Which Airlines Donate Flights or Travel to Fundraisers?

Very few airlines publish a way to request donated travel for a fundraiser. Of the four airlines with pages in our donor directory, one — Delta Air Lines — takes charitable giving requests through an online portal, for contributions or goods that support a fundraising project. SkyWest Airlines says outright that it does not provide air transportation for fundraising events. For JetBlue and Southwest, we found no published donation program at our last check. If your auction needs a travel prize, a donated cruise, hotel stay or resort package is usually the more realistic ask.

This guide is part of our fundraiser donation answers library. Every company below links to its page in our donor directory, which records what the company's own donation page says. Programs change, so confirm there before you send anything.

Airlines at a glance

Delta Air Lines

Delta separates two kinds of request: Charitable Giving requests from 501(c)(3)s or registered charities, and requests for money in exchange for advertising or promotion. A Charitable Giving request is for contributions or goods that support a fundraising project or the promotion of a cause. Delta's page does not promise a flight, so describe your event and what it raises money for, and let Delta decide what fits.

• Register an account on Delta's charity portal and choose "Make a Charitable Giving request" in the questionnaire.
• Submit at least 90 days before the event.
• Expect an acknowledgement email when you submit. Delta says it responds to all proposals within 4 weeks.
• Do not call or email Delta about the status. Returning users can sign in to the portal to check it.

Delta's giving focuses on four pillars — Environment, Equity, Education and Entire Wellness — and it says its giving begins with the communities where its employees live, work and serve. It reviews each proposal for strategic fit, so say plainly which pillar your cause belongs to.

SkyWest Airlines

SkyWest shows why reading the rules first saves a request. Its Corporate Giving page has a route for 501(c)(3) charitable organizations, but SkyWest says it does not provide air transportation for fundraising events or for individuals, and does not give matching gifts. It also lists capital and building grants, development campaigns, political or fraternal organizations, religious institutions, and individual public or private schools as outside what it supports.

Submissions must be completed at least two months before the date requested. SkyWest says it receives thousands of requests a year and cannot respond to each one, so no reply is not unusual. Ask for a contribution to your cause rather than a flight, and only if your group is in a community SkyWest serves.

JetBlue and Southwest

At our last check we found no published donation program for JetBlue or Southwest. That is a record of what we found, not a refusal by either airline. Look on each airline's own website for a giving or community page before you write, because programs start and change without announcement. If you find nothing, spend that request on a company that does publish a route.

Better routes to a travel prize

If the goal is a getaway on the auction table, these travel companies publish a way to ask:

• Carnival Cruise Lines: Carnival Cruise Line's homeport community page offers a form for nonprofits in its core areas to request a donated cruise for a raffle or auction, at least three months ahead. Separately, Carnival Foundation says it is not accepting applications at this time, and it does not consider K-12 schools or PTAs.
• Mandarin Oriental, New York: takes requests from nonprofits and schools, locally and across the country, for auctions, raffles, door prizes and peer-to-peer events. It reviews every request within two weeks and emails you either way.
• The Breakers Palm Beach: reviews in-kind donation requests through an online form submitted at least six weeks before your event.
• AAA Mid-Atlantic: its website now leads to AAA Club Alliance, which considers written requests for charitable and in-kind contributions from tax-exempt nonprofits in its service area. Requests go by mail on your letterhead with supporting documents.

For more stays and resort packages, see do hotels and resorts donate stays.

Send travel requests first

Delta's portal asks for 90 days and SkyWest for two months, longer than many programs, and Carnival's cruise form asks for three months. Count back from your event date and put travel requests in your first batch. Our guide on how far in advance to request donations shows how to plan backward from the event.

When a travel donation does arrive, read its terms before you write the catalog: the expiration date, blackout dates, whether it can be transferred, and what it does and does not include. If a prize covers the trip but not the travel to get there, say so in the description. The silent auction procurement checklist includes the presentation checks that turn a donated item into a lot people trust enough to bid on.