OVERVIEW: Boeing’s community impact programs supports STEM education, community development, disaster relief and veterans’ causes. Giving focuses on areas where Boeing maintains operations, including Washington state, the D.C. metro area, the St. Louis metro area, South Carolina, and international locales.
IP TAKE: Boeing — the Fortune 500 aerospace, airplane, and defense manufacturer — operates a corporate charitable investment program that has steadily expanded. While it can be difficult to locate the correct information via Boeing’s community engagement landing page, this is a relatively accessible and transparent funder; however, Boeing’s website changes often, so make sure to review the site periodically.
Boeing organizes its giving by state or region, and funding priorities are often place-based. Past grantees have suggested that some of the company’s local charitable arms are bureaucratic or difficult to work with. Along with these local grantmaking programs, Boeing runs Employee Community Funds that “empower employees to make a greater impact by pooling their tax-deductible donations,” providing grantseekers with another way to access support here.
While Boeing’s grantmaking programs are labyrinthine, this is a legitimate source of funding for local nonprofits, particularly those working in STEM education, technical workforce development, or support for veterans and military families. Notably, Boeing has recently eliminated verbiage about diversity, equity and inclusion from its community engagement page and its website more generally.
PROFILE: Boeing makes grants, runs an employee grants matching and volunteerism program, and administers employee community funds under a corporate umbrella program, Boeing Global Engagement. The Boeing Company Charitable Trust makes a limited number of grants annually, typically fewer than 10. Boeing’s philanthropic efforts are driven by a mission to “invest time, talent and monetary resources where our employees live and work—contributing to efforts that build and enhance our communities for generations to come.”
As a sprawling, multinational corporation and the leading provider of commercial airplanes worldwide, it’s no surprise that Boeing’s philanthropy has long been focused on education and workforce development in the area of STEM education, technical development, research, and technology, both in the U.S. and globally. Boeing is also a leading employer of veterans, and its philanthropic activities reflect a commitment to veterans and military families.
These are the overarching priorities for Boeing’s philanthropy, but its place-based grants programs has a lot of leeway in determining local priorities. Past coverage here at IP has explored Boeing’s local giving in culture and the arts, as well as its marine conservation efforts in Seattle.
Boeing’s philanthropy is comprised of several programs, including its Community Engagement programs, the Boeing Company Charitable Trust, its employee matching program, and its Employee Community Funds based in 19 regions around the U.S. While giving is decentralized, the company as a whole is “committed to innovating and investing in efforts that build, enhance and contribute to the communities where our employees live and work.” Boeing aims to be “a force for change in our world” and to “bring about that change for the communities that need it most.”
Its stated areas of focus are divided into three areas:
Our Future: This is Boeing’s education grantmaking program, which contributed close to $50 million in a recent year to programs focused on STEM education and workforce development.
Our Heroes: The veterans and military families program made $13 million in grants in a recent year.
Our Homes: This program has less-defined priorities that range from environmental giving to anti-recidivism programs.
Boeing’s philanthropic investments are driven by these three general priorities, but most grantmaking is managed locally, and, as per the Boeing website, “grantmaking strategies are tailored by locations to address the specific needs of their region.” Boeing also runs an employee engagement program BoeingCares, which matches employee giving and volunteer hours with donations to charities with which its employees are involved.
Grants for K-12, Higher Education and STEM
Boeing supports education via its Our Future focus area, which aims to support “the next generation of innovators and explorers” through STEM and career-related education programs in areas where Boeing operates. Boeing does not name specific goals for this work, and appears to prioritize signature programs that bear the Boeing name.
- A recent signature program, Dream Learners, sends employee volunteers into schools to teach K-12 students about “the principles of flight.”
- In the U.K. Boeing funded a classroom with flight simulation technology at “one of the U.K.’s top Further Education colleges.”
- At Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute, Boeing sponsored a space exploration exhibit geared toward K-12 students.
Grants for Veterans and Military
Boeing’s Our Heroes focus area supports initiatives that help veterans and their families transition to civilian life through human services, career development and education.
- Boeing runs a Veterans program that helps veterans, spouses and families upskill and develop rewarding, well-paid careers.
- Support has also gone to USO Pathfinder, a “comprehensive employment readiness program for transitioning service members,” and the Talent Network which connects recruiters to veterans based on their “skills, qualifications and interests.”
- Corporate and employee donations have also gone to veterans’ organizations including Merging Vets and Players, the Home Front Military Network, the Farmer Veteran Coalition of Washington State and Operation Veteran Support.
Grants for Community Development
The Our Homes area of engagement is committed to “investing in the areas most needed in the communities where we live and work.” Giving is meant to be responsive, but Boeing indicates on its website that it has supported efforts for environmental conservation, economic opportunity, civic engagement, disability services and programs that “help break the cycle of incarceration.” Like much of Boeing’s philanthropy, a significant portion of its work and giving is conducted through signature programs.
- In 2024, Boeing celebrated Juneteenth by “hosting Boys & Girls Clubs of America members on visits to the National Archives Museum and to Boeing headquarters.”
- Boeing and its employee volunteers have supported and donated time to the translation app Tarjimly, which “connects multilingual volunteers with people in need of language assistance.”
- Grants have also supported organizations including the Los Angeles Food Bank, the Hawaii Community Foundation, the Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico and many others.
Grants for Global Development and Disaster Relief
Boeing does not specifically name global development or disaster relief as areas of giving, but tends to award grants in global areas in which it has operations. This is a massive, multinational organization that spans Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Europe. Boeing also awards grants in several developed nations.
- Boeing largely gives to projects that include access to quality early learning, K-12 and vocational skills training programs.
- It also supports health and human services organizations in developing countries in an effort to encourage economic growth and improve access to healthcare.
- It is also worth noting that Boeing’s corporate philanthropy works in conjunction with its employee donations and volunteer efforts. This translates into a vested interest in strengthening and supporting locations around the world in which the company operates.
- Stateside, Boeing has made donations to support organizations providing relief to recent tornadoes, floods and wildfires. Grantees include the Salvation Army, the American Red Cross and the California Community Foundation’s Wildfire Recover Fund.
- Global recipients of Boeing giving programs include GlobalGiving, the Salvation Army World Service Office and Catholic Relief Services.
Important Grant Details:
While Boeing makes some grants through an affiliated charitable trust, most of its giving is conducted through the corporation and its many signature programs, obscuring the specific amounts of its grants and donations. Donations form the Boeing Company Charitable Trust typically range from $50,000 to $1.6 million.
- Boeing does not provide detailed information about its grant amounts on its website, but its most recent Sustainability and Social Impact Report is usually linked to its company’s Community Engagement page.
- A significant portion of Boeing’s philanthropic engagements consist of signature programs, often bearing the Boeing name and involving employee volunteers.
- The application process and eligibility for Boeing funding varies by state or region, except for higher education grantmaking, which is centralized through the University Relations program.
- Begin the application process with the drop-down menus for place-based giving in the Seeking Support section of the Community Engagement page.
- Boeing runs Employee Community Funds that “empower employees to make a greater impact by pooling their tax-deductible donations.” There are 19 such local funds with their own priority areas, rules and guidelines. Grant applications via these Employee Community Funds tend to be by invitation only.
- A comprehensive list of recent grantees can be found in annual reports linked to the Community Engagement page.
- Additionally, the directors for global corporate citizenship at Boeing are also local/regional, so grant seekers should contact the company to find the director for their location.
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