2024 GroMoreGood Grassroots Grant
The GroMoreGood Grassroots Grant, brought to you by The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation and KidsGardening, is designed to bring the life-enhancing benefits of gardens to communities across the United States. In 2024, 170 programs will receive $500 - $1,500 in funding.
Grant winners have been announced.
2024 GroMoreGood Grassroots Grant
The GroMoreGood Grassroots Grant, brought to you by The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation and KidsGardening, is designed to bring the life-enhancing benefits of gardens to communities across the United States. The Grassroots Grants support The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company’s commitment to GroMoreGood by bringing the life-enhancing benefits of gardens and greenspaces to children across the country.
In 2024, 170 programs will receive funding to start or expand their youth garden or greenspace. A total of $100,000 will be awarded.
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Eligibility
Any nonprofit organization, school district, university, government entity, or tax-exempt organization, such as religious organizations and Tribal governments, in the United States and US Territories serving at least 15 youth is eligible to apply. Applicants must be planning to use the funds to install new or improve existing youth gardens or greenspaces.
Applicants must provide proof of 501(c)(3) status or qualify as tax-exempt. If your organization has not achieved 501(c)(3) or tax-exempt status, you may apply for a GroMoreGood Grassroots Grant by partnering with a fiscal sponsor who has achieved this status.
KidsGardening grantees from any 2022 - 2024 grant program (Budding Botanist, Youth Garden, GroMoreGood Grassroots, Lots of Compassion, and Little Seeds Pollinator Pals) are not eligible to apply.
Organizations must:
- Support, work with, or serve communities with a majority of individuals that are under-resourced (systematically denied resources and opportunities based on race, gender, ethnicity, income level, abilities, geographic location, etc., or currently experiencing hardship such as a natural disaster, etc.)
- Have fifteen or more youth participate in the garden program.
- Have received less than $10,000 in grants for the garden program during 2022 and 2023 combined.
Funding Priorities
The selection of winners is prioritized based on demonstrated need and program impact. KidsGardening considers a variety of factors when determining needs, including:
Socioeconomic & Sociodemographic Factors: How does the program exist within or engage a community that has been systematically denied resources, whether physical assets and money or representative leadership and community services? Organizations affected by multiple socioeconomic and sociodemographic factors are given priority.
Program Funding and Support: Does an organization have access to consistent, substantial monetary support or prior grant funding? Or are pre-existing resources (financial or otherwise) limited? Organizations experiencing the latter are given priority.
Impact: Will grant funding dramatically expand learning opportunities for program participants? Does the intended impact reflect the needs of the community? Organizations working with greater than 50 youth will be given priority.
GroMoreGood Grassroots Grant Award Packages
In 2024, 170 programs will be awarded $500 to start or expand their youth garden or greenspace. Programs will also have the opportunity to apply for additional funding through the following specialty award categories:
Plus Specialty Award: Designed to fund new and existing garden programs that have greater funding needs due to, but not limited to, financial, environmental, safety, health, and regulation challenges. The award will provide five programs an additional $1,000, for a total of $1,500 in funding.
Pride Specialty Award: Designed to fund new and existing garden programs that serve a majority of LGBTQ+ youth. The award will provide five programs an additional $1,000, for a total of $1,500 in funding.
Equity Specialty Award: Designed to fund new and existing garden programs led by people of color that serve a majority of youth of color. The award will provide five programs an additional $1,000, for a total of $1,500 in funding.
How to apply
The deadline for application submission is Friday, February 9, 2024, at 11:59 pm PT.
All applications must be submitted online. You can download a copy of the questions as a Word document or PDF file. We strongly advise saving the questions and then pasting the answers into the online application rather than composing your answers directly into the online form. Many browsers timeout after 30 minutes of inactivity (or sometimes sooner), so you may lose your work if it takes longer than your browser's setting to complete or save your entry.
Award Notification and Fulfilment
Winners will be announced and contacted by email by Monday, March 18, 2024. A list of winners will also be posted on KidsGardening.org on that date. Awards will be distributed at the beginning of April.
Grant Recipient Requirements
Grant awardees are required to complete a year-end report by December 15, 2024. These reports help KidsGardening determine the overall impact of the grant program. Winners will be provided with a link in November 2024 to the 10-question online form to complete.
Year-end reporting requirements include:
- 5-10 digital images or videos of the garden program
- Parental release forms to accompany images of children
- A narrative about the impact of the garden program
If you do not feel that you will be able to comply with these reporting requirements, please do not apply.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes a good GroMoreGood Grassroots application?
