Grants for Youth Programs: What's Available and Where to Find It
Youth program grants fund one of the most active segments of the nonprofit sector — after-school programming, sports leagues, mentorship programs, summer learning, youth leadership development, and arts and cultural programming for young people. Funding comes from a mix of federal formula grants, competitive federal programs, corporate foundations, and community foundations. The competitive landscape is real: major federal programs like 21st Century Community Learning Centers receive far more applications than they can fund. This guide covers the major funding sources for youth-serving organizations and provides concrete tips for improving your chances.
Types of Youth Program Funding
After-School and Extended Learning
The 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program, authorized under Title IV-B of the Every Student Succeeds Act, is the primary federal grant for after-school programming. It funds community learning centers that provide academic enrichment opportunities for students in high-poverty, low-performing schools during non-school hours. 21st CCLC is administered by state education agencies, which run competitive grant cycles. Awards typically range from $50,000 to $200,000 per year, for three to five years. Contact your state's department of education for current RFP schedules.
Mentorship Programs
MENTOR (formally the National Mentoring Partnership) does not fund programs directly but provides a searchable directory of mentoring grant opportunities and accreditation for mentoring programs that strengthens grant applications. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) within the Department of Justice funds mentoring programs targeting at-risk youth through its Mentoring Initiative and other competitive solicitations. AmeriCorps volunteers can also be placed with mentoring organizations, offsetting personnel costs through national service stipends.
Sports and Recreation
Youth sports organizations access funding through USDA's Land and Water Conservation Fund (administered by state parks agencies for facility improvements), the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) for programs that connect youth with law enforcement through sports, and a range of corporate foundations tied to professional sports leagues. The NFL Foundation, NBA Foundation, and Major League Baseball's RBI program fund youth sports access and field improvements. The Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation has a significant sports access portfolio in the Detroit and Buffalo metro areas.
Top Federal Grant Sources for Youth Programs
AmeriCorps
AmeriCorps offers several grant programs relevant to youth-serving organizations. AmeriCorps State and National competitive grants fund organizations that deploy AmeriCorps members in direct service roles. VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) places volunteers in antipoverty organizations including youth-serving nonprofits. Accessing AmeriCorps members significantly reduces personnel costs — members receive a living allowance paid by AmeriCorps and an education award, not a full salary from your organization.
Department of Justice — OJJDP
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention funds programs for at-risk and justice-involved youth. Programs include Title II Formula Grants (administered through state agencies), the Juvenile Accountability Block Grants, the Youth Violence Prevention program, and competitive discretionary grants for mentoring, diversion, and gang prevention. OJJDP solicitations are posted on Grants.gov; current solicitations are also listed on the OJJDP website (ojjdp.gov).
Department of Education
Beyond 21st CCLC, ED funds youth programming through the Promise Neighborhoods program (comprehensive cradle-to-career services in high-need communities), the Full-Service Community Schools program, and the Student Support and Academic Enrichment (SSAE) state formula grants (Title IV-A of ESSA), which fund well-rounded education, technology access, and safe and healthy students programs. Local education agencies and community partners are both eligible for SSAE-funded activities.
USDA Summer Food Service Program (SFSP)
SFSP reimburses nonprofit organizations and government agencies for providing free meals and snacks to children in low-income areas during school summer breaks. Organizations apply through their state's SFSP administering agency. This is not a traditional grant — it's a cost reimbursement program — but it functions like revenue for summer youth programs, covering food and associated costs.
Foundation Grants for Youth Programs
Corporate and private foundations are substantial funders of youth programming. Key sources include: the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for health-focused youth programming; the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation for expanded learning time and school-community partnerships; the Wallace Foundation for arts, afterschool, and leadership development; Boys & Girls Clubs of America, which provides both direct services and subgrants to member organizations; and YMCAs of the USA, which similarly supports member organizations. Local community foundations are often the most accessible source for smaller youth organizations without a track record of federal grant management.
Application Tips
- Attendance data is everything: Program attendance rates, student-to-staff ratios, and participation in academic enrichment activities are the primary metrics federal funders evaluate. Implement tracking from day one.
- Partner with schools early: 21st CCLC and many federal programs require or strongly favor school partnerships. Get a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with your target schools before the application deadline.
- Document community need: Use school-level data — free and reduced-price lunch percentages, attendance rates, proficiency rates — to establish that your target community meets the high-need thresholds most federal youth grants require.
- Show a theory of change: Funders want to see the causal logic between your activities (tutoring, mentoring, sports) and your outcomes (academic improvement, social-emotional development, high school graduation). A one-page logic model strengthens any youth program application.
Find Youth Program Grants with FindGrants
Youth program funding is distributed across federal education, justice, agriculture, and service agencies — plus scores of private foundations. FindGrants.io indexes all major sources and matches them to your organization profile. Enter your focus areas, service states, and populations served to see the grant opportunities most relevant to your youth programming — ranked by alignment, not alphabetically.