BNSF Railway Foundation Grants

From Bnsf Foundation

The mission of the BNSF Railway Foundation is to improve the quality of life in communities across the 28 states where BNSF operates, with a focus on the Midwest, Southwest, and Northwest regions of the U.S. As a leading freight railroad company, BNSF aims to make a difference in the communities where their employees live, work, and volunteer, using the BNSF Railway Foundation as the primary channel for their charitable activities.

Type of Support

Overview

The grant program of the BNSF Railway Foundation aims to support communities by funding arts and social service organizations, college scholarship programs, and other worthy causes. A key facet of their approach includes leveraging the volunteer spirit and active community involvement of BNSF employees, which has contributed over $150 million to various programs since 2000. The foundation prioritizes grants for youth programs, community projects with significant local involvement, and causes that have direct BNSF employee participation or are located near BNSF's operations. Specific criteria for consideration include significant BNSF employee participation in the organization or project, proximity to a BNSF main line, relevance to the railroad industry, and requests focused on direct programming or project support.

Eligibility

Organization's Location
USA
Program Location
AL (Calhoun County, Cleburne County, Jefferson County, Marion County, Shelby County, St. Clair County, Talladega County, Walker County), AZ (Apache County, Coconino County, Maricopa County, Mohave County, Navajo County, Yavapai County), AR (Clark County, Clay County, Craighead County, Crittenden County, Cross County, Faulkner County, Garland County, Greene County, Hempstead County, Hot Spring County, Independence County, Jackson County, Lawrence County, Little River County, Lonoke County, Miller County, Mississippi County, Monroe County, Nevada County, Pike County, Poinsett County, Randolph County, St. Francis County, White County, Woodruff County), CA (Alameda County, Butte County, Contra Costa County, Fresno County, Kern County, Kings County, Lassen County, Los Angeles County, Madera County, Merced County, Modoc County, Napa County, Orange County, Placer County, Plumas County, Sacramento County, San Bernardino County, San Diego County, San Joaquin County, Sierra County, Solano County, Stanislaus County, Sutter County, Tulare County, Yuba County), CO (Adams County, Arapahoe County, Baca County, Bent County, Cheyenne County, Clear Creek County, Denver County, Douglas County, Eagle County, El Paso County, Elbert County, Garfield County, Gilpin County, Huerfano County, Kit Carson County, Las Animas County, Lincoln County, Logan County, Mesa County, Morgan County, Otero County, Prowers County, Pueblo County, San Miguel County, Summit County, Weld County), GA (Carroll County, Coweta County, Douglas County, Haralson County, Heard County), ID (Bonner County, Boundary County, Kootenai County), IL (Alexander County, Bond County, Bureau County, Cass County, Clinton County, Cook County, DeKalb County, DuPage County, Fayette County, Franklin County, Fulton County, Grundy County, Jackson County, Jefferson County, Johnson County, Kane County, Kendall County, Knox County, LaSalle County, Lee County, Livingston County, Macoupin County, Madison County, Marion County, Marshall County, Mason County, Massac County, Menard County, Monroe County, Montgomery County, Peoria County, Putnam County, Randolph County, Rock Island County, Sangamon County, Schuyler County, St. Clair County, Stark County, Union County, Washington County, Whiteside County, Will County, Williamson County, Woodford County), IA (Adams County, Allamakee County, Audubon County, Clarke County, Clayton County, Clinton County, Des Moines County, Dubuque County, Harrison County, Henry County, Jackson County, Jasper County, Jefferson County, Lucas County, Lyon County, Mahaska County, Marion County, Mills County, Monroe County, Montgomery County, Page County, Plymouth County, Polk County, Pottawattamie County, Scott County, Shelby County, Sioux County, Union County, Wapello County, Woodbury County), KS (Bourbon County, Butler County, Chase County, Cherokee County, Clay County, Cloud County, Cowley County, Crawford County, Dickinson County, Edwards County, Finney County, Franklin County, Gray County, Hamilton County, Harvey County, Jewell County, Johnson County, Kearny County, Linn County, Lyon County, Marion County, Miami County, Mitchell County, Osage County, Ottawa County, Reno County, Sedgwick County, Shawnee County, Stafford County, Sumner County, Wabaunsee