Garden Grants for Schools, Communities, and NonProfits

Updated April 23, 2024

There are many garden grants available in the United States to support local school, community, and nonprofit gardening projects. Please visit the links below for grant information.

Growing Spaces also offers annual grants and is proud to announce our new grant program for 2024.

Outside view of the Geothermal Greenhouse Project along the banks of the San Juan river. There are crowds of people in the foreground and two 42' geodesic dome greenhouses in the background.

Growing Spaces In-Kind Grant 2024

Growing Spaces has been actively working with nonprofits to provide fresh organic produce to food-insecure communities in the United States. Food banks across the country have needed to increase production to meet the growing demand caused by the pandemic and inflation. They are also looking for solutions to grow food for their communities year-round, without using too much energy.

To respond to this increased demand, Growing Spaces is offering in-kind grants to registered nonprofits, schools, or veterans’ organizations that are actively providing fresh food to underserved and food-insecure communities.

The grant will be taken off the price of the Growing Dome and will range between $2,000 to $8,000 depending on the program and the size of the Growing Dome greenhouse desired. Applicants must have the space to build a greenhouse and funding to complete and sustain the greenhouse in the future. Applications for 2024 are closed, but fill out the form below if you’d like to be considered for 2025.

Applications will be reviewed once project timing and funding are established and awards will be applied to Growing Domes shipped in the 2025 calendar year. Through this grant, we hope to help even more communities provide a geodesic greenhouse to increase production and harvest year-round.

Visit the links below for other nonprofit grant opportunities. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see previous Growing Spaces Urban Farming Grant winners.

community members pictured in front of Urban Greenhouse being built in Harlem
2022 Grant Winner Harlem Grown Harlem NY

Links to Garden Grants 2023-2024:

School Garden Grants

large kale plant growing in the foreground with kids in the background in a growing dome greenhouse
Garden grants have helped many schools purchase a Growing Dome

Colorado Garden Foundation – Has awarded more than $12 million in grants to fund gardening and horticulture projects for Colorado. All the proceeds from the Colorado Home and Garden Show go to support these garden grants. Visit the website to learn about their grants.

Whole Foods Market – “Our Garden Grant program provides a $3,000 monetary grant to support a new or existing edible educational garden located at either a K-12 public or private school and a Non-profit organization (501(c)(3) in the US/Registered Charity in Canada) that serves children in the K-12 grade range.” Visit the website to learn about their grants.

Kids Gardening – Offers two grants.

Budding Botanist Grant: The intent is to aid and encourage students in learning and exploring the world of plants, simultaneously fostering a drive to preserve and protect the local ecosystems they uncover. Visit the website to learn about their grants.

2024 Youth Garden Grant: The focus is on bolstering educational gardening projects within schools and youth communities, with an impact that permeates through enhancing student and community well-being, by offering financial and material support to chosen programs. Visit the website to learn about their grants.

School Kids learning in a Growing Dome Greenhouse above-ground pond
School Kids learning about the Growing Dome Greenhouse pond

American Heart Association Teaching Gardens Network – The Teaching Gardens Network is a one-stop shop for everything schools will need to start or enhance a school garden. By joining the network you gain access to Grant opportunities for funding your garden, free gardening materials, and resources, digital cross-curricular, standards-based gardening and nutrition education curriculum, a downloadable Teaching Gardens Network certificate, and recognition on their website. Visit the website to learn about their grants.

Big Green Real Food Grow Here – Big Green awards Learning Gardens based on several factors, including the strength of the garden team, plans for garden use, student demographics, and location. They also have curriculum offerings. Visit the website to learn more about grants.

Captain Planet Foundation™ – Invests in high-quality, solution-based programs that embrace STEM learning and environmental education. They empower youth to become local and global environmental change-makers.  Visit the website to learn about their grants.

California Fertilizer Foundation – School Garden Grant Program for California schools. Visit the website to learn about their grants.

Herb Society of America – Thanks to the generosity of Donald Samull, who made a planned gift to The Herb Society of America, an herb garden grant program for elementary school classes was established in 2009. These grants ensure that learning about herbs can be part of the curriculum, a resource Mr. Samull—an elementary school teacher—regularly used in his classroom. Elementary classrooms in grades K-6 with ten students or more may apply for a grant to establish an herb garden. Visit the website to learn about their grants.

National Head Start Association – The GroMoreGood initiative makes garden grants, garden kits, educational curriculum, and garden training available to all Head Start programs to create more edible gardens for young children and their families. The initiative also supports the creation of green space projects as an option for children and the community to learn. Must be a Head Start program to apply. Visit the website to learn about their grants.

Community Garden Grants

People pictured in front of a growing dome, Community Garden Grant for Growing Dome in Littleton Colorado
Garden grants may be available for community projects

America in Bloom – America in Bloom and the CN Railway have partnered to create the “EcoConnexions From the Ground Up” grants program. With a true transcontinental network that extends to three North American coasts, CN passes through a wide range of urban and rural communities. We encourage communities along the CN corridor to take environmental action by improving their communities through healthy urban forests, natural landscaping, groundcover improvement, and flower displays. Visit the website to learn about their grants.

Seed Money – is a Maine-based nonprofit providing grants, crowdfunding opportunities, and training to food garden projects across the country and around the world. Visit their website to learn about their grants.

National Garden Bureau – For therapeutic garden programs. Schools, nonprofits, hospitals, retirement centers, rehabilitative facilities, veteran facilities, community centers, inter-generational groups, job-training centers, food pantries, and public gardens throughout the United States and Canada are eligible. Visit the website to learn about their grants.

