Apply for 2026 Golden Grants

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Eligibility Guidelines

1. Dates of Golden Grants.

Golden Grants begins at 12:00:01am Eastern Time (“ET”) on June 1, 2026, and ends at 11:59:59pm ET on October 9, 2026 (the “Program Period”).

2. Eligibility Guidelines.

Only completed applications with itemized budgets will be considered. Programs should take place in California, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina only, serving K-12 students in one or more of the following counties:

• California: Alameda, Costa-Contra, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, Monterey East, and Monterey West.
  
• Florida: Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Brevard, Brooks, Broward, Charlotte, Charlton, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, DeSoto, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Glades, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Lakeland, Lee, Leon, Levy, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Nassau, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Seminole, St. Johns, St. Lucie, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Volusia Counties, the cities of Sarasota and Venice in Sarasota County, and the cities of Bushnell and Wildwood in Sumter County.
  
• Georgia: Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Baker, Baldwin, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bibb, Bleckley, Brantley, Bryan, Bulloch, Calhoun, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Chatham, Cherokee, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Columbia, Cook, Crawford, Crisp, Decatur, Dodge, Dooly, Dougherty, Echols, Edgefield, Effingham, Elbert, Emanuel, Evans, Franklin, Glynn, Grady, Hart, Hancock, Houston, Irwin, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Jones, Lanier, Laurens, Lee, Liberty, Long, Lowndes, Macon, McDuffie, Mcintosh, Miller, Mitchell, Monroe, Montgomery, Peach, Pierce, Pulaski, Randolph, Russell, Screven, Seminole, Spaulding, Tattnall, Taylor, Telfair, Terrell, Thomas, Tift, Toombs, Treutlen, Ware, Washington, Wayne, Wheeler, Wilcox, Wilkinson, and Worth.
  
• North Carolina: Alexander, Anson, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Catawba, Charlotte, Cleveland, Columbus, Gaston, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Iredell, Jackson, Lincoln, Macon, McDowell, Mecklenburg, Mitchell, Polk, Richmond, Robeson, Rowan, Rutherford, Scotland, Spindale, Stanly, Swain, Transylvania, Union, Watauga, Yancey
  
• South Carolina: Aiken, Allendale, Anderson, Bamberg, Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Cherokee, Chester, Chesterfield, Clarendon, Colleton, Darlington, Dillon, Dorchester, Fairfield, Florence, Georgetown, Greenville, Greenwood, Hampton, Horry, Jasper, Kershaw, Lancaster, Laurens, Lee, Lexington, Marion, Marlboro, Newberry, Oconee, Orangeburg, Pickens, Richland, Richmond, Saluda, Spartanburg, Sumter, Williamsburg, York
  

The program/initiative/organization must support students in grades K-12. The program/initiative/organization must utilize the grant funds within 12 months of receipt. Grants will be awarded based on creativity, innovation, and the project/s' community impact. Only one application per program/initiative/organization, and must be submitted by the program’s leader. Applications close at 12 AM ET on October 9, 2026, and will not be accepted after this date. Employment is subject to verification.

3. How to enter.

To enter, entrants must visit www.McDGoldenGrants.com (the “Online Website”) during the Program Period and complete the Online Program entry form in its entirety, including: complete name, email address, phone number, and project details. Then, click the “Submit” button to receive one (1) entry into the Program. All online entries must be received by 11:59:59pm ET on October 9, 2026. There is a limit of one entry per Entrant for the entire Program Period. Any attempt by an Entrant to obtain more than the stated number of entries by using multiple/different identities and/or any other methods will void that Entrant’s entry, and that Entrant may be disqualified from the Program. Entries submitted by anyone other than the Entrant are void. In case of dispute as to the identity of any Entrant, entry will be declared made by the registered name and address on such entry. Any potential grant winner may be requested to provide Sponsor with proof that such person is the grant winner. Neither Sponsor nor any Program Entity is responsible for any entry that is late, illegible, incomplete, invalid, unintelligible, whether due to system errors, omissions, interruption, deletions, defects, delay in operations or transmissions, theft or destruction or failures, faulty transmissions or other telecommunications malfunctions, human error, entries not received resulting from any hardware or software failures of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections, failed, incomplete or garbled computer transmissions, typographical or system errors and failures, faulty transmissions, technical malfunctions, or otherwise. Only fully completed entries are eligible. Proof of submission will not be deemed to be proof of receipt by Sponsor or Program Entity.

4. Selection.

Grant recipients will be selected from all eligible entries received by the Sponsor Representative after the allocation period has closed. By entering the Program, Entrants fully and unconditionally agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor and Program Entities, which will be final and binding in all matters relating to the Program. To be eligible to receive a grant, all Entrants must have provided all required submission information when prompted at the time of entry, for example, by uploading tax documents into the application. Grants will be awarded based on creativity, innovation, and the impact of projects on the community.

