OVERVIEW: The American Online Giving Foundation partners with philanthropic software provider Benevity to coordinate and streamline grantmaking for more than 100,000 individual and corporate donors.
IP TAKE: Powered by the philanthropic software company Benevity, the American Online Giving Foundation coordinates and distributes over $1 billion in funding each year. Over 100,000 registered donors can earmark funds for specific causes or organizations, and the foundation takes care of the rest, streamlining what may otherwise be a bureaucratic and time-consuming process. One foreseeable drawback, addressed in the foundation’s FAQ, is that in rare cases the American Online Giving Foundation “cannot guarantee that your donation will be sent to the Cause of your choice” and reassigns the funds to a similar organization or cause.
Grantseekers interested in utilizing the platform should visit the Benevity Causes portal. Once an account is established, donors can choose to support your organization.
PROFILE: The American Online Giving Foundation (AOGF), also known as the Benevity Community Impact Fund, was established in 2016 and is based in Newark, Delaware. Its president, Bryan de Lottinville, is the founder of Benevity, a Canadian software company that provides corporations with platforms for managing philanthropic giving and volunteering. AOGF’s mission is to “connect causes with the world’s largest companies and their employees, using technology to transform the way they receive funds and freeing up their time and resources to focus on delivering community impact.” In coordination with its corporate strategic partner, Benevity, the foundation coordinates donations and makes pooled grants to specific causes, streamlining what is typically time consuming and costly in terms of processing and accounting. The foundation provides its donors with “real-time tax receipting, without applying donation thresholds or other restrictions that limit participation.”
This funder’s grantmaking is organized into donor-advised funds for specific charities and areas of interest. The foundation does not name its own grantmaking priorities, as it adheres to the wishes and interests of more than 100,000 registered individual and corporate donors. Tax filings indicate that major areas of giving include health, community and human services, global and humanitarian causes, education, the environment, racial justice and more. In a recent year, the foundation awarded close to 1,000 grants totaling more than $1.7 billion to charitable causes in the U.S. and around the world.
Grants for Public Health, Reproductive Health and Diseases
Public health and diseases are significant giving areas for AOGF, reflecting strong interest in health among the foundation’s donors.
- Cancer research and care appear to be of particularly high interest. Large grants in the millions of dollars have supported organizations including St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the American Cancer Society, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and the Dana Farber Cancer Center in Boston.
- Other disease grants have gone to the American Heart Association, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
- Reproductive health is another area of current interest, with large grants supporting the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the National Network of Abortion Funds and the Abortion Care Network.
- A significant portion of the foundation’s health giving also supports children’s hospitals and pediatrics. Grantees include United Healthcare Children’s Foundation, the Seattle Children’s Hospital Foundation, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Shriners Hospitals for Children.
- Other hospital and health systems grantees include the Stanford School of Medicine, the Wellmed Charitable Foundation of Texas and Massachusetts General Hospital, among others.
Grants for Community Development, Food, Nutrition and Housing
Giving for community development and related human services are also prominent giving areas:
- Numerous grants have supported chapters of the United Way in locations across the U.S. including Houston, King County in Washington, the Quad Cities of Iowa, Northeastern Connecticut and may others.
- Additional grants for housing and homeless services have supported multiple chapters of Habitat for Humanity, Mary’s Place Shelter in Seattle, Way Finders of Massachusetts, the Ali Forney Center in New York City and SBP Longterm Home Rebuilding of New Orleans.
- Food banks and organizations addressing food insecurity are another priority area. Grantees include Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, Feeding America, Northwest Harvest and the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank.
Grants for Global Development
Tax filings indicate that the foundation made over $39 million in grants to foreign charities that are not named in its tax filings. Many grants also support U.S.-based global development and aid organizations:
- Grants supporting aid organizations that respond to crises and disasters around the world include World Central Kitchen, the International Rescue Committee, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Medical Corps and the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, among others.
- Many other global development grantees support organizations helping children or improving educational opportunities in underserved communities around the world. Grantees include UNICEF, the Bridge to Turkiye Fund, Pratham USA and Asha for Education.
- Other global development grants have supported organizations including Compassion International, the International Justice Mission. Give2Asia and Pyxera Global, which works with communities to solve social and environmental problems.
Grants for K-12 and Higher Education
AOGF’s grants steadily support hundreds of schools and other educational programs and organizations at both the K-12 and postsecondary levels:
- K-12 grantmaking supports a broad range of public, private and charter schools. Grantees include the Bullis Charter School in Los Altos, California; Palo Alto Partners in Education; the Chicago Public Education Fund, the Austin Peace Academy and many others.
- Organizations providing out-of-school learning, tutoring and enrichment opportunities for children and teens include Room to Read of San Francisco, Girls Who Code, the National Afterschool Association, the Girl Scouts of America and many local chapters of Boys and Girls Clubs.
- Higher education and college access recipients include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Texas, the University of California Berkeley, the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, the American Association of Community Colleges and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
Grants for Environment, Climate Change, Animals and Wildlife
Environmental concerns and animals are a proportionally smaller area of giving, but many grants support these causes each year:
- Conservation grants have supported organizations including the Nature Conservancy in Virginia, the One Acre Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Defense Fund.
- The foundation regularly supports humane societies and animal rescues across the country including the ASPCA, the Humane Society of the United States and Best Friends Animal Society in Utah and
- Wildlife rescue grantees include the World Wildlife Fund, Ducks Unlimited and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Grants for Racial Equity, LGBTQ and Economic Development
Some recent grants have supported organizations involved in racial justice and equity, as well as charities that help people gain financial stability and wealth, although these have so far been smaller areas of giving. Grantees include Building Changes of Seattle, the NAACP, the Reinvestment Fund of Philadelphia, the Muslim Community Foundation of the San Francisco Bay Area and Urban Initiatives of Chicago, among others.
While not listed as a funding interest, this funder gave over $31 million in grants to LGBTQ causes in 2024.
Important Grant Details:
Grants range from $5,000 to about $34 million, although most grants represent pooled donations from several sources.
- This funder annually coordinates and distributes more than one billion dollars in philanthropy and streamlines giving to organizations and causes chosen by registered donors.
- This funder does not accept applications for funding, but grantseekers may register with the Benevity Causes portal to make donors aware of their cause.
- For additional information about past giving, see the foundation’s tax filings.
Submit general inquiries to this funder via its contact page. The foundation’s phone number is listed as(800) 828-5415.
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