Request a Donation
We get a lot of requests for donations to local groups: Donations of free or discounted baked goods for an event, donations of auction prizes, cash donations, purchases of ads in a program, etc.
We’d love to help everyone, but we can’t afford to do that. Here’s the Lola’s donation policy.
Each month, based on requests, Lola’s may donate $75 to a local non-profit organization in the form of a gift card (or several cards totaling $75) that can be offered as a prize in a fundraiser — or that can be spent directly at the bakery, if preferred.
If your group would like a donation from Lola’s, please follow these steps:
- Be a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Loudoun County, Virginia
- Plan about two months ahead: Requests for June fundraisers should be received in April, for instance
- Complete and submit our request form
That’s it. At the end of each month we review all the requests and select one recipient.
Here are a few common questions and their answers:
Q:
We need lots of baked goods for our fundraiser. We’ll buy them, of course, but can you give us a discount?
A:
Please fill out the request form. If you’re selected, you can use the gift card as a $75 discount.
Q:
We’d love to promote Lola’s at our event — maybe with a sign, or a big shout-out from the podium, or a credit in our program. We could put out your brochures, too. If we did that, could we get a larger donation? It’d be great marketing in your local community!
A:
We’re grateful for any credit you offer, but we don’t do this for marketing reasons. We’re happy to help one community group a month, promotion or no promotion, but $75 is the most we can offer.
Q:
Will you make an exception and donate to two causes this month?
A:
No. We’d love to support everyone, but we can’t afford it.
Q:
We’re a great local cause, but we haven’t set up a 501(c)3 organization. Can you still donate to us?
A:
No, we donate only to 501(c)3 groups.
Q:
Do you ever donate to non-profits outside of Loudoun County?
A:
Not under this program: We want to support local causes. However, we do a separate promotion each October that benefits breast-cancer research.
Q:
Will you buy an ad in the program for our fundraiser? Or pay to put your logo on the T-shirt we’re printing?
A:
We consider this paid marketing rather than a donation. We’re interested to hear about the opportunity you’re offering, but we don’t do much paid marketing so the answer is likely “No.” Please consider asking us for a donation instead.
Q:
Do you announce the recipients of your monthly donations?
A:
No, that’s up to them.
