The VF Foundation is the private grantmaking foundation of the VF Corporation, a publicly-traded outdoor apparel and footwear company. ¹

The VF Foundation focuses its grantmaking towards left-of-center environmental, education, and labor-related causes while also providing funding towards disaster relief efforts in areas where the VF Corporation has supply-chain operations as well as customer bases. ²

Background

The VF Foundation is the private grantmaking foundation of the VF Corporation, a publicly-traded outdoor apparel and footwear company initially based in Denver, Colorado. ¹

The VF Corporation reported a revenue of $9.5 billion in fiscal year 2025. ³ Several prominent brands include North Face, Timberland, Vans, Jansport, Eastpak, and Smartwool.  ¹ According to industry analysts, VF Corporation has roughly 6-8 percent market share in the global apparel, footwear, and accessories industry, and the largest market share of any company in the U.S. backpack and courier bag industry. ^{4  5}

The VF Foundation is the VF Corporation’s corporate grantmaking foundation. ² As of 2026, its executive director was Gloria Schoch, who was also the senior director of global impact at VF Corporation at the time. ²

Activities and Funding

The VF Foundation’s giving is divided into four program areas: “Thriving Outside, Protecting Our Planet, Powering Potential and Humanitarian Relief.”  ² It does not accept unsolicited donation requests. ²

In the United States, many of its donations are directed to charities in VF Corporation’s home state of Colorado and North Carolina, where it was headquartered from 1998 to 2019.  ^{6  7}

In 2025, the VF Foundation announced nearly $3 million in grants to 37 organizations around the world. ⁸

Its annual giving tends to be in the $3 to $4 million range, with a surge between 2020 and 2022 largely related to the COVID-19 pandemic when annual grant totals exceeded $8 million.  ⁸ Its grants are usually between $25,000 and $500,000.  ⁸

The VF Foundation made a total of $2,422,000 in grants in 2024, with 15 charities receiving donations of $100,000 or more.  ⁸ Its largest grant was $380,000 to the University of Denver to fund its “Leadership in the Outdoor Recreation Industry” program. ⁸

Other VF Foundation grant recipients between 2022 and 2024 have included the Trust for Public Land, Protect Our Winters, United Nations Foundation, Business for Social Responsibility, Justice Outside, National Forest Foundation, Nature Conservancy (TNC), Biomimicry Institute, United States Association for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), World Wildlife Fund,  and the American National Red Cross. ^{9 10 11}

1. VF Corporation. Accessed February 9, 2026. https://www.vfc.com/.
2. “The VF Foundation.” VF Corporation. Accessed February 9, 2026. https://www.vfc.com/responsibility/the-vf-foundation.
3. “Financial Information.” VF Corporation. Accessed February 9, 2026. https://www.vfc.com/investors/financial-information.
4. “ VFC’s Market Share Relative to Its Competitors, as of Q4 2025.” CSIMarket, 2025. https://csimarket.com/stocks/competitionSEG2.php?code=VFC.
5. Perdomo, Christian. “Backpack & Courier Bag Manufacturing in the US Industry Analysis, 2025.” IBISWorld, August 2025. https://www.ibisworld.com/united-states/industry/backpack-courier-bag-manufacturing/4958/.
6. “VF Foundation.” ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed February 9, 2026. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/562322084.
7. “Company History.” VF Corporation. Accessed February 9, 2026. https://www.vfc.com/our-company/company-history.
8. “Giving Tuesday: Meet the VF Foundation’s 2025 Grantees.” VF Corporation, December 2, 2025. https://www.vfc.com/news/featured-story/134316/giving-tuesday-meet-the-vf-foundations-2025-grantees.
9. Return of Private Foundation Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990-PF). VF Foundation. 2022. Part XIV: Part a. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/562322084/202321089349101322/full
10. Return of Private Foundation Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990-PF). VF Foundation. 2023. Part XIV: Part a. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/562322084/202401169349100010/full
11. Return of Private Foundation Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990-PF). VF Foundation. 2023. Part XIV: Part a. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/562322084/202522899349101202/full