Wellness Grant FAQs and Restrictions

Goal of Grant Program: Employees develop a multi-session/multi-activity wellness program to increase workgroup health and wellness that has an impactful, sustainable, and long term effect on the group.

Each individual organization (Stanford Health Care, Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, Stanford Health Care Tri-Valley, Stanford Medicine Partners, Packard Children’s Health Alliance) starts with a budget around $1000 to fund the grants.

The budget range is between $200-$1,000. If your application is over $1000, you will not be considered.

Grant funds must be directly applied for activity materials, supplies, and classes. Grant funds may not be used for gift cards, break room/meeting room additions or changes, buying large equipment (such as treadmills, massage chairs, etc.), plants (infection control risk), and wall art.

*Please note that the wellness grant funds are intended to support initiatives related to health and well-being. Funds requested for food expenses alone will not be approved under this grant. Applicants are encouraged to focus on proposals that align with the wellness objectives outlined in the grant guidelines and keep proposed food cost to a minimum. 

• We receive a high volume of applications and our total grant budget is modest.
• Now that teams know that grant applications open twice a year, there is more awareness and, therefore, a higher number of applications each season.
• Grant award decisions depend on the quality of applications, the total number of applications received and resources available. Due to these factors, we may not be able to award as many applications as we would like.
• Grants without clear leadership support are challenging to support. Please be sure to secure leadership approval and support prior to submitting an application.
• We do not accept grant applications for individuals. We only accept applications for team initiatives that have collective interest and commitment 

When evaluating the grant applications, first, we use a Grant Evaluation Rubric to score each application. After we have gone through the applications with the rubric, we take the top scorers and subjectively evaluate them according to the “key considerations” in the next question.

Key considerations in our decisions include:

• Having a well-researched budget, including checking with vendors or instructors providing proposed services
• Prior check-in with team to confirm the project has buy-in from coworkers
• Buy-in from leadership in the department/workgroup
• Obtaining prior approval from facilities or risk management, if necessary
• Well-articulated plan to measure outcomes
• Concrete ideas to sustain the well-being practice
• Thoughtful articulation of how the activity would improve the culture of wellness
• Cost-effectiveness in terms of cost per employee 
• Low percentage of budget asking for food
• A grant award that directly supports—and is necessary for—the stated well-being activity
• Novelty of proposed concept. Be creative, original and unique! 

The Ergonomics team requires that equipment requested through the grant application process must support the use of proper ergonomics in the workplace and meet the following guidelines:

• Ergonomic accessories (mice/keyboards/cushions / standing desk converters / etc.) must be approved by EH&S / Ergonomics

• Requested items of an electronic nature must be UL-approved and free from electrical hazards

• Items that are not approved:

  • Exercise balls or kneeling stools
  • Items that represent a potential trip/fall hazard, such as treadmills, balance boards, etc.

Approved Items:

• Swiss/yoga/thera ball (for exercise/stretching use only, not to be used as a task chair) 

• Foam roller

• Theracane

• Theragun

• Foot massager

• Resistance bands

• Grip strengthener

• Cubii under desk bike

• Stress / squeeze balls

We encourage you to contact Ergonomics with questions regarding these guidelines as they apply to your grant application.

SHC contact: EHS@stanfordhealthcare.org

SMCH Contact: ergonomics@stanfordchildrens.org

Yes, we encourage teams to re-submit! Before doing so, please consult the HealthySteps to Wellness team if you have any specific questions about your application. Please keep in mind that working with us to review your submission is not a guarantee for future funding.

You can, however, the aim of the grant program is to increase scope. We focus on awarding grant projects that have a high probability of being maintained regardless of future funding.

A pre-survey is applied before participation begins (pre-test or baseline), and the same test, the post-survey, is re-applied after a set period, or at the end of the program (post-test or endline). This information will help you and your team understand if there were any changes (positive or negative) from the start to the end of the wellness program.

Example questions on a survey:
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = no stress ? 5 = extreme stress)
1. In this moment, how would you rate the level of your work stress?

On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = very low energy ? 5 = very high energy)
2. In this moment, how would you rate your energy level?