20+ Free-to-Apply Grants for Nonprofits in 2026

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Table of contents

• 20+ grants for nonprofits in 2026

• Grant comparison table

• Why grants matter (and where they fall short)

• Types of nonprofit grants

• How to find grants for your nonprofit

• How to choose the right grants to apply for

• Grant application tips that actually work

• Pair grant funding with 0-fee donations on Zeffy

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If you run a small nonprofit, the hard part of grants isn't writing them — it's not burning weeks on the ones you'll never win. One nonprofit founder we interviewed applied for 15 grants in three years and won none. Another was blunt about why small orgs struggle: "We really don't have the budget to be able to hire a grant writer or a grant researcher."

So this guide is built around one question: which grants can a small org actually win? Below you'll find 20+ worth a look in 2026, grouped from smallest-and-most-winnable to largest-and-most-competitive, each linked to the funder's own program page so you can confirm the live cycle yourself. Where a 2026 deadline isn't posted yet, we say "rolling" or "check funder site" instead of inventing one.

The pattern small orgs miss: you don't lose grants because you're too small. You lose them on discovery — hours of Googling, getting paywalled, preparing applications you don't actually qualify for. Get discovery down to minutes, then put your time into a one-page, story-led proposal for a $5,000 to $30,000 grant you can win. Not the Ford Foundation lottery.

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20+ grants for nonprofits in 2026

Grants below are grouped by sector and ordered within each group from smallest, most-winnable first to largest, most-competitive last. Every entry links to the funder's official program page. Confirm the current cycle and dollar amounts there before you apply.

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General operating and community grants

1. Walmart Spark Good Local Grants. Funder: Walmart Foundation. Local Walmart and Sam's Club stores award cash grants in the $250 to $5,000 range to charitable causes in their community. Applications open in quarterly windows that shift each year, so check the current cycle on the program page.

• Eligibility: 501(c)(3) organizations that complete Walmart's third-party verification.

• Deadline: rolling quarterly windows — check the Walmart Spark Good program page for the current cycle.

• Tip: A real Walmart or Sam's Club store has to sponsor your application. Build a relationship with the store manager before you apply.

2. State Farm Good Neighbor Citizenship Grants. Funder: State Farm Companies Foundation. Community grants in three buckets: safety, community development, and education. Award sizes vary; most fall well under $25,000 for community nonprofits.

• Eligibility: 501(c)(3) organizations in communities where State Farm operates.

• Deadline: check the State Farm community giving page for the current cycle.

• Tip: Lean into the safety angle if you have a youth or community-safety program. That bucket gets fewer applicants than education.

3. Target Circle Community Giving. Funder: Target. Local store-level giving that supports community nonprofits and is steered by Target Circle member votes. Smaller dollar amounts, but a strong fit for grassroots community work.

• Eligibility: Local 501(c)(3) nonprofits near a Target store.

• Deadline: rolling. See the Target community giving page for current details.

• Tip: Mobilize your existing supporters who shop at Target to direct their Circle votes to you.

4. Bank of America Charitable Foundation: Economic Mobility Grants. Funder: Bank of America. Focuses on housing, economic development, and workforce support for low- and moderate-income communities.

• Eligibility: 501(c)(3) organizations not classified as private foundations and not applying through a fiscal sponsor. Must serve working families, youth, seniors, people with disabilities, veterans, or people impacted by the criminal justice system. Read the full eligibility criteria on the Bank of America charitable foundation page.

• Deadline: check the current RFP window on the Bank of America foundation page.

• Tip: Local market leaders steer regional dollars. Build that local relationship.

5. Home Depot Foundation Community Impact Grants. Funder: The Home Depot Foundation. Up to $5,000 in the form of Home Depot gift cards for veteran-led or veteran-serving projects and community improvement work performed by registered nonprofits and tax-exempt public service agencies.

• Eligibility: Registered 501(c)(3) organizations and tax-exempt public service agencies, with a focus on veteran and community improvement projects.

• Deadline: rolling within an annual window. Check the Home Depot Foundation community grants page for the current cycle.

• Tip: This is an in-kind grant (Home Depot gift cards), not cash. Plan a project where Home Depot supplies actually move the work forward.

For a small nonprofit: this whole group is where to start. Local, store-level, and corporate community grants under $25,000 see far fewer applicants than headline foundation grants, and a small win here builds the track record you need for bigger asks later.

