Donation requests for nonprofits: online donation request forms, request letters and companies that donate products
Most guides to donation requests hand you a list of company names and a template letter, which is the least useful half of the job. The half that decides whether you get anything is the routing and the calendar. Almost no American company decides a local donation request at a head office, the published ceilings are far lower than the search volume implies, and the lead times run from three weeks to six. This page gives you the actual amounts, the actual submission route and the actual deadline for the seven companies US nonprofits ask most, and it is honest about what a year of asking is realistically worth.
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In short
A donation request is a written ask to a company for an in kind gift: product, a gift card, or a share of one night's sales for a specific nonprofit event. In the United States these are almost never decided at a head office. Target accepts a printed GiftCard request form handed in at your local store, averages $25 to $50 per donation and caps an organization at $500 per year. Walmart takes in kind requests for product or gift cards in person from store management rather than through its online Spark Good tool. Chick-fil-A restaurants are independently owned and operated, so a Spirit Night, typically 10% to 15% of the evening's sales, is the local Operator's decision. Chipotle donates 25% of qualifying event sales above a $150 minimum, which nets most groups $150 to $350. Kroger routes everything through communitygifts.com and its own form separates a donation from a sponsorship, which Kroger defines as cash support with commercial objectives. Add up the published ceilings and a full year of donation requests rarely clears $1,500, which is why most organizations run sponsorship alongside. On Sponsorships you publish your audience and packages, sponsors book you directly, and commission on the deal is 0%.
Last updated September 2026
$25 to $500
Target GiftCard donations average $25 to $50 and are capped at $500 per year, per organization
21 to 42 days
the lead time the major programs ask for, from Walmart at 21 days to Amazon at six weeks
0%
commission on sponsorship, so a $2,500 local sponsor is $2,500 in your account
Why direct
Donation requests, without the middleman
No donation request is decided at a head office
This single fact reorganizes the whole task. Chick-fil-A states plainly that because most of its restaurants are independently owned and operated, sponsorships and donations for local events are at the discretion of each Operator, so there is no corporate form to fill in. Walmart runs an online Spark Good tool, but requests for in kind donations, meaning product or gift cards, are supposed to go to store management at your local Walmart or Sam’s Club rather than through it. Target requires you to print the GiftCard request form and physically carry it into a store with your IRS letter. Coca-Cola requests go to the independent bottler that serves your county, which might be Coca-Cola UNITED, ABARTA or High Country depending on where you live, and The Coca-Cola Foundation is not accepting unsolicited grant requests at all. If you have been emailing corporate contact addresses and hearing nothing, that is the reason, not your letter.
The published ceilings are much smaller than the search volume suggests
Very few of these programs publish a number, and the ones that do are sobering. Target says an average donation is $25 to $50 with a maximum of $500 per year per agency, and it says outright that it does not donate merchandise, only gift cards. Chipotle publishes 25% of qualifying event sales with a $150 minimum before any check is issued, and its own guidance puts a typical fundraiser at $150 to $350 net on $600 to $1,400 of event sales. Chick-fil-A Spirit Nights commonly land at 10% to 15% of the evening. Run the arithmetic across a whole year of asking, including a Target card, a restaurant night and a couple of product donations for a raffle, and most organizations are under $1,500. That is real money for a classroom or a raffle table. It is not a funding strategy, and treating it as one is the most common budgeting mistake we see.
The calendar rejects more requests than the letter does
Every program publishes a lead time and they do not agree with each other. Walmart wants space reservation requests no less than 21 days ahead. Chipotle recommends applying about three weeks out so it can schedule and prepare. Kroger asks for at least four weeks before the event. Coca-Cola bottlers commonly want product requests in writing two to four weeks ahead, and note that requests for monetary support should be in by August to make the following year’s budget. Amazon’s guidance is six weeks. Target adds a step at the other end: stores typically take up to 30 days to review a request and respond, so a card you need in three weeks is already late even if you hand the form in tomorrow. Work backwards from your event date, not forwards from today, and you will stop losing requests to a deadline you never saw.
