Grant Applicant Eligibility Criteria

Focus on waste prevention, reuse, or recovery of food, goods and materials.
Be based in Alameda County or recover materials generated in Alameda County
Submit one grant application to one grant category per year.
Be either a nonprofit, business or institution with a valid 501(c)3 and/or business license.
Be in compliance with all federal, state and local land use, regulatory, and permit requirements.
Have sufficient suitable space, infrastructure and power supply to make immediate use of requested equipment upon award of funds.
Have secured additional funding to execute proposed project if the total cost of proposed project budget exceeds the requested funding amount.
Received prior approval from StopWaste staff if planning to utilize a Fiscal Sponsor. Please review fiscal sponsor definition here and contact swgrants@stopwaste.org for authorization to utilize a Fiscal Sponsor for proposed project.
Contacted StopWaste grant manager prior to submitting an application if they have a current open grant with StopWaste.
Maintains insurance (or obtained a cost estimate) that meets Agency minimum criteria, review insurance requirements here*. *Reusable Transport Equipment and Surplus Food Donation equipment grants are excluded from this requirement.

For the majority of grant categories, individual schools are not eligible to receive grant funding directly but projects that affect a School District are eligible. Businesses and nonprofits are encouraged to create partnerships with schools and school districts to implement a project. Contact the grant category manager to assess if your proposed project that involves a school district would be eligible for funding. A letter of support from school district administrator and/or school department will be required.
Municipalities and Sanitary Districts are not eligible for funding.
Recycling and/or composting based projects and related supplies are not eligible (this includes purchase of bins for compost/recycling or garbage). Please see our free food scrap bin program for businesses and multifamily properties here.
Funding for any staffing position (full or part time) in excess of 50% of the budgeted position.
Applicant cannot use grant funds to subsidize existing contracts, repayment of existing debt or pre-existing tax liens or obligations, payment of organizational overhead exceeding 15% of project budget, legal, loan or bank fees, fines or penalties. Payment for any activities before contract execution will not be covered by grant funding.
Requests to purchase vehicles, trucks, or vans will not be considered for funding in the following categories: Food Waste Prevention & Recovery, Surplus Food Donation Equipment, and Community Food Systems.

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