OVERVIEW: The Coca-Cola Foundation makes grants for global development, water conservation, sustainability, the environment and economic development. It supports community development in its home town of Atlanta.
IP TAKE: A significant portion of the Coca-Cola Foundation’s work centers on improving the supply and delivery of clean drinking water to “water-stressed” areas of the world. This corporate funder has deep pockets, but it recently ended its practice of accepting grant applications, making it much harder to get on its radar. Networking with past grantees or corporate staff might be the best way to proceed.
PROFILE: Founded in 1984, the Coca-Cola Foundation is the “primary philanthropic arm” of the Atlanta, Georgia-based Coca-Cola Company. The foundation’s mission is to “make a difference in communities around the world by investing in transformative ideas and institutions that help address some of our most pressing global challenges.” The foundation recently “refreshed” its areas of grantmaking focus and currently supports
- Sustainable access to safe water;
- Climate resilience and disaster risk preparedness and response;
- Circular economy;
- Economic empowerment; and
- Community development for the corporation’s hometown of Atlanta.
Coca-Cola’s grantmaking is global in scope. Note that in addition to its Atlanta-based foundation, the corporation runs charitable foundations in Indonesia, Thailand, Bolivia and Mexico.
Grants for Global Development, Environment, Marine and Freshwater Conservation, Climate Change and Disaster Relief
A significant portion of Coca-Cola’s grantmaking appears to address conservation and infrastructure related to safe drinking water for vulnerable communities around the world.
- Grantmaking for sustainable access to safe water centers on “strengthening approaches for for improved water access” in “water-stressed regions.” The foundation also seeks to generate “larger investments” in safe water systems through “technical assistance, capacity building and risk mitigation.
- Related giving stems from the foundation’s climate resilience and disaster risk preparedness and response area. This grantmaking looks specifically at increasing risks related to “floods and droughts [that] have affected 3 billion people” over the past two decades, and seeks to support better water resource management and resilience. Giving also supports immediate relief for communities that have experienced disasters or climate conditions that affect water supply.
- A third giving area, circular economy, dovetails with other environmental and water-related goals by supporting initiatives for better management of plastic waste and the prevention “waste leakage into rivers and oceans.” Geographically, this work prioritizes “small island developing states and least developed nations.”
The Coca-Cola Foundation does not specify which of its grants stem from which focus areas, and many of its grants appear to support organizations whose missions address overlapping issues relating to conservation, water infrastructure and waste management innovation.
- Large grants of $1 million or more have supported organizations including the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Imagine H20, Water Mission and Fundación Avina, an international organization that “promotes sustainability through collaborative processes, leading to large-scale positive impact.
- Smaller grantees include Splash International, Wateraid America, Water for People, Blue Ventures Conservation and the Regional Environmental Center for Central Asia.
Grants for Education, Work and Opportunity
The Coca-Cola Foundation names economic empowerment as another main area of grantmaking focus and makes grants for education, workforce development and entrepreneurship programs for people from vulnerable and low-income communities.
- Within this giving area, specific areas of interest include programs and organizations that promote economic inclusion, higher education for economic mobility, and “enhancing the resilience of micro-small-medium sized enterprises.”
- Grantees include the University of California at Santa Barbara, Kiva Microfunds, the Inter-American Development Bank and Building Markets, a Brooklyn-based organization that “cultivates a vibrant network for small business owners, so they have opportunities to transform their lives and communities.”
Grants for Community Development and Greater Atlanta
In and around its hometown of Atlanta, the Coca-Cola Foundation supports youth development, education, economic development, arts and culture and civic engagement initiatives.
- The overarching goal of this program is “the sustainability of our hometown” and efforts to help Atlanta “thrive.”
- Grantees include the United Way of Greater Atlanta, the Woodruff Arts Center, the Atlanta Police Foundation, the Westside Future Fund and the Atlanta Partnership of Business and Education, among others.
Important Grant Details
The Coca-Cola Foundation’s grants range anywhere from $10,000 to $5 million.
- This funder awards about 200 grants a year, but recently ended its practice of accepting applications for funding.
- Coca-Cola supports organizations of every size, but its largest grant tend to support large, global and economic development projects.
- For additional information about past giving, see Coca-Cola’s current progress reports and 990s, linked to the foundation’s webpage on the corporation’s site.
This funder does not provide a direct way to get in touch, but its phone number is listed as (404) 689-7363.
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