Charitable Giving, Social Impact, and Sustainability

We love giving back to the community and pride ourselves in being a responsible corporate citizen through the Protolabs Foundation, investing in the future of the communities where our employees live and work. Sponsoring environmental education programs, investing in sustainability and waste reduction at our facilities, and a focus on improving efficiencies round out key priorities in our commitment to ESG (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance).

 

Protolabs Foundation and Community Grants

Protolabs Foundation

Protolabs' founder Larry Lukis established the Protolabs Foundation with the purpose of making charitable contributions on behalf of the company. Decision making is overseen by an employee committee made up of team members across all functions and locations to give people a voice in the organizations we support.

STEM Grants

The Foundation grants $300,000 annually, with youth STEM programs a key pillar as we work to help build the future of our industry. Grants are prioritized on low-income and students of color reached, evidence of success or high likelihood of success, and assistance provided to parents and families.

Employee Giving

Our Community Grants allow employees to support causes important to them by nominating any charitable organization local to one of our facilities to receive a gift of up to $2,000.
 
Additionally, volunteer time off, hour matching, and giveback activities hosted throughout the year encourage employees to put in work firsthand.

$2.7M

granted since Foundation launched

$225k

STEM Grants funded

$50k

granted to employee-
nominated causes

$300k

given back to
local communities

8,200

employee volunteer hours
Note: Based on 2026 data

Sustainability


Reducing Our Carbon Footprint

We’ve made substantial efforts to increase our sustainability initiatives at Protolabs in recent years. A 700-kW solar power system at our flagship injection molding facility covers 20% of our electrical usage out of that space. We also received a Manufacturing Leadership Award for sustainability recognizing our commitment to eco-friendly, energy-conserving, and non-polluting digital manufacturing practices.

Partnering with organizations like the Eno River Association shows students the ways STEM extends outside the classroom and instills an interest in Earth sciences and the importance of environmental stewardship from an early age.

Sustainability Impact Report


Paperless Initiative

A 2026 sustainability impact report conducted by Protolabs employees identified paper-based dimensional inspections, manual quality documentation, and archived records as the largest source of paper consumption in our 3D printing production environment. Transforming this paper-intensive process to a fully digital workflow not only delivered measurable sustainability benefits in reduced material consumption, physical record retention, and unnecessary document handling, it also strengthened compliance, data integrity, and customer sustainability objectives through responsible manufacturing practices.
Sustainability Metrics and Impact
Paper consumption (2022–2025) 2.1 million sheets
Paper reduction opportunity 97-99%
Audit retrieval Immediate electronic access
Traceability Fully digital workflow
Risk reduction Reduced risk of lost, damaged, or degraded records