OVERVIEW: The Bath & Body Works Foundation supports hunger and homelessness, empowerment of women, nurturing and mentoring of children, improving education, and disaster relief in Ohio and beyond.
IP TAKE: The Bath & Body Works Foundation is typical of other corporate foundations in that it is opaque and plays its philanthropy close to the vest. Its funding areas and selection criteria are not entirely clear. This lack of transparency is doubly difficult because of the foundation’s name change resulting from its parent company’s recent controversies and shakeups. Overall, it is not very accessible to first-time grantseekers and does not accept unsolicited applications for funding. However, the good news is that this funder returns to the same grantees relatively regularly, so nonprofits that do manage to get on the foundation’s radar might find themselves in a long-term relationship.
PROFILE: Established in 1993, the Bath & Body Works Foundation (previously known as the L Brands Foundation) is a corporate foundation based in Columbus, Ohio. This is the grantmaking arm of Bath & Body Works, Inc., formerly known as L Brands, Inc., which was established by Leslie “Les” Wexner in 1963. The company’s name change came after Wexner stepped down as CEO in 2020 and L Brands split its two biggest retail brands—Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works—into separate companies the following year. The foundation seeks to improve “the lives of people in underserved and underrepresented communities by providing resources, volunteer time and product donations to organizations that support these communities.” It supports local efforts for hunger and homelessness, empowerment of women, nurturing and mentoring of children, improving education, and disaster relief.
Grants for Disaster Relief and Community Development
Within its areas of interest, the foundation has an overarching focus on inclusion and prioritizes projects and organizations that serve diverse and underserved populations. A majority of grants support human services organizations, education, and youth and cultural programs. The foundation has demonstrated a strong interest in youth mentoring.
Past local grantees include the Boys and Girls Clubs of Columbus, Center of Science and Industry, Furniture Bank of Central Ohio, Community Shelter Board, and YWCA Columbus, each of which received at least $50,000 in a recent year.
Bath & Body Works also gives nationally to established organizations such as Feeding America, The Nature Conservancy, American Red Cross, American Chemical Society, and National Domestic Violence Hotline.
In addition to its invitation-only grantmaking efforts, it also has several programs that provide material assistance to underserved groups experiencing crisis:
The foundation’s In-Kind Donations program focuses on food and housing insecurity, as well as education and workforce development. This program is operated in partnership with Good360.
Its Disaster Relief Fund offers both financial assistance to nonprofits responding to crises and product donations to aid in relief efforts. This program has previously responded to the Maui wildfires and East Palestine train derailment.
It also operates an Associates For Associates Emergency Fund that provides up to $2,500 for basic needs to employees facing temporary hardship.
Both the disaster relief fund and the associates’ emergency fund are housed at the Columbus Foundation.
Important Grant Details
Grants range between about $5,000 and $50,000. The foundation gave out more than $5.9 million in grants in a recent year and over $6.4 million in product donations.
Grantmaking prioritizes the Columbus area of Ohio.
This foundation does not review unsolicited proposals from nonprofits and accepts applications by invitation only.
Direct general questions to the staff via the company’s online Contact form.
PEOPLE:
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