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Technology grants

6. Google Ad Grants. Funder: Google. Up to $10,000/month in free Google search ads for eligible nonprofits, plus access to Google Workspace for Nonprofits and the YouTube Nonprofit Program. Before you apply, read our Google Ad Grants guide — there is a meaningful learning curve to actually using the credit. Then go to the official Google Ad Grants page for the application.

• Eligibility: Charitable organizations in good standing with a Google for Nonprofits account. Government entities, hospitals and healthcare organizations, and schools are excluded. Confirm current eligibility on Google's policy page, as rules tighten periodically.

• Deadline: rolling, accepted year-round.

• Tip: Set realistic keyword goals. The $10K/month is in ad value, not cash, and most nonprofits use only a fraction without good campaign management.

7. AWS IMAGINE Grant. Funder: Amazon Web Services. Supports nonprofits using technology to advance their mission. Historically offered three award tiers (Pathfinder, Go Further Faster, Momentum to Modernize) combining unrestricted cash with AWS promotional credits. Confirm the current tier amounts on the AWS IMAGINE Grant program page before you build your budget.

• Eligibility: 501(c)(3) organizations in the United States, United Kingdom, and Ireland.

• Deadline: annual application window. Check the AWS IMAGINE Grant program page for the current cycle.

• Tip: Read past winners on the program page. The "tech-forward" framing is non-negotiable. Describe your project in terms of the technology, not just the mission.

For a small nonprofit: Google Ad Grants is high value if you have someone who can manage a search campaign every week. If you don't, the credit goes unused. AWS IMAGINE is competitive but winnable if your work has a clear data or technology hook.

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Health and human services

8. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Funder: RWJF. Funds research and programs that advance health equity, with multiple active opportunities including Evidence for Action, Pioneering Ideas, and the Culture of Health Prize. See active funding opportunities on the RWJF grants page.

• Eligibility: US-based applicants; preference for higher-education institutions, nonprofits, and public entities. Specific programs add further criteria.

• Deadline: varies by program. Check each opportunity page.

• Tip: RWJF favors clear research design or measurable community-health outcomes. If your case is anecdotal, this is not your grant.

9. W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Funder: WKKF. Supports children, families, and communities through programs centered on early childhood, education and learning, food and well-being, and racial equity. See WKKF grants on the foundation's site.

• Eligibility: Varies by program area. Review current focus areas before applying.

• Deadline: most WKKF grants are by invitation or proactive sourcing. Check the current process on the funder site.

• Tip: WKKF often funds through relationships rather than open RFPs. Build a connection before you submit anything.

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Community development and equity

10. Ford Foundation. Funder: Ford Foundation. Funds organizations working on inequality globally, with program areas including civic engagement, future of work, gender and racial justice, and natural resources and climate change. See Ford Foundation grant opportunities on the foundation's site.

• Eligibility: Varies by program; many opportunities are by invitation only.

• Deadline: check program-specific pages.

• Tip: Ford rarely funds organizations cold. If you do not already have a program officer relationship, focus your energy elsewhere first.

11. Kresge Foundation. Funder: Kresge Foundation. Supports work that expands opportunity in American cities through programs in arts and culture, education, environment, health, human services, and community development. See Kresge programs on the foundation's site.

• Eligibility: Varies by program; most opportunities are application-by-invitation or open RFPs in narrow windows.

• Deadline: check program pages.

• Tip: Kresge is rigorous on financial sustainability. Have at least two years of audited financials ready.

12. MacArthur Foundation. Funder: MacArthur Foundation. Funds work on climate solutions, criminal justice, journalism, and a few other "Big Bet" focus areas. Search MacArthur grants on the foundation's site to see scope and past awardees.

• Eligibility: Varies by program; most funding is sourced proactively by program staff.

• Deadline: limited open calls. Check the grants database.

• Tip: Smaller organizations are more likely to get traction by partnering with an existing MacArthur grantee than by applying cold.

13. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Funder: Gates Foundation. Funds large-scale global health, development, and US education work. Browse committed grants on the foundation's site to see funded organizations.

• Eligibility: Highly variable; most Gates funding is proactively sourced.

• Deadline: limited open opportunities. Check the foundation site.

• Tip: Unless your work fits squarely inside Gates's published strategy, this is not where to spend your application time.

