The Cisco Global Impact Cash Grant Program provides funding opportunities for nonprofit organizations (NPOs) and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) developing innovative solutions to significant social challenges. The program focuses on early-stage initiatives that have strong potential to create measurable impact, particularly among underserved communities around the world.

Cisco is seeking organizations that combine social impact with innovative use of technology to improve the reach, efficiency, scalability, and effectiveness of services. Eligible organizations can submit applications throughout the year, beginning with an online eligibility assessment and a Letter of Inquiry (LOI) before potentially being invited to submit a full proposal.

Unlike opportunities that operate around a single annual deadline, the Cisco Global Impact Cash Grant Program accepts applications year-round. However, organizations must first successfully complete the eligibility process and demonstrate that their proposed program aligns closely with Cisco’s investment priorities and grant requirements.

About the Cisco Global Impact Cash Grant Program

The Global Impact Cash Grant Program is designed to identify, incubate, and develop innovative early-stage solutions addressing important social problems.

Cisco provides these grants to eligible nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations with national or multinational operations. The program is particularly interested in initiatives that:

• Address a significant and clearly defined social problem.
• Serve communities that are economically underserved.
• Use information and communications technology in innovative ways.
• Improve the reach and efficiency of services.
• Have the potential to produce a broad and measurable impact.
• Can potentially be replicated or scaled.
• Have a sustainable model capable of continuing beyond Cisco’s financial support.

The program therefore goes beyond simply providing funding for organizational activities. Applicants are expected to demonstrate how their proposed interventions can use innovation and technology to address unmet needs and create meaningful benefits for communities.

Cisco Global Impact Cash Grant Priority Areas

Cisco’s Global Impact Cash Grant Program prioritizes four major social impact sectors. Organizations seeking funding should ensure that their proposed program clearly falls within at least one of these areas.

1. Cisco Crisis Response

The Cisco Crisis Response sector supports initiatives that help communities facing crises and critical human needs.

This includes efforts involving:

• Food security and essential supplies.
• Housing.
• Secure connectivity.
• Disaster relief.
• Other critical services for communities experiencing crises.

The focus is on mobilizing resources and solutions that can help vulnerable populations respond to and recover from crisis situations.

2. Education

Cisco also invests in programs designed to strengthen education and expand opportunities for students, teachers, and schools.

Relevant initiatives may focus on:

• Increasing student engagement.
• Building skills.
• Promoting subject mastery.
• Strengthening educational capacity.
• Helping students, educators, and schools thrive.

Organizations proposing education-related programs should demonstrate how their intervention addresses an important educational challenge and how technology can strengthen the effectiveness or reach of the solution.

3. Economic Opportunity

The Economic Opportunity sector supports initiatives that help individuals and communities improve their economic prospects.

Relevant areas include:

• Skills development.
• Long-term career opportunities.
• Entrepreneurship.
• Access to financial products and services.
• Job creation.
• Economic empowerment.

Cisco also considers environmental sustainability components within economic opportunity programs. For example, a program designed to create employment opportunities that contribute to climate resilience may potentially fit within this investment area.

4. Climate Resilience

The Climate Resilience sector focuses on developing an inclusive, regenerative, and resilient climate future.

Potential areas include:

• Climate education.
• Regenerative agriculture.
• Conservation.
• Environmental protection.
• Clean energy solutions.
• Community resilience.

Organizations working on climate-related solutions should demonstrate how their approach can help communities become more resilient while producing measurable and sustainable environmental or social benefits.

Who Can Apply for the Cisco Global Impact Cash Grant?

The program is intended for eligible nonprofit organizations and nongovernmental organizations, rather than individual applicants.

Organizations from around the world can potentially apply, provided they meet Cisco’s organizational, programmatic, and eligibility requirements. Cisco specifically indicates that the program supports eligible organizations operating nationally or internationally.

Requirements for U.S. Organizations

Organizations based in the United States must be:

• Recognized by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service as tax-exempt under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3).
• Classified by the IRS as a public charity.

Requirements for Organizations Outside the United States

Organizations located outside the United States must provide sufficient information and documentation for Cisco to determine whether the organization is equivalent to a U.S. public charity.

This means that international organizations, including organizations outside North America, may be eligible, but they must satisfy Cisco’s requirements for demonstrating their nonprofit status.

