Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must be:
- At least 18 years of age.
- A legal resident of the United States.
- A current full-time Amazon employee.
- Applying for assistance either for yourself or a member of your household.
- Able to access a scanner or smartphone camera to scan and upload the required documentation.
- Have at least 1 active bank account.
Types of Assistance Offered
Unexpected or emergency expenses
- This includes everything from the cost towards medical or veterinary care not covered by insurance to the cost of repairing or replacing a major appliance to the cost towards funeral expenses for a family member that has unexpectedly passed away.
Documentable extenuating circumstances
- This includes covering a one-time cost of a monthly household bill under various kinds of limited, documentable extenuating situations. Examples include being unable to afford rent because of taking unpaid leave to care for a sick child and unable to pay for an electric bill because of paying for an insurance deductible due to an auto accident.
What We Do Not Fund
Prohibited expenses according to the law
- The organization does not pay expenses associated with federal, state, or local taxes; child support; fines or legal fees associated with civil or criminal offenses.
Expenses related to credit card debt or luxury items
- The organization does not pay expenses related to credit card bills, bankruptcy, or luxury goods or services (e.g., broken television or vacation).
Sending cash or gift cards
- The organization prohibits sending cash directly to applicants; therefore, we cannot assist with the cost of groceries, gas, bank account overdrafts, or repaying a payday loan.
Exclusions to utility and rental payments
- The organization will not make a rental payment if an applicant is renting from a family member.
- The organization cannot help applicants afford the utility or rental deposits, as these payments are returned at the end of the rental term.
Applying for Assistance
Amazon Offsets is a non-profit organization and is a qualified charity under IRS code 501(c)(3). Funds are very limited and based solely on donations. Grant applications are received and reviewed on a rolling basis.
There are no grant application fees. Applicants are permitted 1 active application per household at a time, meaning each applicant may have only 1 open request for assistance at a time.
Grantees do not have to repay grant funds. Grantees awarded funds must wait 12 months to place a new request for assistance (e.g., awarded grant in February 2022, may reapply for another grant in February 2023).
Application process:
Application Review Process
Step 1: Application processing
- Once an application is submitted (including all required supporting documentation), a member of the Board will perform due-diligence to ensure the application meets eligibility guidelines and receipt of all necessary documentation .
Step 2: Board review
- Once an application is processed, members of the Grants Committee will review and vote on the application.
Step 3: Administrative review
- Once the Grants Committee votes to fund an application, the application will undergo a final administrative review. This review involves a member of the Board who does not serve on the Grants Committee reviews the application process to ensure the application has been properly processed, all documentation necessary to issue a grant has been received, and recommendations for awarding a grant meets the Board policy.
Step 4: Payment
- Once an application clears administrative review, the organization will pay the bill directly to the vendor named in the application.
Additional Questions
Contact us if you have additional inquires about the eligibility criteria, application process, or review process.
Frequently Asked Questions
This depends on how quickly applicants provide the necessary documents to perform due-diligence. Please keep in mind that each application receives only 1 round of review, so it is important to submit accurate and current documents. Once all necessary documents are received, it is the Board's goal to process the application as quickly as possible. Times of high volume may take a few additional days.
Amazon Offsets takes security matters very seriously. We will never ask applicants for information that could potentially lead to identity theft (e.g., social security number). We also ask that applicants redact certain information on the documents (e.g., bank account numbers).
Amazon Offsets will never disclose any information about its applicants under any circumstances short of a court order. The Board of Directors are required to sign a confidentiality agreement.
If you are in IMMEDIATE crisis (e.g., apartment eviction in 24 hours), Amazon Offsets is probably not the best resource for you. Under these circumstances, contact your local 2-1-1 to request a referral to local organizations that may be able to provide urgent assistance.
Send an email to applications@offsetharm.org if you have questions about an application you have already submitted. We strive to answer all emails within 2 business days.
Yes, the applicant may be required to provide new documentation. Once the documentation is received, the Board will make the adjustments. For example, if the applicant paid part of the bill that they requested assistance, they can submit the documentation with the reduced cost to have adjustments made.
Unfortunately not. Amazon Offsets accepts many requests for assistance that we ultimately are unable to fund.