Kroger’s own form draws the line this page is built on
You do not have to take our word for the difference between a donation and a sponsorship, because one of the largest grocers in the country separates them on its own request form. Kroger’s community giving portal asks you to choose a request type, and it lists cash donations, foundation grants, gift cards, product for in kind requests, and sponsorship, which it defines as cash support with commercial objectives. That last phrase is the whole distinction. A donation comes out of a charitable budget, is one time, is usually product or a small card, and carries no obligation to repeat. A sponsorship comes out of a marketing budget, buys named benefits such as a banner, a jersey, a program page or an event mention, and renews every year the sponsor gets what they paid for. It also has no 501(c)(3) requirement, which matters if your group is a booster club or an unincorporated team.
How it works
From listed to paid in four steps
Decide which of the four asks you are actually making
Groups lose time by writing one generic letter and sending it everywhere. There are four distinct asks and they go to different people. Product, meaning physical goods for a raffle, silent auction or an event, is usually a store level decision and is the easiest yes to get. Gift cards are a separate category almost everywhere, and at Target they are the only category, since Target does not donate merchandise. A percentage night, called a Spirit Night at Chick-fil-A or a fundraiser at Chipotle, is scheduled with the restaurant and pays a share of sales rather than a donation. Cash is the hardest and usually means a grant application or a sponsorship pitch instead. Name your ask in the first sentence of the request and the answer comes back faster either way.
Find the local decision maker, not the corporate contact page
Your funder list is a map, not a directory. Identify the individual Walmart and Sam’s Club stores, the Target store, the Kroger banner store, the Chick-fil-A restaurant and the Coca-Cola bottler that serve your area, then find the named human at each one: the store manager, the Operator, the community relations coordinator. For Kroger the front door is communitygifts.com, which verifies 501(c)(3) status through GuideStar Charity Check. For Target it is the printed GiftCard request form plus a Government Affirmation letter or another IRS letter, taken into the store. For Chick-fil-A it is the Operator, whose restaurant page usually carries a Spirit Night form. Walking a request in and shaking a hand is not old fashioned here, it is the documented process.
Write one page, name the number, and submit inside the lead time
A donation request letter that works is short and specific. Open with exactly what you are asking for and its value, whether that is a $50 gift card, twenty cases of product or a Spirit Night date. Say what the event is, when it happens and how many people in that store’s service area it reaches. Attach proof of status, normally your IRS determination letter, because most programs verify before they read. Say what the company gets back by name: the logo on the flyer, a mention from the stage, a sign at the auction table, a post to your list. Then submit at least four weeks out, which clears every published lead time on this page except Amazon. One page, one number, one date, one attachment.
Run local sponsorship in the same months, not instead of it
Donation requests are seasonal, capped and mostly in kind, so they belong in your plan as a way to stock a raffle table or a classroom, not as a line item for operating cost. Sponsorship is the column that covers the recurring bills, because it is a marketing purchase rather than a charitable one. Publish what a sponsor actually gets and what it costs: banner placement, jersey or shirt, program page, newsletter mention, event naming, each with a price. Approach the businesses whose customers are already your people, which usually means restaurants, dentists and orthodontists, urgent care, banks and credit unions, real estate offices, car dealerships, hardware stores and home service contractors. On Sponsorships you list your audience and packages, sponsors find and book you directly, membership is flat and commission is 0%.