Program Requirements

In addition to organizational eligibility, the proposed program must satisfy several important requirements.

Serve Economically Underserved Communities

The proposed program must serve an audience consisting of more than 65 percent economically underserved people, relative to the average standards of the target geography.

This is an important requirement because Cisco’s grant funding is designed to support communities facing significant socioeconomic disadvantage.

Align With a Cisco Investment Sector

The proposed program must focus on at least one of Cisco’s four priority sectors:

1. Cisco Crisis Response.
2. Education.
3. Economic Opportunity.
4. Climate Resilience.

Programs related to Education, Crisis Response, and Economic Opportunity may also incorporate environmental sustainability within the relevant investment area.

Maintain Appropriate Overhead Costs

Cisco generally requires an organization’s overhead to be no more than 25 percent.

There may be exceptional circumstances in which an organization can receive an exemption, but such exemptions are determined individually. Organizations seeking an exemption must demonstrate particularly strong alignment with Cisco’s values and criteria and provide a clear explanation and justification for their overhead costs.

Maximum First-Time Grant Request

The maximum amount that first-time grant recipients can request is US$100,000.

Organizations should therefore structure their initial funding request carefully and demonstrate how the requested resources will contribute directly to the proposed program’s objectives and measurable impact.

What Programs Are Not Eligible?

Cisco has established several exclusions that applicants should carefully review before beginning an application.

The Global Impact Cash Grant does not support:

• General operating expenses that are not directly associated with the proposed program.
• Individuals.
• Research programs.
• Membership-based activities.
• Programs designed primarily to promote or serve a single culture, race, religion, population group, or political viewpoint rather than the community at large.
• Religious, political, or sectarian organizations, although certain direct-service programs operated by faith-based organizations may potentially qualify.
• Private or public hospitals and hospital foundations.
• Medical centers and research centers.
• Programs primarily focused on improving physical or mental health.
• Private, public, or charter schools.
• School foundations and booster clubs.
• Scholarships, stipends, or loans within programs.
• School-related activities such as field trips or research programs.
• Athletic events, competitions, tournaments, conferences, seminars, workshops, festivals, and recreational events.
• Fundraising events and sponsorships.
• Capital building funds.
• Challenge grants.
• Grant-making organizations and other foundations.

Organizations should therefore distinguish between a program that directly addresses a qualifying social challenge and activities that fall within Cisco’s excluded categories.

Cisco’s Policy on Equipment Funding

Organizations should not assume that Cisco funding can be used simply to purchase computers, software, or other technology equipment.

Cisco generally does not fund the purchase of computer hardware or software. However, exceptions may be considered when the resources:

1. Are used in a strategically innovative manner that extends their impact substantially beyond everyday staff use; and
2. Cannot reasonably be obtained through other, more cost-effective means, such as in-kind donations.

Applicants seeking such funding must demonstrate that they have thoroughly explored alternative avenues and were unable to obtain the required resources through those means.

Board Approval and Organizational Certification

Cisco requires applicants to demonstrate that their organization’s leadership is aware of and supports the grant application.

The applicant must certify that:

• The chairperson or at least one officer of the organization’s board of directors has reviewed the proposal.
• The organization’s board is aware of the application.
• The board supports submission of the application.
• The information provided in the application is accurate.
• The organization complies with the applicable Cisco policies.

Organizations should therefore ensure that appropriate internal governance procedures are completed before submitting their proposal.

Grant Compliance and Accuracy Reviews

Cisco may review information provided in grant applications as well as an organization’s compliance with the applicable policies and, where relevant, the terms of the grant agreement.

If a review identifies significant inaccuracies or policy violations, or if the organization does not cooperate with the review process, the organization may be required to:

• Return granted assets.
• Forfeit eligibility for future funding.

Applicants should therefore ensure that every statement, financial figure, organizational claim, and program description submitted through the application process is accurate and properly supported.

Grant Agreement

Organizations selected to receive funding must sign a donation agreement electronically before the grant funds can be delivered.

Receiving an invitation to apply or progressing through the application process does not itself guarantee funding.

Reporting and Performance Tracking

Cisco places considerable emphasis on measurable results.

Successful grantee organizations are required to use Cisco’s online grant platform to:

• Customize performance metrics for their project.
• Measure progress.
• Track results throughout the grant period.
• Participate meaningfully in the performance measurement process.

