Our Commitment to Giving
Committed to being an active and supportive member of our local and global communities.
Committed to being an active and supportive member of our local and global communities.
Areas of Focus
There are so many ways for us to make an impact with our philanthropic efforts. We are committed to being an active and supportive member of our local and global communities as we strive to make a difference in the lives of our neighborhoods near and far. We make every effort to support as many organizations and individuals as possible, with consideration to our areas of focus, timing of requests received, and our annual giving budget.
We have chosen to focus our efforts on key areas including employee giving, paid service hours that we lovingly call "Donate-a-Day" events, micro-loans, donations & sponsorships. See below to learn more about each of these avenues of giving.
By focusing on the following areas of commitment, we can reach a varied population of our community, and the community at large, and share in the continual effort to better the lives of those around us.
Interested in becoming a recipient of a gift or sponsorship? Apply here.
Giving through
Employee Nominated Organizations
There are many charitable organizations that do great work to make our community a better place. We invite employees to nominate the charitable organizations that are meaningful to them and then request that all employees complete a survey to arrive at the top five organizations that we donate to each year. This process ensures that we are offering equal representation to the nominated organizations and this rotation allows us to reach as many organizations as possible.
Once the yearly selections have been made, our employees then have the opportunity to vote for how our donations will be distributed to the organizations and individuals. Each employee votes using a wooden coin, each associated with a dollar value. We then tally up the number of coins for each organization, write a check based on the votes received, and put it into the mail with a note of gratitude for the work they do to better our communities.
Below are a few of the organizations we’ve supported over the years:
- Future Farmers of America
- Big City Mountaineers
- Birch Community Services
- Leave No Trace
- One Warm Coat
- Oregon Humane Society
- Vermont Adaptive
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Future Farmers of AmericaThe National Future Farmers of America Organization (FFA) consists of students pursuing interests in agriculture and leadership. Although FFA’s origins are rooted in students with their sights set on becoming farmers, today it has extended its boundaries to welcome members who aspire to several other careers, some of which include teachers, doctors, scientists and business owners. Today, while FFA continues to help our next generation develop their own unique talents, it also encompasses a broad range of agricultural career pathways. FFA is completely funded through sponsorships and donations from local, state and national levels of giving. The Donations & Sponsorship Committee selected this charity as it teaches youth responsibility and valuable life skills. It is also associated with a large segment of our customer base and community, tying into our company’s core value of being a team! Learn more at FFA.org |
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Big City MountaineersBig City Mountaineers (BCM) works alongside the transformative powers of Mother Nature to leave a lasting impact on the lives of under-resourced youth. Their wilderness expeditions bring kids out of their comfort zones and into the wild, where they develop the confidence needed for more promising futures. Their programs focus on improving the self-esteem, sense of responsibility, group communication and decision-making skills of nearly 1,000 youth annually. BCM engages youth in 7 cities across the country including Boston, Denver, Miami, Minneapolis, Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle. Learn more at BigCityMountaineers.org |
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Birch Community ServicesBirch serves its mission of providing a community where people can be responsible and accountable for meeting their own basic needs and equipping them with tools to overcome financial difficulty. To do this, Birch empowers families in need through accountability and goal setting while fostering volunteerism in the community. Birch is a hand up, not a hand out. Families visit the Birch facility weekly to load their shopping carts with food, clothing, and household items. Birch teaches financial classes about budgeting and saving. They have teaching gardens that not only supply the program with fresh produce but also enables families to learn how to grow their own produce. Typically participants are able to decrease/eliminate consumer debt, catch up with mortgage or car payments, meet medical bills, pay student loans, or help to pay for vocational training or for college. BCS also serves other local agencies, which pick up food and distribute it to the homeless, at risk youth and families without transportation to pick up items from BCS. Learn more at BirchCommunityServices.org |
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Leave No TraceLeave No Trace uses the power of science, education and stewardship to ensure a sustainable future for the outdoors and the planet. The organization is built on seven core principles that are used to communicate the best available minimum impact guidance for enjoying the outdoors responsibly. Individuals can get Involved by participating in upcoming events, training & courses, as a volunteer or member, donations, or by purchasing merchandise in their online store. Learn more at LNT.org |
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One Warm CoatOne Warm Coat focuses on providing anyone in need with a warm coat, free of charge. The people in need are men, women, and children. Their vision is that everyone who no longer needs a coat will donate and that donors are warmed by the knowledge that their coats will help someone in need. One Warm Coat has successfully completed more than 20,000 coat drives in all 50 states, plus 10 countries, while providing warmth for over 4 million people since they began in 1992. They keep their expenses low and are proud that they have provided over 300,000 children with new coats of their very own. For every dollar donated, One Warm Coat can provide two coats to others. Learn more at OneWarmCoat.org |
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Oregon Humane SocietyOregon Humane Society (OHS) is now the largest humane society in the Northwest, and adopts more animals from our Portland shelter than any other single-facility shelter on the West coast. OHS puts no time limits on how long animals remain at the shelter—a pet stays available for adoption for as long as needed to find a loving home. If a pet in their care needs medical attention, their veterinary hospital provides the pet with same level of care you would want your own pet to receive. Learn more at OregonHumane.org |