Fruit Tree Planting Foundation – The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation (FTPF) is an award-winning international nonprofit charity dedicated to planting fruitful trees and plants to alleviate world hunger, combat global warming, strengthen communities, and improve the surrounding air, soil, and water. FTPF programs strategically donate orchards where the harvest will best serve communities for generations, at places such as community gardens, public schools, city/state parks, low-income neighborhoods, Native American reservations, international hunger relief sites, and animal sanctuaries. Visit the website to learn about their grants.

People jumping in front of the Urban Garden Greenhouse in Chicago
Urban Growers Collective Growing Dome Greenhouse in Chicago

Veterans and Disability Garden Grants

USDA Veterans Grants – Enhancing agricultural opportunities for veterans. The Enhancing Agricultural Opportunities for Military Veterans Program provides grants to nonprofits to increase the number of military veterans gaining knowledge and skills through comprehensive, hands-on, and immersive model farm and ranch programs offered regionally that lead to successful careers in the food and agricultural sector. Visit the website to learn about their grants.

Home Depot Grants – Home Depot currently has a Veteran Housing Grants Program. This was created to help nonprofits fund the development and repair of multi-unit veteran housing facilities. Visit the website to learn about their grants.

National Garden Bureau Grants – For therapeutic garden programs to bring healing to those affected by trauma. National Garden Bureau launched a philanthropic program in 2014 that supports the building and growth of therapeutic gardens across North America. Scroll down past the Therapeutic Garden Grant recipients by year for the newsletter sign-up. Visit the website to learn about their grants.

Organic Farming and Horticulture Grants

Central Iowa Homeless Shelter Greenhouse
Central Iowa Homeless Shelter Growing Dome Greenhouse

Future Farmers of America – Living to Serve Grants provides an opportunity for FFA chapters and state FFA associations/foundations to seek funding to support various types of service projects through a competitive application process. Applicants must identify a community need that falls within one of four focus areas: community safety; hunger, health and nutrition; environmental responsibility; or community engagement. Visit the website to learn about their grants.

Blooming Prairie Foundation – Grants for innovative practices in the area of organic and natural foods.  Visit the website to learn about their grants.

Herb Society of America – The grants listed on their page are for the research of the horticultural, scientific, and/or social use of herb gardens throughout history. Visit the website to learn about their grants.

California ReLeaf Grants – Provides pass-through grants to network members and other community groups interested in caring for trees in California. They also have a link to other grant opportunities for California on their website. Visit the website to learn about their grants.

Wild Ones – Healing the Earth one yard at a time. For more than 25 years, this donor-funded program has provided grants ranging from $100 to $500 for native plant gardens and landscaping projects throughout the United States. The funds are designated for acquiring native plants and seeds for outdoor learning areas that engage youth (preschool to high school) directly in planning, planting, and caring for native plant gardens.  Visit the website to learn about their grants.

Other Grant Resources

GrantWatch – Grant listing directory

Fundraising

You could also try starting up a fundraiser on Adopt A Classroom.org, KickStarter.com, or GoFundMe.com.

Good luck with your fundraising!

two children exploring the geodesic greenhouse garden

Other Gardening Resources for Kids

Fiskars – Provides grants for innovation, education, and biodiversity for schools and community gardens.

Paonia Soil Co./Soil That Serves – If you are a nonprofit, community garden, or school program and are interested in being considered to join Soil that Serves, or know someone who is, please fill out and submit our application or email rylee@paoniasoilco.com with any questions.

Junior Master Gardener

Growing Spaces Urban Farming Grant 2023

Just like in previous years, we had so many wonderful applicants and the decision was a hard one. Growing Spaces puts much thought & consideration into choosing the causes for which we award these in-house grants. We are proud to announce our 2023 grant winners The Prolific Achievers Academy and Unity Gardens.

The Prolific Achievers Academy  The Prolific Achievers Academy is an agricultural training institute focused on reconnecting people to plants, the land, and their communities holistically. We strive to raise the community consciousness by transforming the environment through our farming practices. We believe this will help the community develop a deeper connection to the land while promoting regenerative development and community well-being.

Our methodology is “to teach the students to see the land, understand what they see from a holistic perspective, and enjoy what they understand by transforming that environment.”

With a Growing Dome, which is their Prolific Oxygen Dome, or P.O.D. it’s more than a gardening space. The P.O.D. is a sanctuary dedicated to mental wellness and tranquility. Nestled within a 33-foot Growing Dome from Growing Spaces on the Urban Agriculture Initiative’s farm, it stands as a living symbol of hope and positive change.

Unity Gardens “The Unity Gardens Inc. is a collaborative network of community gardens originated to increase the availability, awareness, and accessibility of healthy, locally grown food. Each Unity Garden has two criteria; diverse people coming together to grow food and a sharing component. The gardens provide food for any in need & bring diverse people together to grow, harvest, share, and eat healthy food. The Unity Gardens Inc. surrounds community gardens with the resources and systems needed to ensure success with growing food while  developing partnerships with area businesses, government, universities, schools, churches, nonprofits, and neighbors.”

The Unity Gardens Growing Spaces dome is located at LaSalle Square, their main garden space. This 7-acre garden has its Welcome Center, Growing Spaces Dome, an Accessibility Garden, orchard, a native area, goats, chickens, cats, and more!

To see the projects we supported in 2022, visit our 2022 Year in Review Blog Post.

To see the projects we supported in 2021, visit our Urban Farming Grant Winners Blog Post.

To see the projects we supported in 2020, visit our Food Insecurity Charities Blog Post.

We have also created a new fundraising page to provide information to our community on garden projects and greenhouse fundraisers. Contact us if you would like your fundraiser to be included on this page.