Participation in this performance-tracking process is a requirement for continued eligibility for funding.

This means applicants should develop clear performance indicators before submitting their proposals rather than waiting until after receiving funding to determine how success will be measured.

How Cisco Evaluates Grant Applications

Cisco recommends that organizations carefully review its evaluation criteria before submitting a proposal. The evaluation process focuses on several characteristics of a potentially high-impact program.

1. Addresses a Critical Social Challenge and Unmet Need

The proposed program should address a significant social problem affecting many people within one of Cisco’s four priority sectors.

Applicants should demonstrate:

• The seriousness of the problem.
• The number or scale of people affected.
• The consequences of the problem.
• Why existing approaches are insufficient.
• The funding or innovation gap that needs to be addressed.

Cisco particularly looks for situations where there is a significant unmet need and where an innovative approach could make a meaningful difference.

2. Uses Clear Metrics to Measure Impact

Strong proposals should include SMART metrics, meaning measures that are:

• Specific.
• Measurable.
• Achievable.
• Realistic.
• Timely.

Cisco gives high priority to proposals that clearly explain the intended results and identify the metrics that will be used to determine whether those results are being achieved.

3. Serves Underserved Communities

The program should primarily benefit economically underserved populations.

Cisco requires the target audience to consist of more than 65 percent economically underserved people, measured relative to the average standards of the relevant target geography.

4. Makes Innovative Use of Technology

Technology is an important component of the Cisco Global Impact Cash Grant Program.

Applicants should demonstrate how information and communications technology can:

• Expand program reach.
• Improve efficiency.
• Strengthen service delivery.
• Improve access.
• Support innovation.
• Help the organization achieve greater impact.

The technology component should be strategically connected to the social problem rather than included simply because the program involves digital tools.

5. Has Potential for Broad Impact

Cisco is interested in programs whose impact can extend beyond the immediate beneficiaries of the grant.

Potential sources of broader impact include:

• Major improvements in economics, productivity, or effectiveness.
• Changes in market behavior.
• Partnerships that generate greater collective impact.
• Solutions that influence other organizations or actors within the wider ecosystem.

Applicants should therefore explain how their program could influence systems, communities, markets, or partners beyond the activities directly funded by Cisco.

6. Is Replicable, Scalable, and Sustainable

Cisco looks for programs that can potentially be replicated and expanded.

An effective proposal should explain how the solution can:

• Be replicated in other communities.
• Scale cost-effectively.
• Reach additional beneficiaries.
• Avoid requiring a nearly equivalent investment for every individual or group.
• Continue producing results after Cisco’s funding ends.

Applicants should therefore include a credible long-term sustainability strategy demonstrating how the initiative can continue and grow beyond the grant period.

7. Demonstrates Outstanding Leadership

Cisco also evaluates the strength of the organization’s leadership and management team.

Relevant qualities include:

• Vision.
• Ability to execute.
• Passion for the organization’s mission.
• Ethical leadership.
• Relevant expertise.
• Strong external relationships.
• A credible track record in the proposed area.

Organizations should therefore demonstrate not only that their idea is strong but also that their team has the experience and capacity to implement it successfully.

How to Apply for the Cisco Global Impact Cash Grant

The application process consists of several stages. Organizations should carefully follow each stage rather than immediately attempting to submit a full grant proposal.

Step 1: Determine Eligibility

The first step is to determine whether the proposed organization and program align with Cisco’s mission, strategic approach, and grant objectives.

Cisco encourages organizations to assess their eligibility before investing significant time and resources into a submission. Only programs considered optimally aligned with Cisco’s objectives can be considered for funding.

For nonprofit grant proposals involving:

• Climate resilience.
• Education.
• Crisis response.
• Economic opportunity.

organizations should complete Cisco’s Eligibility Quiz for NPOs/NGOs through the Cisco Grants and Cash Donations portal. Organizations that successfully complete the quiz can proceed to the next stage through the same portal.

Step 2: Submit a Letter of Inquiry

Organizations that successfully complete the eligibility quiz can submit an initial grant concept through a Letter of Inquiry (LOI).

The LOI requires information about:

• The organization.
• The proposed program.
• The population to be served.
• The proposed budget.

Cisco uses this information to determine whether the organization should be invited to submit a full proposal.

Submitting an LOI does not guarantee an invitation to submit a full application.