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Vermont Adaptive Ski & SportVermont Adaptive Ski & Sports is a nationally recognized organization that empowers people of all abilities through inclusive sports and recreational programming regardless of ability to pay. In addition to sports, year-round programming options integrate environmental, holistic wellness, and competitive training philosophies for people of all ages with cognitive, developmental, physical and emotional disabilities. Vermont Adaptive promotes independence and furthers equality through access and instruction to sports and recreational opportunities including alpine skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports; kayaking, canoeing, stand-up paddle boarding, sailing, cycling, hiking, rock climbing, tennis, horseback riding, environmental programs, CORE Connections wellness retreats, and more. Vermont Adaptive Ski & Sports has been at the forefront of sports and recreation for those with disabilities for more than 30 years. Learn more at VermontAdaptive.org |
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Future Farmers of AmericaThe National Future Farmers of America Organization (FFA) consists of students pursuing interests in agriculture and leadership. Although FFA’s origins are rooted in students with their sights set on becoming farmers, today it has extended its boundaries to welcome members who aspire to several other careers, some of which include teachers, doctors, scientists and business owners. Today, while FFA continues to help our next generation develop their own unique talents, it also encompasses a broad range of agricultural career pathways. FFA is completely funded through sponsorships and donations from local, state and national levels of giving. The Donations & Sponsorship Committee selected this charity as it teaches youth responsibility and valuable life skills. It is also associated with a large segment of our customer base and community, tying into our company’s core value of being a team! Learn more at FFA.org |
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Big City MountaineersBig City Mountaineers (BCM) works alongside the transformative powers of Mother Nature to leave a lasting impact on the lives of under-resourced youth. Their wilderness expeditions bring kids out of their comfort zones and into the wild, where they develop the confidence needed for more promising futures. Their programs focus on improving the self-esteem, sense of responsibility, group communication and decision-making skills of nearly 1,000 youth annually. BCM engages youth in 7 cities across the country including Boston, Denver, Miami, Minneapolis, Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle. Learn more at BigCityMountaineers.org |
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Birch Community ServicesBirch serves its mission of providing a community where people can be responsible and accountable for meeting their own basic needs and equipping them with tools to overcome financial difficulty. To do this, Birch empowers families in need through accountability and goal setting while fostering volunteerism in the community. Birch is a hand up, not a hand out. Families visit the Birch facility weekly to load their shopping carts with food, clothing, and household items. Birch teaches financial classes about budgeting and saving. They have teaching gardens that not only supply the program with fresh produce but also enables families to learn how to grow their own produce. Typically participants are able to decrease/eliminate consumer debt, catch up with mortgage or car payments, meet medical bills, pay student loans, or help to pay for vocational training or for college. BCS also serves other local agencies, which pick up food and distribute it to the homeless, at risk youth and families without transportation to pick up items from BCS. Learn more at BirchCommunityServices.org |
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Leave No TraceLeave No Trace uses the power of science, education and stewardship to ensure a sustainable future for the outdoors and the planet. The organization is built on seven core principles that are used to communicate the best available minimum impact guidance for enjoying the outdoors responsibly. Individuals can get Involved by participating in upcoming events, training & courses, as a volunteer or member, donations, or by purchasing merchandise in their online store. Learn more at LNT.org |
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One Warm CoatOne Warm Coat focuses on providing anyone in need with a warm coat, free of charge. The people in need are men, women, and children. Their vision is that everyone who no longer needs a coat will donate and that donors are warmed by the knowledge that their coats will help someone in need. One Warm Coat has successfully completed more than 20,000 coat drives in all 50 states, plus 10 countries, while providing warmth for over 4 million people since they began in 1992. They keep their expenses low and are proud that they have provided over 300,000 children with new coats of their very own. For every dollar donated, One Warm Coat can provide two coats to others. Learn more at OneWarmCoat.org |
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Oregon Humane SocietyOregon Humane Society (OHS) is now the largest humane society in the Northwest, and adopts more animals from our Portland shelter than any other single-facility shelter on the West coast. OHS puts no time limits on how long animals remain at the shelter—a pet stays available for adoption for as long as needed to find a loving home. If a pet in their care needs medical attention, their veterinary hospital provides the pet with same level of care you would want your own pet to receive. Learn more at OregonHumane.org |
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Vermont Adaptive Ski & SportVermont Adaptive Ski & Sports is a nationally recognized organization that empowers people of all abilities through inclusive sports and recreational programming regardless of ability to pay. In addition to sports, year-round programming options integrate environmental, holistic wellness, and competitive training philosophies for people of all ages with cognitive, developmental, physical and emotional disabilities. Vermont Adaptive promotes independence and furthers equality through access and instruction to sports and recreational opportunities including alpine skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports; kayaking, canoeing, stand-up paddle boarding, sailing, cycling, hiking, rock climbing, tennis, horseback riding, environmental programs, CORE Connections wellness retreats, and more. Vermont Adaptive Ski & Sports has been at the forefront of sports and recreation for those with disabilities for more than 30 years. Learn more at VermontAdaptive.org |
Giving through
Donate-A-Day
While it is certainly important to us to give to our community, we feel that it is our privilege to give through service. Harkening to our Core Purpose of "making lives better," our choice to dedicate company time to volunteer work within our community is vital to the well roundedness of our people and our business.