5. Golden Grants prize.

Grants may be available for each area in the amounts of:

• $10,000
• $5,000
• $2,500

6. Grant restrictions.

Limit of one (1) grant per organization. All grants are non-transferable or assigned, and no substitutions or cash redemptions. The program/initiative/organization must utilize the grant funds within 12 months of receipt. No more than the stated number of grants set forth in these Official Rules will be awarded. Potential grant recipients consent to the use of his/her name, likeness, biographical information, and voice in advertising worldwide without additional compensation.

7. Notifications/claims grant recipients.

All potential Grant Recipients will be notified by email in November 2026 (the “Notification”). Grant recipients will be required to sign and return (except where prohibited) a notarized Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability/Publicity Release (the “Paperwork”) within seven (7) days of the Notification.

8. Conditions.

By participating in this Program, Entrants and grant recipients agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor and Program Entities, which are final in all respects and not subject to appeal. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify permanently from this Program any Entrant it believes has violated these Official Rules and verify the eligibility of Entrants. Neither Sponsor nor anyone acting on its behalf will enter into any communications with any Entrant regarding this Program, except as expressly set forth in these Official Rules. By participating in this Program, Entrants, and grant recipients release the Sponsor and each and all of the Program Entities, from any and all liability, damages or causes of action (however named or described) with respect to or arising out of participation in the Program, and/or the receipt or use/misuse of any grant awarded, including, without limitation, liability for personal injury, death or property damage. Failure to comply with these Official Rules may result in disqualification from the Program. All Program materials are subject to verification and are void if (a) not obtained in accordance with these Official Rules and through legitimate channels, (b) any part is counterfeited, altered, defective, damaged, illegible, reproduced, tampered with, mutilated or irregular in any way, (c) are obtained where prohibited, or (d) they contain printing, typographical, mechanical, or other errors. Entrants assume all risk of loss, damage, destruction, delay or misdirection of Program materials submitted to Sponsor. In the event any portion of this Program is compromised by activities beyond the control of the Sponsor, which, in the sole opinion of the Sponsor, corrupt or impair the administration, security, fairness, or proper play of the Program or this Program, the Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to modify, suspend or terminate the Program. Winning a grant constitutes permission for Sponsor and its agencies to use grant recipients’ names, voices and/or likenesses for purposes of advertising, promotion and publicity, for this Program only, without further compensation, unless prohibited by law. Sponsor may prohibit an Entrant from participating in the Program or winning a grant if, in its sole discretion, it determines that said Entrant is attempting to undermine the legitimate operation of the Program by cheating, deception, or other unfair playing practices (including the use of automated quick entry programs) or intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other Entrants, Sponsor, or Program Entities. If for any reason this Program is not able to be conducted as planned, including, but not limited to, by reason of infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud or any other causes beyond the reasonable control of Sponsor which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of the Program, then Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Program and randomly draw from those entries received up to the cancellation/suspension date to award grant. Caution: Any attempt by a person to deliberately damage or undermine the legitimate operation of the programs may be in violation of criminal and civil laws and should such an attempt be made, the sponsor reserves the right to seek remedies and damages (including attorney’s fees) from any such person to the fullest extent of the law, including criminal prosecution. Sponsor’s failure to enforce any term of these official rules shall not constitute a waiver of these provisions.

9. Eligibility restrictions and disqualifiers.

Funds cannot be used for:

• Deficit reduction
• Contributions to cash reserves and/or endowment funds
• Loan repayments, interest and/or penalties, fines or litigation costs
• Capital expenses (e.g., buildings, roads, major immobile equipment, furniture, fixtures or musical instruments, purchase of artwork, etc.)
• Salaries or stipends
• Professional development or continuing education, for example, software for staff and more
• Fundraising events and activities
• Food or beverage for hospitality or entertainment functions
• Private events closed to the general public and activities restricted to an organization’s membership
• Lobbying expenses
• Tuition for academic study
• Scholarships and awards, or relocation of grant dollars for such
• Projects of a religious nature designed to promote or inhibit religious belief and/or practice, and which have no basic underlying secular theme or topics
• Competition prizes

10. No liability.

By participating, Entrants and grant recipients agree to release, discharge, indemnify and hold harmless the Sponsor, the Program Entities, and each of their respective parents, affiliates, franchisees, and subsidiaries, as well as each of their respective officers, directors, employees, representatives and agents (collectively, the “Released Parties”) from and against any claims made by any Entrant, grant recipients, or any other third parties, related in any way to the operation of this Program as well as any other claims, damages or liability due to any injuries, damages or losses to any person (including death) or property of any kind resulting in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from receipt, acceptance, possession, misuse or use of a grants or participation in any promotion related activity or participation in this Program.

11. Use of data.

Sponsor will be collecting personal data about Entrants online, in accordance with its privacy policy. Please review the Sponsor’s privacy policy at www.McDGoldenGrants.com. By participating in the Program, Entrants hereby agree to Sponsor’s collection and usage of their personal information and acknowledge that they have read and accepted Sponsor’s privacy policy.

12. Sponsor.

McDonald’s ℅ H/L Agency – 95 Merrick Way Ste. 720, Coral Gables, FL 33134
This Program shall not be published without the written permission of the Sponsor.

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