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Alliance of Native Seedkeepers community seed access

Request seeds for a community project

Tell us who will grow or receive the seeds, where the work will happen, and what the project hopes to make possible. We use these details to consider a useful match—not to look for a perfect application.

Applications are open

Requests are reviewed against available inventory and program capacity. Current donation packages are expected to begin shipping in fall 2026.

Start the application Prepare before applying
  • About 8–12 minuteswith the project details nearby
  • Inventory-based reviewsubmission does not guarantee a package
  • No perfect answerclear, honest information is most useful
Elizabeth Roach Cain carrying seed-care packages to a postal collection box
Seed-care packages moving through the mail during a year when gardens became part of how communities cared for one another.

Before you begin

Help us understand the people, place, and plan behind the request.

Our application is detailed because a useful donation is more than a box of packets. We need to understand who will grow or receive the seeds, the conditions around the project, the season, and what follow-through is possible.

01

People and purpose

Tell us who the project serves, how people will participate, and what the seeds are meant to make possible.

02

Place and readiness

Share the growing or distribution setting, water access, labor, experience, storage, and planting timeline.

03

A realistic request

Estimate packet needs, name priority crops, and tell us whether useful substitutions are welcome.

04

Relationship and learning

Let us know whether feedback, seed trials, workshops, or future collaboration fit the project.

What the public program can consider

Available public-catalog seed matched to a community plan.

Donation packages are assembled from inventory available to the public program. Requested varieties, quantities, and timing may need to change so the package fits current inventory and the project’s growing conditions.

A necessary boundary

Community-held ancestral seed is not general donation inventory.

Culturally sensitive or community-held seed remains governed by relationships, responsibility, and community access. A donation application does not guarantee access to those seeds.

Read why the store exists

How review works

One application, then an inventory and project-fit review.

  1. Prepare.Gather the address, project plan, participant estimate, planting timeline, and realistic packet request.
  2. Apply.Complete the questions that fit your project. It is acceptable to say that something is still being planned.
  3. Review.Our team considers available inventory, timing, project readiness, community benefit, and possible substitutions.
  4. Follow-up.If the request can move forward, the team may contact you for clarification, shipping confirmation, or a revised package plan.

Seed donation application

Tell us what the seeds will enter.

Required questions are marked. Conditional questions appear only when they apply. With JavaScript turned off, every question remains available in one continuous form.

Step 1 of 6 Contact and project
  1. 1Project
  2. 2Community
  3. 3Readiness
  4. 4Seeds
  5. 5Impact
  6. 6Review
Contact and project information

Give us one reliable contact and the complete address where a package could be received.

Shipping address for a possible donation package

Community and project purpose

Describe the project in your own language. We are looking for clarity, not grant-writing polish.

Include whether seeds will be planted together, distributed to households, used in workshops, placed in a seed library, or used another way.

Does the project include workshops, classes, demonstrations, or other educational activities?
Does the project support cultural practices, heritage, foodways, ceremony, language, or traditional agriculture?
Growing, distribution, and project readiness

Tell us what the seeds will enter once they arrive. This helps prevent sending more seed than a project can responsibly use.

Are enough staff, volunteers, teachers, growers, or distribution partners available to carry out the plan?
Seed and support request

A realistic range and flexibility are more useful than an oversized wish list. Inventory changes throughout the year.

Seed categories requested

Select every category that would be useful.

Explain what is essential and what is flexible. A project can also request broad goals such as a pollinator garden, culturally relevant foods, container vegetables, or cool-season crops.

Does the request include varieties that are culturally significant or connected to a particular community?
Would the project consider seed trials and provide useful regional feedback?
Impact, follow-through, and future relationship

These questions help us understand what can be learned from the donation and whether another AONSK program may fit the project.

Has this project received seed donations from AONSK before?
Could the project provide photographs or a short progress update?
Could AONSK share approved progress materials publicly?
Would future workshops, educational events, or collaboration be of interest?
Should this project be considered for a possible annual donation when inventory and funds allow?
Review and submit

Review the summary below, return to any step that needs correction, and confirm the application expectations.

Protect sensitive information.

Do not include payment-card numbers, passwords, Social Security numbers, banking information, or other private financial details. This form is for project and shipping information only.

Before submitting

Questions applicants often need answered.

The application is the right place for a request. General customer-support messages should use the Contact page instead.

Who can submit a seed donation request?

The application includes space for tribal governments and organizations, nonprofits, fiscally sponsored projects, schools, libraries, public institutions, community gardens, mutual-aid efforts, and informal community projects. Organizational status is one part of the context; available inventory, timing, readiness, and community purpose also matter.

Does submitting the form guarantee a donation?

No. AONSK receives more requests than the program can fulfill. Applications are reviewed against current inventory, capacity, timing, project readiness, and the ability to use the seed responsibly.

When are requests reviewed and packages shipped?

Requests are reviewed as inventory and staff capacity allow. Current donation packages are not expected to begin shipping until fall 2026. The status note at the top of this page should be treated as the current timing update.

Can a project request culturally significant seed?

You may explain cultural relevance and name priority varieties. The request does not guarantee those varieties. Community-held or culturally sensitive ancestral seed is not treated as general public donation inventory and remains governed by relationships and responsibility.

Should we name exact varieties or stay flexible?

Both are useful. Name the crops, varieties, foodways, or garden goals that matter most, then explain which needs are essential and where substitutions would still serve the project. Flexibility can make it easier to build a useful package from available inventory.

What happens after an application is submitted?

The form confirms receipt of the application. The team may follow up for clarification, a revised quantity, an address confirmation, or information about timing. If the request cannot be fulfilled immediately, the application may still help AONSK understand future inventory and program needs.

Why this program exists

The store was built to help protect the mission—not replace it.

Public seed sales help support donations, grow-outs, community seed access, education, cultural restoration, ecological work, and the infrastructure required to keep that work moving.

Read the company history Browse the seed catalog