For a small nonprofit: the Ford, Kresge, MacArthur, Kellogg, and Gates tier is mostly a relationship game, not an open-application game. If you don't already have a program officer contact, build one over months before you ever submit. Spend your application hours on the community and corporate grants above instead.

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Arts, education, and environment

14. National Endowment for the Arts: Grants for Arts Projects. Funder: NEA (federal). Project-based grants for arts organizations, ranging roughly from $10,000 to $100,000. See current deadlines on the NEA grants page.

• Eligibility: 501(c)(3) organizations with at least three years of programming history.

• Deadline: two cycles per year. Check the NEA grants page for current deadlines.

• Tip: Tight budgets and clear project deliverables win NEA grants. Vague programming language does not.

15. Local State Arts Councils. Funder: Your state's arts council. Every US state has an arts council that re-grants NEA funds plus state dollars to local arts nonprofits. Search "[your state] arts council grants" to find your state's program.

• Eligibility: Varies by state; most require state-based 501(c)(3) status.

• Deadline: varies by program.

• Tip: This is one of the most under-applied grant pools in the country for small arts nonprofits.

16. Patagonia Environmental Grants. Funder: Patagonia. Grants typically in the $5,000 to $20,000 range for grassroots environmental groups working on root causes (not awareness or education). See the current process on Patagonia's Action Works grants page.

• Eligibility: Small, grassroots organizations working on direct-action environmental work.

• Deadline: rolling. Check the Patagonia Action Works page for current details.

• Tip: Patagonia explicitly favors small, scrappy groups over large established environmental nonprofits. Lean into that.

17. NEA Foundation Learning & Leadership Grants. Funder: NEA Foundation. Grants of $2,000 to $5,000 for public-school educators and education-focused nonprofits supporting professional learning. See the grant calendar on the NEA Foundation site.

• Eligibility: Public-school educators and partnered nonprofits.

• Deadline: multiple cycles per year. Check the NEA Foundation site for the current calendar.

• Tip: Small dollars, but a forgiving process and a great first grant for an education-focused organization.

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Community foundation grants (local)

18. Your local community foundation. There are more than 1,500 community foundations across the United States, and almost every region has one. Community foundations re-grant to local nonprofits in their geography, often with smaller, more accessible applications than national funders. Find your local community foundation using the Council on Foundations locator.

• Eligibility: Local 501(c)(3) organizations.

• Deadline: varies by foundation.

• Tip: If you do nothing else from this list, register with your community foundation. They are the single best source of small, repeatable grants for a small nonprofit.

19. United Way local chapters. Funder: United Way Worldwide local chapters. Re-grants to local human-services nonprofits in education, health, and financial stability.

• Eligibility: Local 501(c)(3) human-services nonprofits.

• Deadline: varies by chapter.

• Tip: United Way funding usually means an annual reporting commitment. Make sure you have the capacity before you apply.

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Federal government grants

20. Grants.gov listings. Funder: US federal agencies. The federal government grants database lists open opportunities across federal agencies for organizations and entities (not exclusively nonprofits, but many nonprofit-eligible programs). Search at Grants.gov.

• Eligibility: Varies by program; many require an active SAM.gov registration.

• Deadline: per opportunity.

• Tip: Federal applications are long and SAM.gov registration takes weeks. Start that registration before you find the grant you want.

21. CDC, HRSA, and HHS program grants. Funder: US Department of Health & Human Services and sub-agencies. Categorical and project grants for health-focused nonprofits, often in the $50,000 to $500,000 range.

• Eligibility: Varies by program; many require existing health-services capacity.

• Deadline: per RFA on Grants.gov.

• Tip: Federal health grants reward measurable outcomes and rigorous reporting. If you cannot show that, focus elsewhere.

For a small nonprofit: federal grants are real money but a real time investment. The application can take 40 to 80 hours and the reporting commitment runs for years. Worth it for a $200,000+ award if you have the operational capacity. Not worth it for a $25,000 award.

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Grant comparison table

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Why grants matter (and where they fall short)

Grants fund work that earned revenue and small individual donations cannot. They cover one-off projects, capital purchases, technology overhauls, and program expansion. For health and research nonprofits, grants are often the dominant funding source.

Foundation giving is one of the largest categories of philanthropy in the United States. According to Giving USA (see the latest annual report), foundations contribute tens of billions of dollars annually alongside individual giving, bequests, and corporate giving. Many of those dollars flow through grants.

