Community Giving

We believe that all individuals deserve the opportunity and the resources to take care of their financial health. To that end, we are dedicated to increasing financial access, improving financial education, helping individuals increase their earning power, and strengthening our communities' financial health.

When you have financial health, you are able to take care of your finances: you engage in daily activities that help you build financial resilience and seize financial opportunity. We believe this leads to financial resilience, or the ability to withstand life events that impact your income, assets, and your future plans.

At BECU, this means that we focus on providing access to safe, affordable financial services, offering programs that encourage financially healthy behaviors and give youth a solid financial foundation, and giving to organizations that are helping people gain the knowledge and skills they'll need to weather life's changes.

To support this vision, we have built a giving strategy that uses BECU's philanthropic dollars to increase individual capacity for future earnings.

Our giving goal is to help individuals:

• Access and complete post-secondary degrees
• Build relevant skills for today's workforce
• Encourage and expand entrepreneurism

Community Partnerships

We form strategic partnerships on a case-by-case basis with community organizations that advance financial health and resiliency through education, workforce skills, and entrepreneurism. These partnerships are identified by our community giving team and sought out by BECU.

BECU Foundation Scholarships

The mission of the BECU Foundation is to encourage and administer contributions for educational scholarships. Scholarships are awarded based on the student's commitment to community service, as well as leadership and academic potential, and are intended to help BECU student-members pursue post-secondary education and training.

Donate to the BECU Foundation

Make a tax-deductible donation. You may be eligible for membership to BECU with a donation of $1.00 or more to the BECU Foundation. The BECU Foundation is a registered 501c3 nonprofit organization. To learn more please email, becu_foundation@becu.org.

People Helping People Awards

Each year, we ask our members to nominate their favorite community nonprofits for the People Helping People Awards. Applications are evaluated by a panel of judges, and members and employees contribute by voting for the People's Choice and Employees' Choice Awards. Most importantly, award winners are brought together at the annual ceremony, where they find common ground and additional sources of support. The visibility brought to the organizations through the awards often results in BECU employee volunteer hours and contributions.

• Up to $50,000 to member supported community nonprofits
• Nominations accepted in late summer and recipients awarded in December

We are unable to accept unsolicited requests for community giving or partnerships. If you know a great BECU student-member, please let them know about BECU Foundation Scholarships. And if you believe in the work of a wonderful community nonprofit, please nominate them for a People Helping People Award. Otherwise, you may find that a BECU sponsorship can help support your organization.

All requests require 60 days for review

Please note the following guidelines:

1. All requests must be for organizations that serve a county in which we are active: Island, King, Kitsap, Pierce, Skagit, Snohomish, Spokane and Thurston in Washington, or Charleston County in South Carolina.
2. We evaluate requests for support that align with BECU's values.
3. We are unable to fund requests for individuals, schools/school events, travel expenses, trips or tours, pledges, titles, tuition, dues, subscriptions, religious activities, political or fraternal lobbying/campaigns, fundraising walks or runs, sports, clubs or camps.
4. At BECU, our charitable giving is generally directed to institutions that are recognized by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as a charitable organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the IRS Code. BECU reserves the right to determine and amend which organizations are eligible to receive charitable support from BECU. In no event will BECU provide charitable support to organizations that do not comply with the USA Patriot Act. Organizations seeking charitable support from BECU must generally certify to BECU that their charitable and/or educational programs and services are offered and provided to the intended beneficiaries of such programs and services without discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any other classification protected by applicable local, state, or federal laws. BECU does not contribute to organizations in which religious practice is required for selection and/or receipt of charitable services.

Momentum Grants

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the BECU Foundation and Mastercard have partnered to support nonprofit organizations in Washington state to enable the recovery, resiliency and stabilization of nonprofits and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that have been the most affected. The Momentum Grants Program is by invitation only, will help to facilitate recovery by replenishing funds lost during this difficult time, enable economic development organizations to make capital available to entrepreneurs in unique ways and create a space for testing, learning, and long-term scale. If approved, grant amounts of $50,000 will be awarded.