Grant Resources

Most successful farm-to-school projects are made possible with grants and community-based funding, at least in the start-up stages. The grants on this page may be useful to getting you started. These are mostly from national sources and may be highly competitive. They are grouped by category, but all may be helpful:

• School Gardens 

• Farmers

• Schools and Community

• Tools

 We recommend that you start by seeking local sources of funding and in-kind support for your farm-to-school projects. Several stellar Washington projects work by creatively using school budgets and partnering with community members and businesses for donations and grant support.

Please note that this list is gathered as a service to help you learn what’s available. It is not exhaustive, and inclusion on this page should in no way be considered an endorsement by the State of Washington or the Department of Agriculture. If you know of other grant programs we should consider, please send them to us at farmtoschool@agr.wa.gov

Mantis Awards
Sponsor: Mantis
Award package: Mantis tiller/cultivators
Number of awards: 25
Who qualifies: community, school, and youth garden programs
Annual application deadline: March 1
Full details, criteria, and application [external link]

Healthy Sprouts Awards
Sponsor: Gardener's Supply Company
Award package: Gift certificates to Gardener's Supply. Five programs will each receive a certificate valued at $500; 15 more will each receive a $200 gift certificate
Number of awards: 20
Who qualifies: School and youth garden programs
Annual application deadline: October 15
Full details, criteria, and application [external link]

Hooked on Hydroponics Awards
Sponsor: The Grow Store in conjunction with the Progressive Gardening Trade Association
Award package: Hydroponics systems valued between $360 to $1,100
Number of awards: 36
Who qualifies: School garden programs
Annual application deadline: September 18, 2009
Full details, criteria, and application [external link]

Public School Teachers Request
Sponsor: DonorsChoose.org
Award package:
Who qualifies: Teacher defined projects in schools Annual application deadline: Rolling
Full details, criteria, and application [external link]

Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program
Sponsor: USDA – CSREES
Award package: $10,000 - $300,000
Number of awards: not specified
Who qualifies: private, nonprofit entities meeting specific requirements
Annual application deadline: May
Full details, criteria, and application [external link]

Garden Crusader Awards
Sponsor: Gardener's Supply
Award package: Cash and gift certificates
Number of awards: 21
Who qualifies: individuals across the United States who are improving their communities through gardening.
Annual application deadline: June 15th
Full details, criteria, and application [external link]

2010 Youth Garden Grants
Sponsor: National Gardening Assoc and Home Depot
Award package: $500 -$1000 gift cards
Number of awards: 100
Who qualifies: community, school, and youth garden programs
Annual application deadline: November 2nd
Full details, criteria, and application [external link]

Champions for Healthy Kids
Sponsor: General Mills
Award package: $10,000
Number of awards: 50
Who qualifies: community-based groups that develop creative ways to help youth adopt a balanced diet and physically active lifestyle.
Annual application deadline: March 1
Full details, criteria, and application [external link]

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WSDA Small Farms and Direct Marketing
WSDA's program has many excellent links to grant programs available to farmers. There are also other useful resources and tool listed here.
Full details, criteria and applications [external link]

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The Bullitt Foundation
Any theory of sustainable development must be grounded in an understanding that the human economy is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the natural environment. Sustainable human institutions and enterprises will be based on the same ecological principles that govern all ecosystems. The Foundation looks for high risk, high potential payoff opportunities to exert unusual leverage. It has a special interest in demonstrating innovative approaches that promise to solve multiple problems simultaneously.
Full details, criteria, and application [external link]

Rachel Carson Sense of Wonder Contest
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency invites the public to submit creative projects to the 3rd annual Rachel Carson intergenerational "Sense of Wonder" contest. There are four categories: photography, essay, poetry and dance. Dance is a new category this year.
Full details, criteria, and application [external link]

Neighborhood Builders and Local Heroes Programs
Sponsor: Bank of America
As part of the Neighborhood Excellence Initiative (NEI) program, local bank and community leaders identify the organizations best positioned to address critical issues facing their neighborhoods. Working with community partners, the Foundation developed NEI to provide each of the 45 participating markets with essential support through three key programs.
Full details, criteria, and application  [external link]

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Tools

Foundation Center
The Foundation Center is the most authoritative source of information on private philanthropy in the United States helping grantseekers, grantmakers, researchers, policymakers, the media, and the general public better understand the field of philanthropy. The web site is designed to guide you quickly to the information you are looking for—instruction on funding research, help with proposal writing, tools for locating prospective funders, news and research on the field, or a library or training class near you.
Full details, criteria, and application [external link]

Grants.Gov
Grants.gov is a central storehouse for information on over 1,000 grant programs and provides access to approximately $500 billion in annual awards. Grants are available for small businesses, educational and government organizations.
Full details, criteria, and application [external link] 

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