The numbers
How the largest US companies actually handle a donation request
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| Company | What you can request | Published amount or share | How to submit | Lead time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Target | Gift cards only. Target states it does not donate merchandise | Average $25 to $50, maximum $500 per year per organization | Complete the Target GiftCard request form, print it, and take it into your local store with a Government Affirmation letter or other IRS letter. 501(c)(3) or accredited school | Available February through December as funding permits. Stores typically take up to 30 days to review and respond |
| Walmart and Sam’s Club | In kind product or gift cards. Separately, space in front of the store to fundraise, and cash through Spark Good Local Grants | Local Grants run $250 to $5,000. No published figure for in kind requests | In kind requests go to store management in person at the facility. Space reservations and grants go through a verified Spark Good account at walmart.com/nonprofits | Space requests no less than 21 days before the event date |
| Chick-fil-A | A Spirit Night percentage of sales, plus local sponsorship or product at the Operator’s discretion | Spirit Nights commonly 10% to 15% of qualifying sales. True Inspiration Awards grants run $30,000 to $350,000 from a $5 million annual pool | Contact the local restaurant Operator. Most restaurant pages carry a Spirit Night request form. Corporate does not decide local requests | Set by the Operator. Most restaurants book Spirit Night dates several weeks out |
| Chipotle | A scheduled fundraiser night that pays a share of qualifying sales | 25% of qualifying event sales, with a $150 minimum in sales before a check is issued. Typical net $150 to $350 | Apply through the Chipotle community fundraiser page for a specific restaurant and date. Supporters use your code in person or on pickup orders | About three weeks ahead so the restaurant can schedule and prepare |
| Kroger | Cash donations, foundation grants, gift cards, product, and sponsorship, listed as separate request types | Kroger Co. Foundation Community Grants run $1,000 to $5,000. No published figure for gift card or product requests | Submit at communitygifts.com. 501(c)(3) status is verified through GuideStar Charity Check | At least four weeks before the event |
| Coca-Cola | Product donations, usually beverages, through your regional independent bottler | No published amount. Set by the bottler | Use your local bottler’s donation request form, for example Coca-Cola UNITED, ABARTA or High Country. The Coca-Cola Foundation is not accepting unsolicited grant requests | Commonly two to four weeks for product. Monetary requests should be in by August for the following year’s budget |
| Amazon | No single in kind program. Surplus product is routed through the nonprofit Good360, with separate programs for community and technology grants | No published donation amount | There is no universal Amazon donation request form. Product goes through Good360, and other funding runs through separate program portals | Guidance is about six weeks ahead |
Amounts, shares, routes and lead times are as published by each company in September 2026 and are not offers or commitments. Restaurant percentages are set locally and vary by location. Programs are revised between fiscal years, so confirm every figure on the company site before you plan around it. Sponsorships is not affiliated with any company listed and does not administer donations, grants or fundraisers.
Who it is for
Who books donation requests here
PTAs, booster clubs and school fundraisers
You are the heaviest user of this whole category and the percentage night is why. A Chick-fil-A Spirit Night or a Chipotle fundraiser needs no 501(c)(3) status in most cases, costs nothing to run and turns a Tuesday into $150 to $350, which is a set of team shirts or a bus. Book two or three across a school year rather than one, put the date on the school calendar early, and push it through the class group chats rather than a flyer, since attendance is the only variable you control. Then be clear with your board about what it cannot do. Percentage nights and gift cards will not cover officials, entry fees, transportation, insurance or coaching stipends. That column is family fundraising plus a proper local sponsor sheet, and the sponsor sheet is the only one of the two that grows year over year.
Nonprofit development staff running a gala, auction or raffle
For a silent auction the donation request is a volume game, not a value game. Target caps you at $500 a year in gift cards and will not send merchandise, so the auction table gets filled by many small local yeses rather than a few national ones: restaurants, salons, breweries, gyms, hotels, sports teams, local retailers and the businesses your own board members own. Ask each for one specific item with a stated retail value so the auction listing writes itself, and give every donor the recognition you promised, in the program and from the stage, because next year’s ask depends on this year’s follow through. Keep the national requests in the plan for what they are worth, submit them four to six weeks out, and put the fundraising hours where the yes rate is highest, which is always within a few miles of your office.
