Donations and Sponsorship Funding Guidelines

CIBC is committed to causes that matter to our clients, our employees and our communities. We aim to make a difference through corporate donations, sponsorships and the volunteer spirit of our employees.

Due to the overwhelming volume of requests considered by CIBC, all funding applications must be submitted online.

Areas of Focus:

Youth

• Youth in need, ages 14 to 21
• Access to opportunity to help young people reach their full potential

Education

• Skills development and mentoring
• Bursary and scholarship support

Health

• Primary focus on breast cancer, pediatric cancer and cancer
• Other health/disease-related charities
• Capital funding for hospitals, regional health authorities or clinics

To be eligible for funding, requests must:

• be aligned to youth, education or health
• be for a Canadian organization, using funds in Canada
• be for a registered charity with a Canada Revenue Agency Charitable Registration Number or a non-profit organization
• have a record of achievement or potential for success in line with our overall goals
• address a community need and provide direct impact to the community served
• include planned outcomes, supported by a measurement and evaluation process
• have audited financial statements for the organization, sound financial practices and a sustainable funding model

CIBC does not fund:

• Multiple contributions to the same organization during one fiscal year (Nov.1 to Oct. 31)
• Organizations currently funded by the CIBC Children’s Foundation
• Initiatives outside Canada
• Religious organizations, unless supporting broadly-based outreach community needs for the disadvantaged
• Public, private or religious schools, including costs associated with student travel, playgrounds, etc.
• Day cares, pre-kindergartens, pre-schools
• Individuals or teams in fundraising initiatives or events
• Third-party flow-through or umbrella organizations such as private or family foundations
• Boards of Trade, Chamber of Commerce or service clubs such as Rotary
• Business, industry or member-based associations
• Golf tournaments
• Conferences
• Registration fees
• Matching contributions
• Endowments
• Heritage organizations
• Political organizations
• Advocacy and lobbying activities
• Think tanks
• For profit organizations or other corporations’ community outreach initiatives
• Advertising or promotional initiatives
• Publication of books or movie productions

Review Process

Due to the overwhelming volume of funding requests received, CIBC will only consider online applications.

Funding requests are reviewed by national and regional donation committees.

Regional Requests

• Regional donations are reviewed every six to eight weeks throughout the year and it may take up to or more than eight weeks before a decision is made.

• Regional multi-year campaign requests are first considered regionally, and then reviewed by the national committee which can extend the decision making time to up to 16 weeks.

National Requests and Multi-Year Campaign Proposals

• National requests are reviewed every 12 to 16 weeks, throughout the year.