Funding Guidelines

Initiative Based Giving

SDG&E practices Initiative Based Giving. This structure allows our resources to have the greatest impact in the community. With very few exceptions, SDG&E provides funding to organizations in our three Giving areas listed to the left. These include Safety & Emergency Preparedness, Civic Leadership and Environment.

Additionally, SDG&E has a strong preference for funding ongoing programs and projects rather than one-time events. We also aim to ensure our giving has a focus on underserved communities.

Application Requirements

The following is required of grant applicants and current grantees.

• Board of Directors - A Board of Directors list is required for all submissions.

• Grant reporting - SDG&E expects year-end reports from the grantee detailing the community impact associated with the grant award.
  All current grantees are required to submit year-end reports by no later than January 31 in order to qualify for future funding consideration.

• Organizational budget - An organizational or event-based budget is required to apply for funding

Application Processing

Upon submitting your application, you will receive a confirmation email with your tracking number.

Applications are reviewed continuously through the year.  Generally, the timeline to review and assess each application can take up to 8 weeks.

If you have additional documents that need to be considered, they can be uploaded on the last page of the online application.

Exclusions and Restrictions for Charitable Contributions

We do not accept or fund requests for charitable contributions that benefit:

• Individuals.
• Private foundations, endowment funds or for-profit organizations.
• Groups that practice discrimination based on age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, physical or mental disabilities, race, color, religion, national origin or ancestry.
• Sectarian or denominational religious groups, except for programs that are broadly promoted, available to anyone and free from religious orientation.
• Political parties, candidates or partisan-political groups.

 Generally, we do not fund the following:

• Scholarship programs.
• Capital-improvements, capital equipment or building funds.
• Sporting teams and sporting events.
• Programs primarily focused on the arts and humanities.
• Institutions of higher learning.
• Programs or projects that benefits individual K-12 schools (public, private and charter).
• General operating expenses that are unrelated to the execution of the proposed program or project.
• Travel expenses not directly related to the execution of the project.
• Loans or loan guarantees.
• Debt reduction or past operating deficits.
• Liquidation of an organization.
• Reducing or donating the cost of any natural gas or electrical service.