Delaware Private Grants

This program provides funding for events that raise awareness about the restoration and protection of natural resources in the Chesapeake Bay and Maryland's watersheds, targeting nonprofits and community organizations.

This grant provides financial support to nonprofit organizations in select states that focus on economic empowerment through initiatives like affordable housing, job training, and financial literacy.

This grant provides financial support to nonprofit organizations in the Mid-Atlantic region that focus on improving financial literacy, developing future leaders, and enhancing personal and professional development for individuals and communities.

This grant provides funding to nonprofit organizations and eligible government agencies in Delaware for health-related projects that improve access to care and address health disparities in underserved communities.

This grant provides funding to U.S.-based non-profit organizations to support projects that promote Japanese arts and culture, particularly in areas with limited access to such events.

This grant provides funding to dairy processors, associations, packaging manufacturers, and educational institutions in the Northeast to support innovative projects that improve processing and packaging in the dairy industry.

About This Grant The Paul J. Rickards, Jr. Teaching Innovation Grant program is designed to support instructors with developing and implementing novel teaching strategies. Experimentation, collaboration and the exploration of new approaches to teaching are encouraged. The deadline for submitting a 2024-2025 proposal is May 1, 2024. Program At-a-Glance Focus: This grant program promotes teaching innovation with initial funding up to $5,000 and project support. Eligibility: Any “instructor of record” at the University of Delaware can apply. We welcome proposals from instructors of record across all disciplines and areas of expertise and encourage interdisciplinary collaboration. Support: Along with funding, successful applicants will receive technical support and project management assistance from UDIT Academic Technology Services. Requirements: Grant recipients are required to share what they learn from their project through a presentation, project report, or other method of their choosing. The project team may also be asked to participate in a video interview about the project. Grant renewed every year.

The Delaware Community Foundation offers grants ranging from $100,000 to $500,000 through Highmark's BluePrints for the Community fund, prioritizing health-related projects and services that address healthcare access, economic stability, social and community context, and neighborhood and built environment in Delaware.

The First State Food System Program, funded by the Federal American Rescue Plan Act, is designed to support and strengthen Delaware's local food system. Its overarching mission, facilitated by the Delaware Department of Agriculture and the Delaware Council on Farm & Food Policy (Council), aligns with the goal of ensuring farmers have access to viable markets, households can access nutritious food, and the impacts of supply chain disruptions are reduced. The program aims to foster a resilient food system by offering grants to a diverse range of entities operating across the food supply chain within the State of Delaware. Target beneficiaries include entities that grow, process, store, transport, distribute, or sell food in Delaware, encompassing small to mid-sized for-profit producers, nonprofit organizations, aquaculture/fishery operators, food distributors, transporters, and food processing operators. The program's impact goals are centered on enabling these local entities to overcome challenges, build resilience, and contribute to a more robust food system. Specifically, it seeks to increase food production, enhance direct-to-consumer sales, improve food transformation activities, bolster transportation and distribution, and increase the flexibility of food retail outlets. The program prioritizes projects that support or benefit more than one entity or producer within Delaware’s food system. This focus is intended to strengthen the local food system through wide-reaching and complementary efforts rather than isolated, narrowly focused projects. Eligible projects are evaluated based on the entity's viability, its function and reach within the food system, and its capacity to add to food production, sales, processing, transportation, or distribution; improve efficiency and reduce costs; increase capacity of retail outlets; align with consumer needs; address proximity challenges; or increase emerging agricultural practices. Expected outcomes include a measurable positive impact on Delaware's food supply chain. Projects should create or contribute to outcomes such as increased volume of food production, greater availability of food products through various outlets, enhanced processing activities, more efficient transportation and distribution, improved capacity and flexibility of food retail outlets, and the adoption of innovative agricultural practices. The Council will award grants ranging from $2,500 to $150,000, and applicants must demonstrate the entity's infrastructure and capacity to successfully implement the project, with a general requirement for entities to be in operation for two or more years.

This grant provides funding to organizations and businesses in the Northeast to develop and expand dairy workforce training programs, enhancing opportunities for current and potential employees in the dairy industry.

The Welfare Foundation offers grants primarily focused on seven nonprofit sub-sectors including social services, housing, health/hospitals, education, environment, civic, and arts/humanities, to promote social welfare in Delaware and southern Chester County, Pennsylvania, with eligibility restricted to 501(c)(3) organizations that do not discriminate and do not use funds for activities such as political advocacy, religious institutions, fundraising events, and individual needs.

This grant provides financial support to nonprofit organizations that develop innovative resources and services to help adults in the middle or late stages of their careers with reskilling, upskilling, and career navigation, particularly those who are unemployed or underemployed.

The 2024 Sustainable Communities Grant Program, a collaborative effort between Delmarva Power and the Delaware Nature Society (DelNature), aims to distribute $35,000 to support open space and resiliency projects within Delmarva Power's service area in Delaware and Maryland. This program continues Delmarva Power's commitment to sustainability, having already provided over $235,000 in grants for similar projects since 2020. The initiative aligns with both organizations' missions to foster environmental well-being and community strength. The program targets municipalities, recreational authorities, and nonprofits operating within the Delmarva Power service area. The grants, each up to $10,000, are designed to fund projects demonstrating significant impact across several key areas. The overarching impact goals are to strengthen natural systems and provide reliable community resources in emergencies, thereby addressing the realities of climate change and increasing extreme weather events. The grant program prioritizes projects focusing on Open Space Preservation, Conservation & Habitat Improvements, Environmental Conservation, and Community Resiliency. Community Resiliency is a broad focus, encompassing community engagement and education regarding resiliency, the purchase of energy storage solutions, and solar installations, including mobile solar units. This holistic approach ensures that projects can address various facets of environmental and community preparedness. Expected outcomes include enhanced natural systems, increased community preparedness for severe weather, and innovative solutions for emergency resource provision. The program encourages initiatives that not only mitigate the effects of climate change but also build resilience within communities. By funding projects that strengthen natural systems and offer reliable resources during emergencies, the program aims to achieve measurable improvements in local sustainability and safety.

This funding opportunity supports nonprofit organizations in Kent County, Delaware, that provide educational and job training programs to enhance workforce readiness and economic development in the community.

This funding opportunity supports nonprofit organizations that provide stable housing and empower low- and moderate-income communities, focusing on vulnerable populations such as working families, youth, seniors, and veterans.

This grant provides funding to partnerships and organizations working to improve water quality and habitats in the Chesapeake Bay watershed through innovative practices that reduce nutrient and sediment pollution.

This funding program provides financial support to community-based organizations that empower youth aged 12 to 20 through established, youth-led urban greening initiatives focused on social and environmental justice in select states.

This program provides unrestricted funding to small arts organizations rooted in communities of color, helping them sustain and expand their cultural practices while addressing systemic inequities.

This program provides funding to local organizations in EPA Region 3 for projects that address environmental and health challenges in historically underserved communities.

This funding opportunity supports Delaware schools, arts organizations, and artists in creating engaging arts education programs for pre-K–12 students, enhancing their learning experiences through the arts.