Grant Opportunities

Find funding opportunities for literacy and educational pursuits.

Filter Events Date

Clear

Deadline Mar 24, 2023

Worldreader

"Worldreader will award up to 25 one-year seed grants valued between $5,000 and $7,500. Funding may be used for items such as communication tools, incentives, or program support. We encourage your creative approach..." Read more »

Deadline Apr 1, 2023

Karma for Cara Foundation Microgrant

"Students 18 years of age and under may apply for funds between $250 and $1,000 to complete service projects in their communities throughout the United States..." Read more »

Oct 2, 2022 - Apr 1, 2023

Literacy Opportunity Fund

"The Literacy Opportunity Fund awards grants to nonprofit organizations within the United States that provide literacy services directly to students. Funded by the Nora Roberts Foundation and administered by ProLiteracy, the Literacy Opportunity Fund distributes grants of $3,000 to $6,000 to support general operating expenses...." Read more »

Feb 27, 2023 - Apr 7, 2023

PGE Foundation: Creative Expression

"We support programs that promote arts and culture engagement, because they create an environment that values critical thinking, problem-solving and self-efficacy..." Read more »

Deadline Apr 27, 2023

Dollar General Literacy Foundation Youth Literacy Grants

"Schools, public libraries, and nonprofit organizations who help students that are below grade level or having trouble reading are eligible to apply..." Read more »

Deadline May 31, 2023

Caplan Foundation for Early Childhood

"The Caplan Foundation for Early Childhood is an incubator of promising research and development projects that appear likely to improve the welfare of young children, from infancy through 7 years, in the United States..." Read more »

Deadline Jun 1, 2023

The Nora Roberts Foundation

"The primary focus of the Nora Roberts Foundation is to support literacy. Additional areas of focus are: Children's programs, arts organizations, and humanitarian efforts, with local organizations being its priority. All organizations supported must be a registered 501(c)(3)..." Read more »

Jan 2, 2023 - Jul 1, 2023

Big Lots Foundation Grants

"Big Lots invests in partnerships that improve and enrich the lives of families and children. Support is provided in the form of monetary gifts, gift cards, and merchandise in-kind. Significant partnership projects and capital requests are by invitation only..." Read more »

Deadline Dec 15, 2023, Times: Applications are accepted February 1 – December 15 each year.

ALDI Smart Kids Program

"Grants ranging from $100 to $5,000 and ALDI gift cards are provided to local community organizations that encourage kids to be active in the areas of education, physical activity, nutrition, socializing, and the arts…" Read more »

Aegon Transamerica Foundation

The Aegon Transamerica Foundation "supports nonprofit organizations focused on the education, health, and well-being of the communities where we live and work...." Read more »

Believe in Reading

"Believe in Reading awards grants to existing and provably successful literacy programs. Programs should have been established for a minimum of 2 years..." Read more »

Beyond Words: Dollar General School Library Relief Program

"Beyond Words is a disaster relief fund for public school libraries in Dollar General store communities..." Read more »

Charles Stewart Mott Foundation

"The Mott Foundation funds grants in the United States and, on a limited geographic basis, internationally..." Read more »

Cisco Global Impact Cash Grant Program

"Cisco welcomes applications for Global Impact Cash Grants from community partners around the world who share our vision and offer an innovative approach to a critical social challenge...." Read more »

Mobile Learning Fund

"The Mobile Learning Fund, sponsored by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, builds on ProLiteracy’s rich history of providing quality instructional materials through the National Book Fund...." Read more »

National Home Library Foundation

"The National Home Library Foundation (NHLF) grants are made to assist in the support, promotion and development of literacy and reading-related programs with the goal of combating illiteracy and/or encouraging an interest in reading and literacy among all ages." The National Home Library Foundation accepts grant proposals on a rolling basis, primarily in Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia.  Read more »

Peace First Rapid Response Grants

"Peace First is launching a rapid response grant process to help young people around the world lead projects that address community impacts of COVID-19, from providing meals to elderly neighbors to launching digital mental health campaigns to support youth feeling isolated. Rapid response grants are open to young people between the ages of 13-25, anywhere in the world...." Read more »

PNC Foundation Grants

"The PNC Foundation supports a variety of nonprofit organizations with a special emphasis on those that work to achieve sustainability and touch a diverse population, in particular, those that support early childhood education and/or economic development...." Read more »

The Awesome Foundation

"The Awesome Foundation is a global community advancing the interest of awesome in the universe, $1000 at a time. Each fully autonomous chapter supports awesome projects through micro-grants, usually given out monthly..." Read more »

