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Grants and Funding for Schools

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Grants and Funding for Schools


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 are mostly from national sources and may be highly competitive.

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, and may not be current. Information is still provided, because many of the grants are announced on an annual basis and the information may still be useful. If you know of other grant programs we should consider, please send them to us at farmtoschool@agr.wa.gov

Current and Past Grant Opportunities

Council Cash
Sponsor: Washington State Dairy Council
Award package: $25
Who qualifies: K-12 School Teachers in Washington State
Application deadline: Year round
Full details, criteria, and application

CHS Classroom Grant
Sponsor: National Agriculture in the Classroom
Award package: $500
Who qualifies: K-12 School Teachers
Application deadline: September 15, 2019
Full details, criteria, and application

Target Field Trip Grants
Sponsor: Target
Award package: Up to $700
Who qualifies: K-12 Schools
Application deadline: October 1, 2019
Full details, criteria, and application

NEA Foundation Gants
Sponsor: National Education Association
Award package: $2,000-$5,000
Who qualifies: Current members of NEA who are educators at public institutions
Application deadline: October 15, 2019
Full details, criteria, and application

Cultivating our Future Grant
Sponsor: Pasco Chamber and Mid-Columbia Ag Hall of Fame
Award package: $5,000
Who qualifies: K-12 Schools, non-profits, other organizations
Application deadline: May 2019
Full details, criteria, and application

Make It Matter
Sponsor: Reader’s Digest
Award package: $1,500
Who qualifies: someone who is giving back to the community
Full details, criteria, and application

Pacific Northwest Community Grants
Sponsor: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Award package: Open
Who qualifies: community organizations serving the needs of low income children and families
Annual application deadline: Open
Full details, criteria, and application

Clarence E. Heller
Sponsor: Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation
Award package: $5,000-$600,000
Who qualifies: environment and health programs
Annual application deadline: March
Full details, criteria, and application
 
Specialty Crop Grant Program
Sponsor: WSDA
Award package: Varies – up to $250,000
Number of awards: Open
Who qualifies: projects that enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops.
Annual application deadline: Jan 31, 2011 (pre-proposal), April 22, 2011 (full proposal)
Full details, criteria, and application

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

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

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

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.


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.