Where Nonprofit Grants Actually Come From
We queried our database for opportunities where nonprofits are explicitly listed as eligible applicants. Here's what we found: National Institutes of Health: 536 opportunities (45% of all nonprofit-eligible funding) National Science Foundation: 288 opportunities Nebraska Energy Office: 95 opportunities Administration for Community Living: 27 opportunities Health Resources and Services Administration: 12 opportunities California state programs: 65 opportunities Texas state programs: 11 opportunities The takeaway: if you're a nonprofit looking for federal grants, NIH and NSF dominate. The "HHS" you hear about? Most of that is NIH specifically, plus smaller programs from ACL, HRSA, CDC, and AHRQ.
NIH Grants for Nonprofits
NIH is the largest single source of nonprofit grant funding in our data. These are research grants—if your nonprofit does biomedical, behavioral, or public health research, this is where the money is. Examples open right now: - BRAIN Initiative grants for neuroscience technology development - Comprehensive Alcohol Research Centers (P60 mechanism) - Clinical trial infrastructure grants Most NIH grants require significant research capacity. They're looking for organizations that can run studies, publish findings, and contribute to scientific knowledge. If that's not your nonprofit's focus, NIH probably isn't your path. Search Funding Landscape for 'NIH nonprofit' to see current opportunities.
NSF Grants for Nonprofits
NSF accounts for 288 nonprofit-eligible opportunities in our database. Unlike NIH's biomedical focus, NSF covers broader scientific research and STEM education. Nonprofits can apply to NSF as: - Lead research organizations (if you have research capacity) - Partners on university-led projects - Education and outreach collaborators NSF explicitly lists 'non-profit research organizations' as eligible for most programs. If your nonprofit works in science education, informal learning, or research infrastructure, NSF is worth exploring. Search for 'NSF nonprofit' on Funding Landscape to see what's open.
The State Grant Reality
We hear a lot about state grants for nonprofits. Here's what we currently have: Nebraska Energy Office: 95 opportunities (energy efficiency, weatherization) California: 65 opportunities across multiple agencies Texas: 11 opportunities North Carolina DHHS: 9 opportunities Alabama: 5 opportunities State coverage is expanding. We're actively certifying additional state portals, but many states don't publish grant data in formats we can aggregate yet. Search for your state name on Funding Landscape—we may have opportunities from your state that aren't in the list above.
What 'Nonprofit Eligible' Actually Means
When we say 'nonprofit eligible,' we're counting opportunities where the applicant types explicitly include: - 'Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS' - 'Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status' - 'Non-profit research organizations' This is a subset of what's actually available. Many grants don't specify applicant types in structured data—they require reading the full solicitation. Our 1,200 count is a floor, not a ceiling. Some categories we found in nonprofit-eligible opportunities: Grants: 777 Forecasted/upcoming: 201 Cooperative agreements: 18 Loans: 11 Training programs: 23 Technical assistance: 9 Not everything is a traditional grant. Cooperative agreements involve more federal oversight. Loans require repayment. Know what you're applying for.
Examples Open Right Now
As of January 17, 2026, here are specific nonprofit-eligible opportunities with upcoming deadlines: HUD ROSS-SC Program (deadline: Jan 20) $40 million total funding for resident services coordinators in public housing. Targets nonprofits working with public housing residents. NEA Mayors' Institute on City Design (deadline: Jan 22) $540,000 for city design initiatives. Arts and design nonprofits eligible. ACF National Center on Child Maltreatment (deadline: Jan 22) $1.25 million for child welfare data practices. Research nonprofits with child welfare expertise. California Library Literacy Services (deadline: Jan 21) State funding for library-based adult literacy programs. These examples show the range: housing, arts, child welfare, literacy. The common thread is that each targets nonprofits with specific expertise, not general operating support.
Foundation Grants and What's Expanding
Our current search is strongest for federal grants. But foundation data is available through our MCP (Model Context Protocol) tool. What's live now: New England Foundation for the Arts, LANL Foundation, and opportunities from major health foundations like American Heart Association that publish through platforms we aggregate. MCP foundation search: If you're using Claude, Cursor, or another AI assistant with our MCP integration, you can search foundations using IRS 990 data right now. The 'search_foundations' tool lets you describe your mission and find foundations with similar giving history. The 'get_foundation' tool retrieves detailed financials, grant history, and sector focus for any foundation by EIN. This 990-based foundation search covers thousands of private foundations. It shows historical giving patterns—what types of organizations they fund, typical grant sizes, geographic focus. Not all foundations accept unsolicited applications, but this data helps you identify foundations aligned with your work. State programs: Coverage varies. We have good data from Nebraska, California, Texas, North Carolina, and Alabama. More states coming as we certify additional sources.
How to Search Effectively
Based on what we actually have in the database: For research nonprofits: Search 'NIH' or 'NSF' plus your research area. These two sources account for 824 of 1,200 nonprofit opportunities. For service nonprofits: Search by agency: 'HUD nonprofit', 'ACF grants', 'HRSA'. Service-focused grants are scattered across agencies. For state funding: Search your state name. We have data from Nebraska, California, Texas, North Carolina, Alabama, and more states coming. For specific topics: Search the topic directly: 'literacy grants', 'housing services', 'child welfare'. The applicant type filter will show what's nonprofit-eligible. Filter by deadline to prioritize time-sensitive opportunities. Set up alerts to catch new postings.