Grow Grants support established groups to sustain their current work or build on past success in new ways. These groups typically have some experience working together and in the community. This means they have figured out a basic group structure and ways of gathering wider input to guide their work. Applicants can often provide specific examples for how they are implementing the Guiding Practices, which are centered in review.
For a summary of the Grow grant program and to determine your group's fit, you can watch a short overview video (~7 min) here.
Deadlines: Third Tuesday in March & September. For 2026, this is March 17 (Spring round) and September 15 (Fall round).
Grant size: $1,000 - $4,000. We highly recommend groups seek the full $4,000, if they can use it. Reviewers may decide on partial funding.
Grant Timeline: Funding decisions are typically announced at the end of June (Spring round) and the beginning of January (Fall round). Paperwork to process grants is sent within ~3-4 weeks of the grant announcement. Depending on the group’s tax status and chosen payment method, funds are typically in hand ~2-3 weeks after all paperwork has been completed.
Direct questions to: Mary at mary@grassrootsfund.org if you cannot find the answers to your questions on this page.
Eligibility guidelines
The Grow grant program is focused on community-based, local initiatives.
We only fund:
- Groups doing local, grassroots work in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island or Vermont.
- Groups who have 3 or more organizers actively involved in decision-making on project priorities and actions.
- Note that groups do NOT need to have formal tax status or a fiscal sponsor. A group only needs a bank account in the group's name (see FAQs below to learn how to set that up).
We prioritize:
- Groups that are volunteer-driven.
- Groups that have an approximate annual operating budget under $100,000. There is some tolerance for applications from groups spending up to $150K in particular cases. We ask for more context on the application.
We don't fund:
- Individuals.
- Groups who spent more than $150,000 last calendar year.
- For profits requesting funds to cover business expenses.
- National or international work.
- Lobbying or partisan political activity.
- Acquisition of land and/or buildings.
- Studies with no follow-up action.
- Publication of books or reports.
- Micro-, mini-, re-granting programs.
- Retroactive (pre-dating application submission) expenses.
Groups who DO NOT have tax-exempt or incorporation status and who do not have a fiscal sponsor, are able to receive 2 Grow grants in a calendar year (one in Spring and one in Fall). All other groups can receive only 1 Grow grant in a calendar year.
How to submit an application
The Grassroots Fund application is online. You can start your group's application by clicking the button below. Each application has two main sections: group information & project information. If you would like to preview the questions asked in the application, please see here.
All required fields have to be complete before you are able to submit your group's application. The application form does not auto-save and we recommend you regularly hit the Save button to make sure your work is not lost (technology isn't always our friend). You can return to an open application by clicking the Show Action Center button in the top-right (make sure you are logged in). Additional members of your group are able to register with the website and can join your group to get access to an application.
Once you submit an application, you will receive an automated confirmation that we have received the application. Don't hesitate to contact us with any questions along the way.
Start a new Grow grant application
(to return to an existing application, click the Show Action Center button top-right and find saved applications under the Your Applications header. Note that you must be logged into the website for “Show Action Center” to appear.)
Review process
Community Grant Readers: Grow grant applications are submitted to the Grassroots Fund’s online system with deadlines each March and September. All requests are then assigned to a group of volunteer Community Grant Readers, who represent different issue, identity, geographic, and other perspectives from across the region. We welcome anyone to sign up to be a grant reader, and especially encourage our applicants and grantees to participate in the process. This is an opportunity to explore the Guiding Practices, to talk about bias in decision-making and giving critical feedback and to learn about the breadth and depth of community work across the region.
Community Grant Readers provide comments on their assigned applications and use a(n online) rubric to provide scores for alignment with the Guiding Practices and 2 additional review categories. To view the rubric grant readers use to evaluate applications, please see here. Note that lower scores translate to partial funding recommendations, at various levels.
Staff: Grassroots Fund staff conduct phone interviews with applicant groups. These calls are an opportunituy to hear more about the work (limited character count written applications have their limits) and to request more information based on the readers' questions or concerns. Staff score all applicants using the same scoring rubric as the readers and provides comments on each category. An overall staff recommendation (e.g. “Recommend Fund,” “Recommend Not Fund,” “Discuss”) is also provided based on reader scores and comments. Staff categorizes applications as “Recommend Fund” or “Recommend Not Fund” if overall Reader score and staff score align at a particular funding level (100%, 85%, 70% and 50%). Staff categorizes applications as “Discuss” if there is a discrepancy between overall reader and staff score, a wide range of reader scores for the application, or a specific question or concern about how the application fits with our guidelines.
Grantmaking Committee: Approximately 16 grassroots leaders are selected to serve on the Grantmaking Committee (GMC). The committee is balanced and representative based on demographic factors. The GMC is tasked with making funding decisions for applications that were marked “Discuss.” They also approve the recommendations for applications marked “Recommend Fund” and “Recommend Not Fund.” GMC discussions are led by a participant facilitator, and although staff are present, they do not have a vote on funding decisions. While the Grassroots Fund board decides on the total amount available for each grant program/grant round, the GMC makes all final funding decisions on specific requests
Notification: All applicants are notified of the final decision via email. Whether approved or denied, this email will provide feedback from reviewers. When you are approved for funding, you will be asked to sign a grant agreement letter ahead of receiving the funding.