The Coca-Cola Foundation

"The Coca-Cola Foundation is our company's primary international philanthropic arm. Since its inception in 1984, The Foundation has awarded more than $1.4 billion in grants to support sustainable community initiatives around the world..." Read more »

The Lisa Libraries

"The Lisa Libraries donates new children’s books and small libraries to organizations in the United States that work with families in under-served areas..." Read more »

W.K. Kellogg Foundation

"The W.K. Kellogg Foundation is committed to ensuring all children, families and communities – regardless of race or income – have opportunities to reach their full potential..." Read more »

Wells Fargo Philanthropic Services

"Wells Fargo Philanthropic Services provides a full array of services to private and family foundations across the country, including grant making support. For these foundations, Wells Fargo serves as sole trustee, co-trustee, or agent..."  Read more »

Westinghouse Charitable Giving Program

Grants are awarded to programs in the organization's priority funding areas including STEM education. Grants support education programs that improve knowledge and literacy, with a focus in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math…. Read more »

NCFL Partners

NCFL Image
NCFL Image
NCFL Image
NCFL Image
NCFL Image
NCFL Image

Toyota

Toyota, one of the nation's most successful corporations, began a partnership with NCFL in 1991. In addition to a commitment of more than $50 million, Toyota has also contributed a wealth of in-kind support — including advertising, planning and management expertise — to form one of the most progressive corporate/nonprofit partnerships in the nation.

Three major programs have been developed through the Toyota partnership based on the family literacy model of parents and children learning together. These models have influenced federal and state legislation, leveraged local dollars to support family literacy and led to successful programs being replicated across the country.

Read more about Toyota's commitment to communities

William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust

NCFL received its very first donation in 1989 from the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust to promote and implement family literacy programming, first in Kentucky and North Carolina and later nationwide. The Kenan Family Literacy Model in part laid the groundwork for 30 years of subsequent family literacy and family learning programming developed by NCFL.

Kenan has continued to support NCFL’s place-based family literacy programs since our inception. Most recently, it has invested in our organization’s Sharon Darling Innovation Fund, which will launch emerging ideas and programmatic evolutions in the multigenerational learning space.

Learn more about the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust

Dollar General Literacy Foundation

The Dollar General Literacy Foundation began partnering with NCFL in 2006. A signature effort of this partnership is the National Literacy Directory, a resource that launched in 2010 and strives to guide potential students and volunteers to literacy services, community education programs, and testing centers in their communities.

The National Literacy Directory contains over 10,000 educational agencies located across the United States and has a dedicated toll-free number to help support those wanting to pursue educational opportunities in their communities.

Dollar General also provides support for development of NCFL’s innovative family learning resources centered on financial literacy and Parent and Child Together (PACT) Time®.

Learn more about the Dollar General Literacy Foundation

PNC Grow Up Great

PNC Grow Up Great believes deeply in the power of high-quality early childhood education and provides innovative opportunities that assist families, educators and community organizations to enhance children's learning and development.

PNC Grow Up Great has partnered with NCFL since 1994, most recently in Louisville, Kentucky, to support Say & Play with Words, our pre-Kindergarten vocabulary-building initiative.

NCFL's work is also featured on the PNC Grow Up Great Lesson Center website. The Lesson Center includes over 100 free, high-quality preschool lesson plans and research-based instructional techniques and strategies. All lesson plans contain Home/School Connections printouts, in English and Spanish, to help families extend and reinforce the learning at home.

Learn more about PNC Grow Up Great

U.S. Department of Education

Initiated through the U.S. Department of Education in 2018, the Statewide Family Engagement Centers (SFEC) program provides 12 grantees and 13 states with five-year, $5 million grants to promote and implement systemic evidenced-based family engagement strategies. NCFL was selected to lead SFECs in two states, Arizona and Nebraska, and is a primary partner for two other SFECs in Kentucky and Maryland/Pennsylvania. 

The SFECs work to support family engagement through state- and local-level agencies while providing both professional development to school districts and direct services to families related to children’s academic outcomes and overall well-being.

Learn more about the U.S. Department of Education

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

NCFL was named a recipient of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s "Voices for Economic Opportunity Grand Challenge," which seeks to elevate diverse voices in order to broaden the conversation about the issues inhibiting economic mobility and generate deeper awareness along with actionable understanding. NCFL will develop and launch a podcast series that will highlight the remarkable stories of low-income, diverse families across the U.S. who have improved their communities through Family Service Learning.

Foundation Website