Our Mission and Our Commitment

The Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation gives back and strengthens through charitable support the thousands of communities where our employees and our customers work and live.

We endorse and underwrite a variety of initiatives and causes throughout the markets where Enterprise operates in support of four key focus areas:

• We assist many local causes by providing a 50 percent match of our employees’ contributions to United Way campaigns throughout these communities.
• We believe it is important to provide financial resources to worthwhile nonprofit initiatives that are actively supported by our employees, their spouses, and loyal Enterprise customers.
• We strive to provide more sizable special grants to nonprofit groups or causes of significant strategic or social importance to Enterprise and its employees.
• We support relief projects or causes the company deems important as they arise, such as natural disasters that affect our customers and our employees.

Our giving flows from the belief that we owe our success to the communities we serve, and we must support their good causes in return.

Our History
Started in 1982 by Enterprise Rent-A-Car founder Jack Taylor, the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation was established to allow the company to give back to the communities where Enterprise customers and employees live and work. The Foundation has contributed more than $100 million to thousands of registered non-profit efforts since its inception.

Examples of recent gifts include $30 million for college scholarships to support minorities and economically challenged students; The Enterprise Rent-A-Car 50 Million Tree Pledge to the National Arbor Day Foundation – a $50 million pledge by the Foundation to plant 1 million trees a year for the next 50 years to help restore public lands badly in need of reforestation; and more than $2.5 million to disaster relief worldwide.

United Way & Employee Matching Contribution Program
The Foundation matches all employee contributions on a 50% basis to the United Way in the U.S. and Canada as well as the "Give as You Earn" program in the United Kingdom. In 2008, Enterprise gave more than $16 million to the United Way, with $11.2 million from employee giving and $5.4 million from the Foundation's matching contribution.

The Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation operates under the leadership its President, Jo Ann Taylor Kindle and a Board of Directors comprised of representatives from the Taylor family and members of the company's senior management.

Foundation Giving Guidelines

• Neither the Foundation nor the company (or any of its affiliates) donates vehicles or rentals.
• The Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation was founded to enable Enterprise employees and their spouses to give back to their local communities. Because of this mission, the Foundation generally accepts requests for donations only from Enterprise employees and their spouses. In addition, the Foundation will consider requests from established Enterprise customers who use our services on a regular basis.
• In order to request a donation for an organization, the requestor must be personally and actively involved in the charity.
• The Foundation provides grants only to qualified tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations in the United States. For requests from the United Kingdom and Canada, organizations must have a registered charity number.
• The Foundation considers the support of schools, churches, and sports teams a personal responsibility, and therefore discourages requests for Foundation support of these types of organizations.
• In an effort to support as many worthwhile causes as possible, the Foundation will consider only one request per year, per charity.
• The average grant amount for a first-time request is usually up to $1,500 (USD).
• The average grant amount is $2,500 to $5,000 (USD).

• Enterprise Groups are prohibited from receiving benefits from organizations that receive a contribution from the Foundation. Benefits which Groups may not receive include tickets to events, dinner invitations, and advertising. Recognition for support on signage and in programs should go to the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation, not the operating group.
• PLEASE DO NOT SEND ANNUAL REPORTS, VIDEOS, DVDS OR CDS

How to Submit a Request

Employee Requests

The employee request grant application link is located on the Foundation's intranet site under Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation.

Customer Requests

Please select the country below for the grant application.

To begin the application, you will need your 9-digit Federal ID number. In addition to completing the application you will need to provide a letter of support on company letterhead from the Enterprise entity which you are a customer of to verify the relationship or a letter of support from an employee advocate and a current contact list of key staff and board members.

Grant FAQs

United States

Canada

United Kingdom

Return to Your Grant Application
Have you already started your online application for funding? If so, please click here to complete your saved application

Proposal Deadlines
The Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation Board meets three times each year to consider requests. Board meetings take place in winter (January or February), spring (April or May), and fall (October).

The Foundation would like to have all requests submitted to the Foundation no later than six weeks prior to each Board meeting for consideration, and deadlines are strictly enforced. Requestors generally are notified in writing within three to four weeks after the Board meeting. Our 2009 meeting schedule will be posted at the end of the year.

Our schedule for 2009: