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Funding Guidelines

SDG&E is committed to investing in innovative projects and programs through our corporate giving program. SDG&E supports and partners with hundreds of community-based non-profit organizations in San Diego and south Orange Counties to:

  • Support today’s and tomorrow’s environmental champions through environmental education, community engagement, and stewardship in underserved communities
  • Support public safety, prepare communities for emergencies, and strengthen the capacity of emergency responders
  • Inspire and prepare the next generation of diverse STEM leaders in our communities.

SDG&E gives preferential consideration to:

  • Programs, rather than one-time events
  • Programs in SDG&E’s initiative areas of giving
  • Programs that help diverse underserved populations, people with disabilities, and low-income families
  • Programs in the SDG&E service area (San Diego County and south Orange County)

SDG&E does not accept or fund requests for charitable contributions that benefit:

  • Individuals
  • Private foundations, endowment funds, or for-profit organizations
  • Groups that practice discrimination based on age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, physical or mental disabilities, race, color, religion, national origin, or ancestry
  • Sectarian or denominational religious groups, except for programs that are broadly promoted, available to anyone, and free from religious orientation
  • Political parties, candidates, or partisan-political groups
  • Scholarship programs
  • Capital-improvements, capital equipment, or building funds
  • Sporting teams and sporting events
  • Programs primarily focused on the arts and humanities
  • Programs whose beneficiaries are outside of San Diego County and south Orange County
  • Post-secondary institutions of higher learning
  • Individual schools, individual school foundations, or school districts
  • General operating expenses that are unrelated to the execution of the proposed program or project
  • Travel expenses not directly related and necessary to the execution of the project
  • Loans or loan guarantees
  • Debt reduction or past operating deficits
  • Liquidation of an organization
  • Reducing or donating the cost of any natural gas or electrical service.

To apply for funding, please email our Community Relations team with a brief description of your program or project. 

Frequently Asked Questions for Online Application Submission

The following information relates to using our online application system.

Our online grant applications are compatible with the following internet browsers:

  • Internet Explorer® 10
  • Internet Explorer® 9
  • Internet Explorer® 8
  • Mozilla® Firefox® (for PC and Mac)
  • Safari® (for PC and Mac)
  • Google Chrome

Use the link that is provided to you by the Manager of the Initiative.

The online application places a cookie on your computer to enable the "Save and Finish Later" functionality. Please check the user's manual for your internet browser to enable cookies if you receive an error message.

First time applicants must create a user name and password, which will be used each time they login to the online application system.

You will need the username and password of the applicant’s organization. If the organization has applied in the past, someone should have that information.  If not, be prepared to create a username and password. You may want to write this down so other people in your organization can see past applications

Enter the applying organization’s non-profit (e.g. tax id #12-3456789 with or without the dash). If you do not have a valid non-profit tax id number, but have an organization that is a valid non-profit and has agreed to be your fiduciary or fiscal agent, following the instructions below:

  • Enter the applying organization’s tax id number and address, if it is a fiduciary or fiscal agent, use their tax id number and address;
  • Enter the applying organization’s name;
  • Enter the legal name of the applying organization, if it is a fiduciary or fiscal agent, use their legal name;

Use the address that is on file with the IRS.  If you have moved and the current address associated with the Organization has not been updated through the IRS, use the address on the organization’s website or their PO Box mailing address (do not use a home address).

No, you can start the application and choose to save and finish it at a later time.  Just click on the "Save and Finish Later" button located at the bottom of each application page.

If you would like to save the in progress application, scroll down to the bottom of the page and choose the "Save & Finish Later" button. Selecting the "Review & Submit" button will submit the application to San Diego Gas and Electric for review and will no longer be available for editing.

When an applicant logs in for the first time an account is automatically created using the email and password information used.  The applicant will receive an automated confirmation email providing them with a link to use to return to saved in progress applications and their “My Account” page.  Add this link to your Favorites for easy access or return to the San Diego Gas & Electric web site and click on the link provided to access in-progress applications.

Once the application is completed online, click the "Review & Submit" button at the bottom of the last page of the application to submit your application.  Once your application has been submitted, a confirmation email will be sent to you.

Please add [email protected] to your email address book to ensure these messages arrive in your inbox.

Once an application is submitted via clicking the Submit button, the application is no longer available to edit as it has moved into the system to begin the review process.

Please check your entries to make sure that you have not misspelled anything and make sure that you are using the same email address and password used to initially login and create your account. 

If you are still unsuccessful with accessing your account, please contact the system administrator at [email protected].

If you did not press the "Save & Finish Later" or "Review & Submit" button upon leaving the application, your work was not saved and you will need to start a new application.

If you logged in to work on an in-progress application and saw a blank page, you did not choose the "Save & Finish Later" button before you exited the program and your work was not saved. You will need to start a new application.

Please check to see if the email address you are using is different from the one you used to initially login and create an account, or if the address is either misspelled or a different address.

For additional technical support with your application, contact [email protected].