Ask your local lumberyard to donate or discount the material needed.

If you have a good relationship w/ your local lumberyard, talk with the owners/managers about a donation of materials. For a ramp between 20’-30’ long, you could figure on $600-1,000 in materials (including SkidGuard plywood).

SkidGuard plywood will run about $100/sheet for a 4x8 sheet. I've used this stuff and I think it's one of the best surfaces available for a wheelchair ramp. Produced by Simpson Lumber in Tacoma, WA, it's available on the East coast through Great Northern Lumber (based in Chicago, IL) and on the West coast through Lumber Products.

You can also ask your local lumberyard to order them...

If you can’t get the entire amount of materials donated, you’ll need some cash to make up the difference.

1. Talk to a local bank/credit union.
2. Talk to your organizations - networking, professional, religious, etc.
3. Talk to your church

Folks, we’re only talking about a couple of hundred bucks here. If you get 3-4 sources kicking in $200 apiece, you’ve got it. These ramps are not huge expensive projects. That’s the beauty of this - not a huge cash outlay, not a huge labor outlay - just a quick, simple project and someone can get in and out of their house.

Do I have to go through a charitable organization for my lumberyard to be able to write off their materials donation?

No.

Your lumberyard can note the location of the materials delivery and the name of your company on their invoice and just specify on their invoice that it is a donation. Their accountant/bookkeeper will add that invoice to the proper column and they can write it off on their own books.

I found out last year doing a pro bono project that while materials can be written off as a donation, labor can't.

Builders, a great way to get into the conversation would be to join the thread at contractortalk.com. This where we'll informally discuss the various aspects of this project.