Small Nonprofit Grants

Don't chase these

Grants that ended, closed, or changed

Small-nonprofit grant lists are full of programs that are dead, closed, or misquoted. Here are the ones we see most — with the evidence — so you don't chase them.

T-Mobile Hometown Grants (up to $50,000)

Discontinued

The program has completed. Its final application window closed March 31, 2026, and the final 26 recipients were announced June 25, 2026 ($22.8M to ~500 towns since 2021). It's still all over small-town grant lists.

Verified against T-Mobile newsroom / Hometown Grants on

'Apply to MacKenzie Scott' / Yield Giving Open Call

Not a grant

The one-time 2023 Yield Giving Open Call is marked 'Closed; Awarded' (361 orgs, $640M). There is no current open call, and Yield Giving otherwise gives by its own quiet research — you cannot apply.

Verified against Lever for Change — Yield Giving Open Call on

Pollination Project '$1,000 daily grants'

Changed

The program is very much alive, but the amount circulating is wrong. Its current apply page lists one-time seed funding of up to $500 (reviewed monthly) — not $1,000. Print and plan around $500.

Verified against The Pollination Project on

Ben & Jerry's Foundation — 'rolling applications, 2-year grants'

Changed

Now a single annual deadline (2026 was February 25) and one-year grants, citing funding uncertainty. Old guidance describing year-round applications is stale.

Verified against Ben & Jerry's Foundation on

EPA Environmental Justice Small Grants (EJSG / Thriving Communities)

Discontinued

Terminated in 2025 when EPA dropped environmental justice as a priority; hundreds of grants were canceled and litigation is ongoing. There is no live application — do not send readers here regardless of what listicles say.

Verified against EPA / 2025 termination court filings (reported) on

Foundation Directory Online (FDO)

Renamed

Candid's funder-research product is now 'Candid search.' The FDO name no longer appears on candid.org — search under the current name.

Verified against Candid on

The single most common way a small nonprofit wastes a weekend is chasing a grant that no longer works the way a listicle says. This page fixes the ones we run into most.

That’s The Live-or-Dead Check from our framework: before you pursue anything, confirm it’s live on the funder’s own current page, check the latest 990 on ProPublica, and confirm the org on IRS Tax-Exempt Organization Search. If the only source is a listicle, treat it as dead until proven live.

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