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Corporate Giving Guidelines

Eligibility Requirements

Chiquita only supports not-for-profit organizations. Proof of nonprofit status is required.

Applicants from the United States must be tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations as defined under Section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.
Applicants outside the United States must be charitable in purpose and identified as nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) or the equivalent of a tax-exempt nonprofit organization.

Funding Priorities

Chiquita gives to programs that:

Promote healthy living, particularly programs that educate children and help them to lead healthier lives
Support environmental and social programs that advance responsible and sustainable business practices.

In addition, the company encourages employees to give something back to our communities through involvement in nonprofit agencies. To support and recognize employee volunteer participation, Chiquita also gives funding priority to nonprofit groups in which our employees serve.

Geographic Focus

Chiquita Brands International is based in Cincinnati, Ohio, and conducts business in more than 70 countries around the world. The majority of the company’s employees work in Latin America, mostly in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama. Chiquita focuses its giving in the communities where the company has a significant presence. As much as possible, we support outstanding local organizations that address local needs where our employees live and work.

How to Apply

Effective April 1, 2008, only those grant requests made through Chiquita’s website will be accepted for consideration. Please be prepared to provide the following information:

Description of the organization, including its mission statement
Proof of the organization’s not-for-profit status
Name, mailing address, e-mail address and phone number of the primary contact
Detailed description of the project or activity for which support is being requested, including whom the project will benefit, the design of the project and outcomes expected
A brief overview of the organization’s operating budget, including income sources and expenses for the project
A list of the officers and the board of directors or other principals in the organization
The amount of money or the quantity of bananas requested. If requesting bananas, you will need to include the date of the event, the date you would like to pick them up and a statement about how they will be used.

The size of our cash grants varies, but $500 to $5,000 is typical. We rarely support cash requests in excess of $25,000. Any charity receiving more than $25,000 in a calendar year will require special approval from Chiquita’s CEO and/or Board of Directors. Charities are requested to limit financial requests to one per calendar year.

All requests must be for a specific event and include an end date. Open-ended requests will not be considered. The size of our banana donations varies, but one to 10 boxes is typical. We generally do not support banana requests in excess of 50 boxes. (One box contains enough bananas for about 100 people.) Typical bagged salad donations will feed approximately 200 people. All product donations are based on availability.

Deadlines:

Applications are reviewed on an ongoing basis throughout the year. Product donation requests must be submitted no later than the 10th of the previous month and no earlier than 6 months before the event. Decisions regarding financial contributions are generally made within 30 business days after the receipt of all required information and documents. No immediate decisions will be made. It is strongly recommended that grant requests be submitted on-line at least four (4) months prior to the start of the proposed project start date since funding can take up to 12 weeks.

What Happens Next?

Organizations are contacted by telephone or e-mail if additional information or follow-up is required regarding a grant request.

Chiquita’s decisions are based on appropriate fit with these guidelines and budget availability. Chiquita Brands International receives many more requests than we can support. A decision to decline a request does not imply that the applicant’s program is not needed or valued, but simply that it does not fall within our giving guidelines or priorities, or that funds are not available.

*Due to the heavy volume of applications, we are unable to reply to individual inquiries regarding the status of requests.

Payment of Approved Grants

Effective Jan. 1, 2008, Chiquita Brands International no longer pays funded grantee organizations with checks. All grant payments worldwide will be sent via Electronic Funds Transfers directly into the bank accounts of the funded organizations.

What We Do Not Support

Chiquita’s charitable giving program will not support:

For-profit ventures
Individuals or groups seeking to raise money for personal goals. This includes scholarships, research or travel grants, stipends, fellowships, personal assistance, conferences, training or learning programs, travel for reunions/anniversaries, mission trips, travel for races, contests, or competitions, etc.
Development or production of books, films, videos, radio or TV programs
Individual sports teams
Religious groups for religious purposes
Capital campaigns
Lobbying, political or fraternal activities
Raffles / Games of chance
Organizations already receiving financial support from United Way
Advertising or marketing sponsorships
Multi-year requests
Third party requests – this includes individuals independently raising money for the nonprofit.

As a general rule, we do not financially support special events (benefits, walk-a-thons, golf outings, etc.). While fund-raisers are important to the organizations hosting them, we prefer to provide support directly to programs and services. Special events are eligible for product donations.

Chiquita will not knowingly support organizations that discriminate based on race, caste, national origin, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, political affiliation or age.