But grants have real limits. A small nonprofit should know them before betting the budget on grant income:

• Grant income is restricted. Most foundation and government grants come with rules about how you can spend the money. Operating dollars are harder to find than project dollars.

• Grant income is lumpy. A $50,000 grant covers a project for a year, then it is gone. You cannot pay rent with a one-time award.

• Grant income is competitive. Major foundation grants often have single-digit award rates. The smaller, less-glamorous grants (community foundations, store-level corporate grants) are where the math actually works for a small org.

• Grant reporting takes time. Every dollar you win comes with a reporting commitment that runs months or years.

The fix is not "stop applying for grants." The fix is to treat grants as one income stream among several. Set up recurring donations for predictable revenue between grant cycles, and build a base of unrestricted individual giving you can spend on whatever the mission needs.

For a small nonprofit: chase grants for projects, capital, and growth. Fund the rent with diversified individual giving. That keeps you from going under when a grant cycle ends or an application falls through.

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Types of nonprofit grants

Government grants

Government grants come from federal, state, county, and city agencies, plus federally recognized tribal governments. They tend to be larger awards with stricter eligibility, longer applications, and multi-year reporting. The Grants.gov database is the main federal listing. Most states also publish a state grants portal (California's Grants Portal is a clear example).

For a small nonprofit: government grants are the highest-dollar, highest-effort option. Worth pursuing once you have at least one full-time staff person who can manage the application and post-award reporting.

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Foundation grants

Foundation grants come from private foundations (family or independent) and public foundations (which raise the money they then re-grant). Award sizes range from a few thousand dollars at small family foundations to multi-million-dollar awards at the largest national funders. Most foundations publish their focus areas and grantmaking process on their site.

For a small nonprofit: start with community foundations and small family foundations in your geography. The big national names (Ford, Kresge, Gates) are mostly a relationship game and rarely worth a cold application.

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Corporate grants

Corporate grants come from companies and their charitable foundations. They often align with the company's CSR priorities and frequently come bundled with non-cash support: products, services, employee volunteer time, or in-kind donations. Many are administered at the local store or branch level, which makes them more accessible to small community nonprofits. For more, see our corporate sponsors guide.

For a small nonprofit: corporate grants are often the most winnable category. Build a relationship with the local store manager or community affairs lead, not just an online application.

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In-kind and fiscal sponsorship

In-kind grants give you goods or services instead of cash: software licenses, office space, professional services, building materials. They do not move money into your bank account, but they free up cash you would otherwise spend. Fiscal sponsorship is not a grant. It is an arrangement where an established 501(c)(3) accepts grants on behalf of a project that is not yet incorporated. Useful for new projects testing an idea before forming a separate nonprofit.

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How to find grants for your nonprofit

Finding grants is its own skill, and for most small orgs it starts as a slog: hours of Googling and checking foundation lists one by one. One grant writer we interviewed called her old manual process painstaking. The strongest small-nonprofit approach replaces that with three steady channels, plus an alerts layer on top.

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Step 1: Seek out local grants

Local foundations, state arts councils, and city or county grant programs are the most accessible starting point. Search "[your city or state] foundation grants for nonprofits" and you will surface a list of options many national funders never appear in. Local funders are often more open to first-time grantees and have smaller applicant pools.

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Step 2: Lean on grant databases

Grant databases let you filter across thousands of funders by cause, location, and amount. There are paid options — Candid's Foundation Directory and GrantWatch are the most common; Instrumentl and GrantStation are also in this category — that typically run from a couple hundred to well over a thousand dollars a year. The cost is real for a small org: one grant manager we interviewed goes to a public library once a month just to use Candid for free. For a full breakdown of what each tool covers, see our guide to the 10 best grant databases for nonprofits.

There is also a free option. Zeffy's free grant database searches 723,000+ corporate and foundation grants. Filter by state, cause, and minimum amount, and review funder 990 history, with no paywall and no account required to start searching. If you are spending hundreds of dollars a year on a subscription you barely use, it is a free first stop.

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Step 3: Search government agencies

Federal: Grants.gov lists open opportunities across federal agencies. To apply for most federal grants you will also need an active registration at SAM.gov. Start that process early because it can take weeks. State and local: search "[your state] grants portal" for your state's listing.

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Step 4: Set up alerts

Funders post new opportunities and revised deadlines on their own schedule. Three habits keep you ahead:

• Subscribe to email alerts on any database you use, including the Zeffy grant database and Grants.gov.