The GroMoreGood Grassroots Grant is designed to bring the life-enhancing benefits of gardens to communities across the United States. As such, a competitive application will demonstrate a clear picture of how the new or existing youth garden or greenspace will benefit your community.
We also encourage you to explore our Grant Writing Tips resource for general advice about crafting a standout grant application.
What are my chances of winning a GroMoreGood Grassroots Grant?
My program has previously been awarded a grant from KidsGardening, am I eligible to apply for and receive a GroMoreGood Grassroots Grant?
Programs that have previously been awarded a grant from KidsGardening in 2022, 2023, or 2024 are ineligible. Programs that were funded in 2021 or earlier are welcome to apply.
Are we required to provide documentation of our 501(c)(3) status?
Yes. During the application process, you will be required to upload verification documents of your nonprofit status. 501(c)(3) organizations may include their IRS Determination Letter or Formation Document or Organization's Charter. Schools can submit a letter on school district letterhead, signed by a school district official, stating that the school in question falls under the jurisdiction of the school district. For other tax-exempt organizations such as government agencies, religious organizations, and Tribal governments, please provide a letter on official letterhead stating that you are designated as an automatically tax-exempt organization and thus exempt from needing a 501(c)(3) documentation to claim nonprofit status with the US government.
How do I apply for the specialty award categories: Plus, Pride, or Equity?
As you complete your GroMoreGood Grassroots Grant application, you will find the additional questions for the specialty categories.
You can apply for multiple specialty award categories. That being said, given the high number of applications we typically receive, it is unlikely you will be awarded in multiple categories.
What can we use the $500 in funding on?
You may spend the grant funds on gardening materials such as raised bed materials, soil, plants, seeds, compost materials, tools, fencing, greenhouse or hydro/aquaponic materials, curriculum, watering supplies, observation tools, garden decor, cooking supplies, and programming. This is not an exhaustive list but merely an example of how the funds can be used.
A maximum of $250 can be budgeted to cover salaries.
How do I know if I’ve successfully submitted my application?
You will receive a confirmation email from JotForm following the submission of your application. Occasionally these emails end up flagged as Spam, so we recommend checking your Spam box.
How do you select grant winners?
We have a team of grant readers that evaluates applications and supporting materials over the course of about a month. A single application typically goes through three rounds of evaluation before being selected as a winner. In the initial round, a single reader will review an application, using a standardized scoring rubric, judging it on assorted criteria including but not limited to demonstrated need, program sustainability and impact, and clear fit with grant objectives. High quality applicants are then selected to undergo a second round of evaluations. In this phase of the review process, each member of the grant selection committee reads all second round applications before meeting to engage in group deliberation and finalist selection. These finalists are then recommended to grant program sponsors, who review application materials and confirm winner selections.
I didn’t receive an email on Monday, March 18, 2024, the day of the winner announcement. Does this mean my program hasn’t been awarded a grant?
We send a notification email about winner selection to the main contact listed on your application. Emails are sent to both winning programs and those that were not selected for this year’s grant. Because these emails are sent out en masse, this communication is frequently flagged in the main contact’s Spam box. We encourage you to check your Spam box if you do not receive a notification email on the day of the announcement or to visit our website to view a list of Grant Winners.
What makes a quality GroMoreGood Grassroots Grant application?
The GroMoreGood Grassroots Grant is designed to bring the life-enhancing benefits of gardens to communities across the United States. As such, a competitive application will demonstrate a clear picture of how the new or existing youth garden or greenspace will benefit your community.
We also encourage you to explore our Grant Application Support page for advice on how to craft a standout grant application.
Grant Application Technical Support
If you have any questions that were not addressed in the above Frequently Asked Questions section, please contact KidsGardening Program Director Sarah Lane at [email protected].
About the Grant Sponsor
The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation is committed to bringing the life-enhancing benefits of gardens and greenspaces to more people and more communities, especially those that need them most. Working with a wide range of innovative partners, including KidsGardening, they are ensuring that today's generations, and the ones that come after, will experience a world made better through gardens and greenspaces.
GroMoreGood Grassroots Grant
Grant winners were announced March 18, 2024.
Grant Application Support
Grant writing tips and how to navigate our online grant application platform
More Grant Opportunities
Additional grant opportunities from other organizations
Grant Winners
Meet our amazing grant winners, listed by award