OVERVIEW: Philanthropy at Macy’s Inc. is directed toward hunger and disaster relief, and supporting children with terminal illnesses through its Bag Hunger program and its partnership with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Much of Macy’s support in other areas takes the form of material support and happens via customer giving campaigns.
IP TAKE: Macy’s has streamlined its giving in recent years and no longer accepts unsolicited applications. It is not an accessible or approachable funder. It also partners with the same large organizations each year to support a few select initiatives through massive campaigns, which means this is a crowded giving space that doesn’t permit for many new grantees. New grantseekers, especially smaller to mid-sized groups, will find very little financial support here. Macy’s is reasonably responsive for a corporate funder, but be patient, since they’ll only field general questions.
Macy’s Inc. does support employee volunteerism, so you might want to network with employees to garner support or attention for your project. Just keep in mind that support will come in the form of volunteerism rather than grants.
PROFILE: Macy’s Inc., including Bloomingdale's department stores, is a significant funder in corporate philanthropy. Macy’s seeks to “help create stronger, healthier places for [its] customers and associates to work and live,” and it works to strengthen “communities by supporting local and national charities to help make a difference in the lives of [its] customers.” Macy’s current grantmaking focus consists of Hunger Relief, Disaster Relief, and Wish Granting through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Its grants are allocated at local, regional, and national levels, and “funds are distributed through a network of district grant captains, store colleagues who have direct connection to their local communities.”
Grants for Housing and Community Development
Macy’s Hunger Relief initiative supports local food banks with both financial donations and employee volunteer hours. Its Bag Hunger Campaign has “donated tens of millions of dollars [and] helped to provide hundreds of millions of meals” to food banks located in areas where Macy’s has a presence.
Macy’s makes material donations to support communities in which it operates in the form of Clothing Donations. It partners with Clothes4Souls, a non-profit that distributes clothing to those in need around the world, and has donated more than $9.4 million in coats through its Share the Warmth initiative.
Grants for Disaster Relief
Macy’s supports local relief and recovery from disasters throughout the United States through its Disaster Relief initiative. It has “donated more than $4.8 million to support disaster relief efforts” since 2017. Grants in this area fund scholarship programs, home rebuilds, clothing replacement, emotional support programs, and other areas. Macy’s partners with Delivering Good, “an organization that unites retailers […] with manufacturers, foundations, and individuals to provide those impacted by tragedy with new merchandise to replace what was lost.”
Past grantees include American National Red Cross, and $1 million to United Way of Greater Houston to provide relief and recovery from the devastating flooding that resulted from Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
Grants for Public Health
Macy’s Wish Granting program is a steady supporter of Make-A-Wish, and, through its Believe initiative, has donated more than $132 million to support the organization. See some of the wishes Macy’s has helped to grant here.
Grants for Arts and Culture (Theater, Dance, Music, and the Visual Arts)
In addition to its core funding priorities, Macy’s has a history of broadly supporting arts and culture programs. These grants were traditionally made via the My District Grants program, and while it is not clear if this has been officially discontinued, funding in this area has decreased considerably nevertheless.
Past Macy’s Inc. support of arts programs and arts-related organizations spanned just a few hundred dollars to almost $300,000 in giving. Previous general arts and culture grantees include The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Dallas Art Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and $290,000 for Artswave in Cincinnati, OH. Past theater and dance grantees include the Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati, the Goodman Theatre, and the New York City Ballet. Former music grantees include the San Francisco Symphony, the National Chorale, the San Francisco Jazz Organization, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the Richard Tucker Music Foundation.
Important Grant Details:
Macy’s giving is by invitation only. New grantseekers can view past grant recipients here to get a better idea of the types of organizations Macy’s supports.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
LINKS: