

Funding for food: VegFund will not reimburse for the cost of alcohol but may consider funding events in which alcohol is available or served. We do not reimburse for the cost of water or other beverages that are vegan by default (e.g., soda, tea, juice). The food offered should be sample-size and cost about $1 per individual. VegFund does not provide funding for full meals, with some exceptions for special cases.

Community Event grant payments: Community Event grants are paid as reimbursements following the submission of a complete report with proof of payment.

Ads or videos that promote illegal activities are prohibited.

Before submitting an application, we strongly encourage applicants to carefully review our grant program areas and choose the grant application that best applies to your proposed project.

Community Grants applications submission deadlines: VegFund accepts Community Event grant applications on a rolling basis, and review typically takes one month. Applicants may wish to apply further in advance in order to receive a funding decision with sufficient time before their event date, especially if the outcome of their application will affect event planning.

Special Project Grants applications submission deadlines: Please refer to the "Application due dates" shown on the schedule on the Special Projects Grants page.

Online Campaign Grants applications submission deadlines: Please refer to the "Application due dates" shown on the schedule on the Online Campaign Grants page.

To begin an application, visit vegfund.org/apply, and select the grant category for your application. If you're not sure which grant application to choose, visit the Grants Overview page for more information on our different grant programs.

If you have never applied for a grant from VegFund before, you will be asked to register an account and complete an Applicant Profile to inform VegFund about your experience and motivations. You will only need to complete the Applicant Profile once, but can edit it at any time.

After completing the Applicant Profile, you will be able to start your application form. Be sure to provide as much detail as possible and to list your full project budget, even if you are only requesting a portion of this from VegFund.

You can save your progress and leave it as a draft. You can always come back to complete it and submit it when ready.

Important: Make sure you click "Submit" before leaving the page. Otherwise, your application won't be reviewed.

The application reviewers will read your full application, along with any other supporting documentation you included. If reviewers have additional questions about your project or application, they may send the submission back to you with requested changes or additional questions.

When evaluating, reviewers will consider the following questions, among others:

• Does the applicant have a defined plan in place to carry out the project?
• Is there a clear, itemized budget?
• Is there a specific start date and end date?
• For larger projects and events, is there a team in place, or is this a one-person-show?
• Does the project target a non-vegan audience?
• Does the project target a specific non-vegan audience, and is that audience well-defined?
• Does the applicant provide evidence for targeting these audiences?
• Does the project deliver a compelling vegan message?
• Does the applicant present clearly defined goals for the project?
• Is there a communications plan, if needed?
• Is there a clear plan for evaluating event/activity effectiveness?

If approved for a grant, you will be required to submit a report summarizing your grant activities, including your receipts and photos of the event or project. In most cases, grantees are reimbursed in full after their projects have been carried out. Your report is proof that you've completed your project to the best of your ability; it is also your request for reimbursement.

• Keep track of the number of individuals reached through your project. If you are organizing a Community Outreach project, keep track of the number of food samples you hand out, the approximate number of people you speak to, and the number of people who attend the overall event.
• Take pictures of your event, and try, in particular, to get photos of people taking part in your event — whether it’s an audience at a panel discussion or film screening, individuals enjoying food samples, attendees at a vegfest, or people taking part in a mentored challenge.
• Keep your receipts. Acceptable receipts are itemized statements from vendors; we do not accept photos of credit card or bank statements or photos of checks as proof of payment.
• Refer to your grant award email for the due date of your report. Please submit your report on time and with as much detail as possible. If you are unable to submit your report by the due date, please contact VegFund grant staff to request a project extension.

Receipts demonstrating that the items were paid for are required for reimbursement.

• VegFund supports the promotion and distribution of content such as humane education curricula, educational videos, billboards, and other content.
• In very limited cases, VegFund will consider supporting content production. Such content should be particularly unique or in demand and accompanied with a well-established distribution mechanism.

• Food sampling: The food offered should be sample-size and cost about $1 per individual.

• $1 per non-vegan viewer is allowed. A non-cash equivalent (such as a cookie or cupcake) will be approved in some cases.

• Up to $250 for a screening license unless the event is reaching an audience of 500+, in which case a larger license fee may be approved.
• VegFund may support other expenses such as food samples, literature, and venue fees.

• PPV equipment such as screens, portable chargers, and batteries may be eligible for grantees with at least ten events planned.

• VegFund will cover the cost of purchasing and printing literature. If you wish to develop your own leaflets or other literature, follow the instructions under “Content Creation and Distribution” and also include in your application a mock-up or draft of the literature you plan to create.

• A VegFund grant may reimburse you for the cost of a space at a public festival, street fair, or other public venue where your food sampling or paid-per-view event is held or for renting a theater or public space to hold a film screening or vegfest or to host a speaker.
• VegFund encourages event organizers to find venues that are easily accessible to the public. Venues like community centers, libraries, and churches are great options for inexpensive or free venues. If you’re renting a booth at a large event, VegFund will reimburse those fees as well.
• Virtual classroom license for virtual events (example: Zoom).

• Social media ads (example: Facebook)
• Flyers or radio advertisements

• Funding for full meals, with some exceptions for special cases
• Alcohol
• Water or other beverages that are vegan by default (e.g., soda, coffee, tea, juice).
• Food, stipends, or other incentives for volunteers
• Honorariums or fees for speakers, or speakers’ lodging or other travel expenses
• Film or documentary production expenses
• Wages for grants that are awarded to individuals, with some exceptions for contracted services.
• Gratuities

VegFund remits all grant payments electronically. The majority of our grants are disbursed as reimbursements after the project or event takes place.

Domestic grantees (based in the United States) will be paid using an electronic bank transfer via a third-party party ePayment vendor called Bill.com, which requires grantees to enter their Tax ID Number (or Social Security Number for individual grantees) and bank account information into our secure ePayment portal.

Foreign grantees (based outside the United States) will receive payment via PayPal or another electronic transfer service for countries that do not accept PayPal. If PayPal is not available in your country, please contact VegFund directly with questions.