With all of our employees banding together, we are able to infuse significant labor hours to support our local organizations. These volunteer hours provide a vital service to groups and organizations within our communities that often lack consistent volunteers and typically have limited funding. Since our Giving Committee members oversee these in-person events, it allows our employees to select local charities of their choice to give back to and hosting these events opens the door for all employees to volunteer opportunities where we might not otherwise be able to dedicate personal time. Even our remote employees are provided a pathway to volunteer in their local community if they are unable to travel to Portland for our Donate-a-Day events.
Giving through our Donate-a-Day events not only provides a valuable service to our community, it also truly enriches our lives for doing so.
How it Works
Once a year, Kinco shuts its doors while all of our employees donate a full 8-hour workday to doing volunteer work in the community. We have spent time at local organizations helping with day-to-day tasks; rallied together as a group to clean-up local parks, perform repairs, paint a school, and plant gardens. It’s just a small way to give back to our community while spending time together as a team.
Giving through
Micro-Loans
Kinco® has also chosen to help entrepreneurs and individuals all around the world, who might not otherwise qualify for a business loan, through Kiva's micro-loan lending platform.
Learn more at Kiva.org
How it Works
Our Kiva Committee is dedicated to meeting monthly to determine who to lend money to based on applicants that most closely represents the Kinco® Core Values and our aforementioned areas of focus. The committee celebrates and supports individuals and groups looking to create a better future for themselves, their families, and their communities. These individuals are not simply given the money – they must work to pay back the loan, interest free – and thus we are able to relend that money to other individuals in need.
Giving through
Donations & Sponsorships
We are privileged to give to our community through product and monetary donations and sponsorships. Since we are in the glove business, we ofted direct our giving towards those that use our gloves. In addition, we aim to support the education and vocational improvement of young people and those in need who will benefit from our gloves or support.
How it Works
Each year, Kinco® receives hundreds of requests for monetary and/or product donations and sponsorships. While we take all requests seriously and review each and every one - gifts are awarded on merit and on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Our committee meets in January and July to read submissions, select recipients, and determine the allocation of our gifts. The process of selecting recipients for our giving program is lengthy, so we ask that you submit your request as far in advance as possible to ensure that our team has time to review your application. Deadline for the January review is December 31st, and deadline for the July review is June 30th; please plan to submit your application based on this schedule.
Application Form
Please complete the form below to tell us about you, your organization, and your efforts to be considered for donation or sponsorship. The more information you provide – the better. These details - along with supportive images, information that conveys your merit and fit, and an explanation how a gift will benefit your cause - are highly-encouraged as this allows us to best determine award recipients.
Upon completion of the form, you will receive a confirmation email which signifies that we have successfully received your submission. If you do not receive this email, please check your junk mailbox - if you have still not received this confirmation email, please let us know.
If you are selected as a gift recipient, our Giving Committee will contact you in order to make arrangements for the fulfillment of your gift. If you are not selected upon your original submission, we encourage you to resubmit your request for future consideration. Please be advised, if you have received gift from Kinco one year, we cannot guarantee that you will be the recipient of a gift the following year.
IMPORTANT: By submitting this form, you agree to the Terms & Conditions and understand the Privacy Policy of this website. Due to the volume of applications we receive, we are only able to accept requests via the online application form provided below. Requests submitted via mail, email, fax, or phone will not be considered. If you have trouble submitting the form, please contact us and we’ll be happy to assist you.