County, Wyandotte County), LA (Acadia Parish, Assumption Parish, Bienville Parish, Bossier Parish, Caddo Parish, Calcasieu Parish, Claiborne Parish, De Soto Parish, Iberia Parish, Jefferson Davis Parish, Jefferson Parish, Lafourche Parish, Orleans Parish, Red River Parish, St. Charles Parish, St. James Parish, St. John the Baptist Parish, St. Martin Parish, Vermilion Parish, Webster Parish), MN (Aitkin County, Anoka County, Becker County, Beltrami County, Benton County, Big Stone County, Carlton County, Cass County, Chippewa County, Chisago County, Clay County, Clearwater County, Crow Wing County, Dakota County, Douglas County, Goodhue County, Hennepin County, Houston County, Hubbard County, Itasca County, Kandiyohi County, Kittson County, Lac qui Parle County, Lyon County, Marshall County, Meeker County, Morrison County, Otter Tail County, Pine County, Pipestone County, Polk County, Ramsey County, Red Lake County, Renville County, Rock County, Sherburne County, St. Louis County, Stevens County, Swift County, Todd County, Traverse County, Wabasha County, Wadena County, Wilkin County, Winona County, Wright County, Yellow Medicine County), MS (Benton County, DeSoto County, Itawamba County, Lee County, Marshall County, Monroe County, Pontotoc County, Union County), MO (Barry County, Barton County, Bollinger County, Butler County, Cape Girardeau County, Christian County, Crawford County, Dade County, Dallas County, Dunklin County, Franklin County, Greene County, Jackson County, Jefferson County, Laclede County, Lawrence County, McDonald County, New Madrid County, Newton County, Pemiscot County, Perry County, Phelps County, Pulaski County, Scott County, St. Charles County, Ste. Genevieve County, Stoddard County, Stone County, Vernon County, Wayne County, Webster County), MT (Big Horn County, Blaine County, Carbon County, Cascade County, Chouteau County, Custer County, Dawson County, Fallon County, Fergus County, Flathead County, Glacier County, Golden Valley County, Hill County, Jefferson County, Judith Basin County, Lewis and Clark County, Liberty County, Lincoln County, McCone County, Musselshell County, Phillips County, Pondera County, Prairie County, Richland County, Roosevelt County, Rosebud County, Sheridan County, Teton County, Toole County, Valley County, Wheatland County, Wibaux County, Yellowstone County), NE (Adams County, Blaine County, Box Butte County, Buffalo County, Burt County, Butler County, Cass County, Clay County, Cuming County, Custer County, Dakota County, Dawes County, Dawson County, Dodge County, Douglas County, Dundy County, Frontier County, Gosper County, Grant County, Hall County, Hamilton County, Hitchcock County, Hooker County, Lancaster County, Morrill County, Nuckolls County, Phelps County, Red Willow County, Scotts Bluff County, Seward County, Sheridan County, Sherman County, Sioux County, Thomas County, Thurston County, Washington County, Webster County, York County), NV (Churchill County, Elko County, Eureka County, Humboldt County, Lander County, Pershing County, Storey County, Washoe County), NM (Bernalillo County, Colfax County, Curry County, De Baca County, Doña Ana County, Guadalupe County, Mora County, Roosevelt County, Sandoval County, Santa Fe County, Sierra County, Socorro County, Torrance County, Union County, Valencia County), ND (Adams County, Barnes County, Benson County, Billings County, Bowman County, Burke County, Burleigh County, Cass County, Cavalier County, Foster County, Golden Valley County, Grand Forks County, Griggs County, Kidder County, McHenry County, McLean County, Mercer County, Morton County, Mountrail County, Nelson County, Oliver County, Pembina County, Pierce County, Renville County, Sheridan County, Sioux County, Slope County, Stark County, Steele County, Stutsman County, Traill County, Walsh County, Ward County, Wells County, Williams County), OK (Alfalfa County, Canadian County, Carter County, Cimarron County, Cleveland County, Coal County, Craig County, Creek County, Delaware County, Ellis County, Garvin County, Hughes County, Johnston County, Kay County, Lincoln County, Love County, Major County, Marshall County, Mayes County, McIntosh County, Murray County, Muskogee County, Noble County, Okfuskee County, Oklahoma County, Osage County, Pontotoc County, Pottawatomie County, Seminole County, Tulsa County, Wagoner County, Washington County, Woods County, Woodward County), OR (Deschutes County, Klamath County, Multnomah County, Wasco County), SD (Beadle County, Bon Homme County, Brown County, Clark County, Clay County, Codington County, Corson County, Davison County, Day County, Dewey County, Edmunds County, Grant