Quantity: Organisations may request any number of products for a total of up to US$8,000 in administrative fees per fiscal year (July 1 to June 30). You can place as many requests as needed each year, as long as the total administrative fees for all of your requests do not exceed the maximum.
Budget: Organisations with annual operating budgets of US$20 million or less are eligible to apply for products.
Existing customers: Organisations that have purchased Cisco or Meraki products within the last six months or those that intend to do so in the next six months are not eligible. This applies to purchases made directly from Cisco or through resellers or retail channels.
Nonprofits only:
Products are available only to qualifying nonprofits and charities.
All Cisco and Meraki product requests are subject to a secondary eligibility review to verify that the organisation meets the program's eligibility criteria. Cisco reserves the right to deny a donation request at any time. Connecting Up will not process payments for denied requests and will return submitted checks to the organisation.
Organization types:
Eligible: Direct-service organisations that primarily serve economically disadvantaged people or organisations that focus on environmental conservation or prevention of pollution are eligible to receive Cisco donations. Please make sure that your organisation's primary mission and services correspond to one of the following organization types.
Organisations that supply money, goods, or services to the poor
Job training, counseling, or assistance organisations
Organisations that provide rehabilitation to convicts, ex-convicts, alcoholics, drug abusers, or compulsive gamblers
Educational services and remedial reading and encouragement organisations
Organisations that provide aid to persons with disabilities
Organisations that focus on area development or redevelopment of renewal areas
Low- to moderate-income housing assistance organizations
Organizations that provide care and housing of children, work to prevent cruelty to children, and combat juvenile delinquency
Organizations that provide care and housing for the aged
Community health planning organizations
Patient and family support organizations
Environmental organizations that focus on conservation or preventing pollution
Rescue and emergency services organizations
Mental health organizations
Organizations working toward the improvement of conditions of workers
Community centers
Youth development organizations and youth centers and clubs
Community service organizations
Organizations defending human and civil rights
Organizations working toward the elimination of prejudice and discrimination
Legal aid organizations
Emergency and disaster aid funds
Veterans’ organizations
Ineligible: The following organisation types are not eligible to receive donations.
Affiliates of parent organisations with more than 20 national or international affiliates, even if your affiliate is considered a separate entity and is not funded by the parent organisation. Examples of such organisations are the YMCA, the Red Cross, and Amnesty International.
Religious organizations without a secular community designation. To have a secular designation, an organization must provide services to people regardless of their religious beliefs and must not propagate a belief in a specific faith. It must also have a tax ID (EIN) separate from that of the church or religious organization.
Foundations, lending organizations, grantmaking organizations, or organizations that provide scholarships or other funding to individuals and other organizations
Sports, athletic, recreational, and social activity organizations
Camps
Non-direct service organizations or referral services
Schools, colleges, and related organizations
Cultural and historical organizations
Publishing, radio and television, film production, discussion, non-scientific study and research, and information giving and opinion organizations
Hospitals, fire departments, and nursing homes
Health clinics, rural medical facilities, hospices, blood banks
Day care centers or child care activities
Organizations that offer Cisco Networking Academy training programs (even if they were previously accepted for Cisco grants) or those that teach the Networking Academy curriculum as a single or separate component of their overall mission or services
Research organizations
Business and professional organizations
Farming and related activity organizations
Legislative and political activity organizations
Credit counseling services or financial education
Advocacy organizations, including Planned Parenthood organizations
Libraries and museums
Substitutions: Cisco may substitute functionally equivalent products in a request.
Terms of service: Organizations that request donated Cisco and Meraki products must agree to any applicable terms of service.
Cisco and Meraki products only: Requests for donated Cisco and Meraki products may not include products from other programs. Organizations must request products from other programs separately.
Anti-discrimination policy: Organizations that advocate, support, or practice discrimination based on age, ethnicity, gender, national origin, disability, race, size, religion, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic background are not eligible. Organizations must be willing and able to attest that they do not discriminate on any of these grounds.
Case study: Recipient organizations must be willing and able to provide information to Cisco for the purposes of creating a case study or testimonial.
Product distribution:
Products will be distributed to qualifying organizations only, not to individuals.
Recipient organizations may not transfer or resell Cisco and Meraki products.