Grant reporting
After receiving a grant, a report is due either when all funds are expended or one year from the date your grant agreement letter was sent. You can access the (google form based) grant report form, by clicking the button below. For a preview of the report questions, see here. If you have any questions or need a copy of your grant agreement letter, please reach out to Chetana.
Go to Report form (Google form link will open)
Frequently asked questions
Does a group have to have a 501(c)3, incorporated status or a fiscal sponsor to receive funding? (spoiler alert: NO!)
No, the Grassroots Fund does not require that a group has a formal tax exempt status. We fund both informal (unincorporated) groups - we call them “ad hoc” - and formal (incorporated or 501c3 status) groups. The minimum requirement is that a group must have a checking account in the group’s name (if you don't have a fiscal sponsor or a certain tax status as a group). This requirement is to ensure that the grant isn't considered personal income for the recipient. Note that a group is allowed to submit an application before having a checking account or a fiscal agent in place.
How can an unincorporated community volunteer group open a bank account in the group's name?
In order to open a bank account to deposit funds, the bank can request an Employee Identification Number (EIN) be assigned for identification purposes. A Community Volunteer Group can request an EIN number online by following these steps:
- Go to this IRS Website
- Click on Apply for an EIN (near the middle of the page)
- Click on Begin Application (at the bottom of the page)
- When you get to the list of the type of group, check the View Additional Types box at the bottom of the list, then hit Continue
- Choose Community or Volunteer Group, then Continue
- Click on the Continue button
- Fill out all of the applicable information for the group
What kind of projects does the Grassroots Fund support?
The Grassroots Fund's Guiding Practices highlight some of the process elements we aim to prioritize in our funding. The Guiding Practices focus on rooting work in community context, shifting power in decision-making, ensuring barriers to participation are lowered and centering just transition principles. We understand no single project will be able to excel in all areas, but we seek to engage in conversations about who makes decisions, how priorities are set and who is able to participate. Those are questions we ask ourselves about our own programs & projects as well.
The Fund interprets the word ‘environment’ broadly and will provide funding for a wide range of activities. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you want to discuss a project idea or if you are looking for feedback on an application.
What is the difference between a Grow and a Seed grant?
If you are working to launch a newly evolving project (generally active less than 2 years), go with Seed. Seed grantees often have less experience with the work and aren't able to draw from many experiences with implementation. If you are an established group with some experience with the project and are looking for support to deepen or broaden the work, then Grow is more appropriate. Grow grantees often are able to give specific examples for how they are implementing (or evolving) specific practices. Don't hesitate to contact us for help deciding betweent the grant programs.
What should a group do about the grant report if a grant hasn't been spent after one year?
Please reach out and connect so we can talk more about next steps. It generally is not a problem to extend the grant period if there are plans to complete the project in the next 6 months. Staff will ask follow up questions where needed and we can note on the application that an extension was granted. In some cases, we may ask for an interim report but we can best determine that when we understand the specifics. Please don't hesitate to contact us to discuss more.
What should a group do if it doesn't need the full grant to complete the work (or disbands before the funds are spent)?
The group should fill out a final Grant Report form and return the remaining money to the Grassroots Fund by check. We will use the funds to support other grassroots groups across the region! Please contact Chetana with any questions about returning grant funds.
How many times can a group receive Grow funding in a calendar year?
Unincorporated (meaning having no formal tax status in the group's name) groups with no fiscal sponsor can receive 2 Grow grants in a calendar year (one in Spring and one in Fall). All other groups (those with a formal tax status or with a fiscal sponsor) can receive one Grow grant in a calendar year.
How many times can a group receive funding from the Grassroots Fund?
That depends. There is no set limit. We work through a participatory process and rely on grant readers and grantmaking committee members to make final decisions. Alignment with the Guiding Practices is at the center of conversation and we understand that much of the work takes time to develop and has to respond to shifting realities. If you are unsure whether or not your group should apply again, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Why are there demographic questions in the application process?
In Grassroots Fund’s commitment to environmental justice, we are focusing our efforts in making sure that grant funds are reaching community organizers and organizations whose voices and identities are most often underfunded. This most strongly shows up as we think about what it means to Shift Power. Grantees who have scored high in this particular guiding practice emphasize needing to understand who is in their community and who is in their organization’s leadership. They do so by seeking to understand their leadership’s lived experiences. As our application is built to provide reflection points for groups to think about how they are organizing, we have added additional questions to think about who is present in your group. We also will use this information to better understand who is receiving funding and how we can better focus our efforts to ensure our funding dollars are leading towards greater environmental justice.
We similarly ask these questions in our volunteer sign ups to better ensure that the lived experiences of folks who are traditionally left out of decision making spaces are centered in our participatory review process, including our community reader program and grantmaking committee.
How are grants evaluated?
Community Grant Readers, staff and Grantmaking Committee members evaluate applications using this rubric.