Cisco states that LOIs are reviewed at its discretion and that the review process may take up to one business quarter, or approximately three months.

There is no fixed limit on the number of LOIs an organization may submit, although Cisco encourages applicants to be selective and submit programs that are strongly aligned with its priorities.

Step 3: Invitation to Submit a Full Proposal

If Cisco determines that an organization’s LOI aligns with its mission, strategic approach, and grant objectives, the organization may be invited to submit a full grant proposal.

Cisco may also contact the organization if additional information is required.

After a full proposal is submitted, Cisco indicates that applicants can expect a decision within one business quarter.

However, an invitation to submit a full proposal does not guarantee that the organization will receive funding.

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Is There a Deadline for the Cisco Global Impact Cash Grant?

There is no fixed annual application deadline stated for the Cisco Global Impact Cash Grant Program.

Cisco states that applications are accepted year-round from eligible organizations.

This allows eligible organizations to develop and submit their concepts when they are ready. Nevertheless, applicants should allow sufficient time for the eligibility assessment, LOI review, and, if invited, preparation and review of a full proposal.

Deadline: Applications are accepted year-round; no fixed deadline is specified.

Important Considerations Before Applying

Organizations considering the Cisco Global Impact Cash Grant should carefully assess their proposed project against the program requirements.

Before beginning the application, applicants should consider whether:

1. Their organization qualifies as an eligible nonprofit or nongovernmental organization.
2. Their program fits within at least one of Cisco’s four investment sectors.
3. More than 65 percent of the target audience is economically underserved.
4. The program addresses a significant social challenge and unmet need.
5. Technology plays an innovative and meaningful role in improving the program’s reach or efficiency.
6. The organization can demonstrate measurable outcomes.
7. The proposed solution has potential to scale or be replicated.
8. The program can remain sustainable beyond Cisco’s funding.
9. The organization’s overhead is generally within the 25 percent limit.
10. The proposed funding request does not exceed US$100,000 for a first-time recipient.
11. The organization has appropriate board awareness and approval.
12. The proposal does not fall into one of Cisco’s excluded categories.
13. The organization can provide accurate documentation and comply with Cisco’s grant policies.

Carefully reviewing these factors can help organizations determine whether their proposal is genuinely aligned with the program before investing substantial effort in the application.

Visit HERE for more information about the Cisco Global Impact Cash Grant Program 2026.

Key Funding Details at a Glance

• Program: Cisco Global Impact Cash Grant Program
• Funding type: Cash grant
• Target applicants: Eligible nonprofit organizations and NGOs
• Geographic scope: Global
• Priority sectors: Crisis Response, Education, Economic Opportunity, and Climate Resilience
• Maximum request for first-time recipients: US$100,000
• Minimum underserved population requirement: More than 65 percent of the target audience
• General overhead limit: 25 percent
• Application frequency: Year-round
• Initial application stage: Eligibility Quiz
• Second stage: Letter of Inquiry
• Potential third stage: Full grant proposal by invitation
• LOI review period: Up to one business quarter
• Full proposal decision period: Up to one business quarter
• Fixed deadline: None stated

Conclusion

The Cisco Global Impact Cash Grant Program offers eligible nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations an opportunity to seek financial support for innovative, technology-enabled solutions addressing significant social challenges. The program is particularly focused on initiatives serving economically underserved communities and operating within Cisco’s four priority areas: Crisis Response, Education, Economic Opportunity, and Climate Resilience.

A competitive proposal should do more than describe a social problem. Organizations should demonstrate a clear unmet need, measurable outcomes, meaningful use of technology, potential for broad impact, scalability, sustainability, and strong organizational leadership. Cisco also places specific emphasis on serving populations that are more than 65 percent economically underserved and generally limits overhead to 25 percent.

Because applications are accepted throughout the year, organizations do not need to wait for an annual deadline. However, applicants should first assess their eligibility, complete the appropriate eligibility quiz, and prepare a strong Letter of Inquiry explaining their organization, proposed program, target population, and budget. An LOI may lead to an invitation for a full proposal, but neither submission nor invitation guarantees funding.

Organizations developing scalable solutions that combine technology, innovation, and measurable social impact may therefore wish to examine the Cisco Global Impact Cash Grant requirements carefully and determine whether their proposed intervention aligns with Cisco’s current investment priorities.

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