County, Hanson County, Hutchinson County, Lincoln County, McCook County, Minnehaha County, Roberts County, Sanborn County, Spink County, Union County, Walworth County, Yankton County), TN (Shelby County), TX (Angelina County, Aransas County, Armstrong County, Atascosa County, Austin County, Bailey County, Bell County, Bexar County, Bowie County, Brazoria County, Brown County, Burleson County, Caldwell County, Calhoun County, Callahan County, Cameron County, Camp County, Carson County, Cass County, Chambers County, Cherokee County, Childress County, Clay County, Collin County, Colorado County, Comanche County, Coryell County, Dallam County, Dallas County, Deaf Smith County, Denton County, Donley County, Eastland County, Ellis County, Erath County, Falls County, Fayette County, Fisher County, Fort Bend County, Freestone County, Frio County, Galveston County, Garza County, Gonzales County, Gray County, Grayson County, Gregg County, Guadalupe County, Hale County, Hall County, Hamilton County, Hardeman County, Harris County, Hartley County, Hemphill County, Hill County, Houston County, Hutchinson County, Jack County, Jefferson County, Kenedy County, Kleberg County, Lamb County, Lampasas County, Leon County, Liberty County, Lipscomb County, Lubbock County, Lynn County, Madison County, Matagorda County, Maverick County, McLennan County, Medina County, Milam County, Mills County, Mitchell County, Montague County, Montgomery County, Moore County, Morris County, Nacogdoches County, Navarro County, Nolan County, Nueces County, Orange County, Palo Pinto County, Parker County, Parmer County, Polk County, Potter County, Randall County, Roberts County, Rockwall County, San Augustine County, San Jacinto County, San Patricio County, Scurry County, Shelby County, Sherman County, Smith County, Swisher County, Tarrant County, Taylor County, Trinity County, Upshur County, Walker County, Waller County, Washington County, Wichita County, Wilbarger County, Willacy County, Williamson County, Wise County, Zavala County), UT (Carbon County, Davis County, Emery County, Grand County, Morgan County, Salt Lake County, Sanpete County, Tooele County, Utah County, Weber County), WA (Benton County, Clark County, Cowlitz County, Franklin County, Grant County, Jefferson County, King County, Kittitas County, Klickitat County, Lewis County, Lincoln County, Pierce County, Skagit County, Skamania County, Snohomish County, Spokane County, Stevens County, Thurston County, Walla Walla County, Whatcom County), WI (Crawford County), WY (Big Horn County, Campbell County, Converse County, Fremont County, Goshen County, Hot Springs County, Johnson County, Laramie County, Natrona County, Park County, Platte County, Washakie County, Weston County).
Organization Type
Public charities with IRS 501(c)(3) status
Divisions of local government
Federally recognized tribal governments
Schools or universities
Other
  • Contributions to tribal governments are limited to those recognized in the current Federal Register publication of the list of Indian Entities Recognized and Eligible to Receive Services from the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Ineligibility

Individuals or families requiring direct support, including travel funds
Religious or faith-based organizations with programs promoting a specific religion or restricted to specific religions/faiths populations
Organizations with policies discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status
Athletic teams, fraternal, veteran, social, alumni, or labor organizations (supports veteran-serving 501(c)(3) charities)
National-level health programs and organizations
Corporate memberships or contributions to entities like Chambers of Commerce expected to benefit the corporation directly
Political campaigns, lobbying organizations, or those supporting specific candidates
Sponsorships of fundraising events or goodwill advertising
Purchase of tables/tickets to fundraisers violating IRS self-dealing laws
Organizations serving primarily their own membership
Private foundations
General endowments
Programs outside BNSF’s state interests or geographical service areas.
1k – 10k

Submission

Review Criteria

Moreover, priority will be allocated to applications focusing on any of the specified fields of interest:

  • Projects related to the environment, sustainability, or conservation
  • Initiatives in health and human services
  • Efforts in cultural and historical preservation Furthermore, organizations that have previously established a connection with the BNSF Railway Foundation will be given precedence.

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