• Set Google Alerts for "[your cause] grants" and "[your city] nonprofit grants".

• Follow program officers and foundation accounts on LinkedIn. Many announce new RFPs there first.

For a small nonprofit: the win here is reclaiming time. Stop paying for a database you rarely use; put that money into the work and use a free database plus alerts.

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How to choose the right grants to apply for

The right answer to "should I apply?" is rarely "yes to all of them." A small nonprofit's biggest grant-strategy mistake is spreading thin — or, as one grant manager we interviewed described it, getting "knee deep in preparing everything and then realize that there's some really small detail that someone overlooked and that we might not actually be eligible for the funding." Use this four-question filter on every grant before you start the application:

• 1. Do you actually qualify? Read the eligibility criteria word by word. If the grant requires three years of audited financials and you have one, save the time.

• 2. Does your work fit the funder's stated priorities? Look at the funder's most recent grantees. If your work does not look like theirs, you are guessing.

• 3. Is the ROI worth it? Estimate hours to apply, multiply by your or your staff's effective hourly cost, and compare against (award size multiplied by your honest win probability). If a 40-hour application for a $5,000 grant has a 10% win rate, your expected value is $500. That is below most nonprofits' time cost.

• 4. Can you deliver the project and reporting if you win? A grant you cannot execute on damages the funder relationship for years.

Once you have a shortlist, build a grant calendar. List every grant with its application opens, deadline, decision date, and reporting commitments. Track funders and grant deadlines in Zeffy's free donor CRM so application work, decision dates, and reporting commitments stay in one place alongside your individual donor data.

For a small nonprofit: three carefully chosen applications a quarter will outperform fifteen rushed ones. Pick fewer; tell the story better.

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Grant application tips that actually work

Write an executive summary that earns the read

Most program officers read dozens of applications a week. Your executive summary has about 30 seconds to earn the rest of the read. A simple structure:

• One sentence on the problem and who it affects.

• One sentence on your solution and why your organization can deliver it.

• One sentence on the specific outcome the grant will fund.

• One sentence on the ask: how much, for what, over what period.

If a reader stops here, they should already know whether you are a fit.

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Build a need statement around data, not adjectives

"There is a critical need in our community" is a sentence that fails. "27% of households in our county are food-insecure, double the state average" is a sentence that works. Anchor every need claim in a cited number. Local data (your county's data portal, the US Census, NCCS, state agency reports) beats national data because it shows you know your community.

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Build a budget funders trust

Funders look for three things in a budget: every line is justified, the total matches the ask, and the math adds up. Show your work. If you are budgeting $12,000 for a part-time program coordinator, show the hourly rate and the hours per week. Include a brief budget narrative explaining anything that is not obvious.

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Avoid the mistakes that kill applications

• Vague outcomes (use measurable, time-bound metrics).

• Asking for the wrong thing (operating dollars from a project-only funder, for example).

• Missing documents (build a checklist and have a second person review).

• Generic copy (every application should reference the funder by name and tie back to their priorities).

• Last-minute submission (technical glitches on grant portals are real; submit 24 hours early).

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Follow up whether you win or lose

If you win, thank the funder, deliver on time, and report cleanly. If you lose, send a short thank-you email and ask if the program officer has feedback on the application. Many program officers will share what was missing. That intel is gold for your next application.

For a small nonprofit: the highest-leverage tip on this list is the follow-up after a loss. Funders fund organizations they have a relationship with, and a thoughtful follow-up turns a "no" into the start of one.

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Pair grant funding with 0-fee donations on Zeffy

Grants are one income stream. Donations, events, recurring giving, peer-to-peer campaigns, and memberships are the others. Chasing grants alone is a brittle strategy because grant income is restricted, lumpy, and slow.

Zeffy is the only 100% free fundraising platform for nonprofits. No platform fee, no transaction fee, no credit card fee. Ever. That means every dollar you raise outside of a grant goes to the mission, not to a 2.9% processing cut. For a small nonprofit running between grant cycles, that is the difference between covering payroll and not. More than 100K+ nonprofits have raised $2B+ on Zeffy, all without paying a cent in fees.

Used together: free grant discovery to find the right grants, plus a free donation platform to build the unrestricted base that keeps the lights on. That is the full small-nonprofit funding stack, and it costs $0.

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