Youth league boards and community event organizers
Your costs are almost entirely operating: umpires and officials, field rental, insurance, background checks, equipment replacement and registration scholarships. Donation requests touch essentially none of that. What they can do is stock a raffle, cover a concession opener, or fill a trophy budget, and a percentage night is a good use of a slow week in the schedule. For the recurring costs the answer is a real sponsor program, priced and published: banner on the outfield fence, name on the jersey, a page in the program, a mention at every home game, tiered so a dentist can spend $500 and a car dealership can spend $5,000. Local businesses buy that out of a marketing budget, they renew it when they get what they paid for, and unlike a donation request there is no window, no cap and no charitable status test.
Questions
Donation request questions people ask
How do I write a donation request letter?
Keep it to one page and lead with the ask. Open with exactly what you want and its value, whether that is a $50 gift card, product for a raffle or a fundraiser date. Then give the event, the date, how many people in that store’s service area it reaches, and what the company gets by name, such as a logo on the flyer or a sign at the auction table. Attach your IRS determination letter, because most programs verify status before anyone reads your story. Address it to the store manager or Operator by name, not to a corporate department.
How do I request a donation from Target?
Complete the Target GiftCard request form in full, print it, and bring it into your local Target store along with a Government Affirmation letter or another IRS provided letter verifying your 501(c)(3) or accredited school status. Target donates gift cards only and states that it does not donate merchandise. An average donation is $25 to $50, with a maximum of $500 per year per organization. Requests are accepted February through December as funding permits, and stores typically take up to 30 days to review and respond.
How do I request a donation from Walmart?
For in kind product or gift cards, ask store management directly at your local Walmart or Sam’s Club rather than using the online tool, which is not built for those requests. To reserve space in front of a store to fundraise, or to apply for a Spark Good Local Grant of $250 to $5,000, register your organization for a Spark Good account at walmart.com/nonprofits and get verified first. Space reservation requests must be submitted no less than 21 days before your event date.
How do I request a donation from Chick-fil-A?
Contact the Operator of your local Chick-fil-A restaurant. Because most Chick-fil-A restaurants are independently owned and operated, sponsorships and donations for local events are at the discretion of each Operator, and corporate does not decide them. Most restaurants publish a Spirit Night or fundraiser request form on their own page. Separately, Chick-fil-A, Inc. runs the True Inspiration Awards, which grant $30,000 to $350,000 from a pool of about $5 million awarded annually across the United States.
How does a Chipotle fundraiser donation request work?
You apply for a specific restaurant and a specific date through Chipotle’s community fundraiser page, roughly three weeks ahead so the restaurant can schedule it. Chipotle donates 25% of qualifying event sales, and total sales must reach at least $150 before a check is issued. Supporters order in person or place pickup orders at that restaurant during the event window using your group’s code. Chipotle’s own guidance puts a typical result at $150 to $350 net on $600 to $1,400 of event sales.
What companies donate to silent auctions?
The reliable yeses for a silent auction are local: restaurants, salons and barbers, breweries and wineries, gyms and studios, hotels and resorts, sports teams, local retailers and businesses your own board members run or bank with. Among national companies, Target gift cards are the most predictable route, capped at $500 a year, and grocery chains such as Kroger accept gift card and product requests through communitygifts.com. Ask each donor for one specific item with a stated retail value, four to six weeks out, so the auction listing and the acknowledgement letter both write themselves.
How far in advance should I submit a donation request?
Four to six weeks before your event clears almost every published lead time. Walmart requires space requests no less than 21 days ahead, Chipotle recommends about three weeks, Kroger asks for at least four weeks, Coca-Cola bottlers commonly want product requests two to four weeks out, and Amazon guidance is six weeks. Target adds time on the other side, since stores typically take up to 30 days to review and respond. Work backwards from the event date rather than forwards from today.
Is a donation request the same as a sponsorship request?
No, and Kroger’s own community giving form separates them: it lists donations, grants, gift cards and product alongside sponsorship, which it defines as cash support with commercial objectives. A donation comes from a charitable budget, is usually one time and often in kind, and carries no obligation to repeat. A sponsorship comes from a marketing budget, buys named benefits such as a banner, a jersey, a program page or an event mention, renews annually when the sponsor gets value, and has no 501(c)(3) requirement. Most stable organizations run both.
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