Youth Garden Grant
In early 2024, 50 organizations will be awarded $500 in funding and a collection of gardening supplies for their youth garden program.
This application is closed. Meet the winners!
Youth Garden Grant
Since 1982, the Youth Garden Grant has supported school and youth educational garden projects that enhance the quality of life for youth and their communities.
In early 2024, fifty organizations will be awarded $500 in funding and a collection of gardening supplies for their youth garden program.
¡Pueden aplicar a los programas en español! Para ver esta oportunidad de subvención en español, visite nuestra página web en español.
Eligibility
Any organization in the United States or US Territories planning a new or improving an existing garden program that serves at least 15 youth between the ages of 0 and 18 is eligible to apply.
KidsGardening grantees from any 2022, 2023, or 2024 grant program (Budding Botanist, GroMoreGood Grassroots, Lots of Compassion, and Little Seeds Pollinator Pals) and previous Youth Garden winners from any year are not eligible.
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.
Award Packages
The 2024 Youth Garden Grant is made possible by KidsGardening’s generous donor base and sponsorships from seventeen garden industry partners.
A total of fifty programs will be awarded $500 and a shipment of gardening supplies.
Among the fifty winners, ten programs will also receive a specialty award package: five from our friends at Crescent Garden and five from our friends at Garden Tower.
Forty winners will receive award packages valued at $1,000 that include:
- A $500 check from KidsGardening
- A variety of gardening tools and supplies including:
- Ten wildflower seed packets from American Meadows
- One mushroom kit and one vegetable seed packet from Back to the Roots
- Two weed cultivator garden tools from Cobrahead
- Three tool sets, containing a trowel, cultivator, and transplanter, from Corona Tools
- Two watering cans from Crescent Garden
- One hydroponic seed sprouting kit from CropKing
- One 16" Sunrise Rain Wand from Dramm
- Fifteen grow bags (5, 15, and 20 gallons) and ten Botanical Interests vegetable seed packets from Epic Gardening
- Two tub trugs from Gardener's Supply Company
- Two curriculum books from KidsGardening
- One heavy-duty cultivator and one heavy-duty trowel from Woodland Tools
Five winners will receive the above award package and a Crescent Garden Container Garden Specialty Award package, valued at $1,900, that includes:
- Two Mod Large Trough Self-watering Planters
- Ten Eos Watering Cans
- Twelve Weed Forks
- Twelve Wide Trowels
- Twelve Cultivators
- Two Gabrielle Bags
- One Pack of Plant Tags
This award package represents a $9,500 in-kind donation from Crescent Garden.
Five winners will receive the above award package and a Garden Tower Vertical Garden Specialty Award package, valued at $1,100, that includes:
- Two Garden Tower 2s
- Two Premium Caster Kits
- Four Large Moisture Monitoring Probes
- Earth Premium Organic Plant Food
- A $50 gift card
This award package represents a $5,500 in-kind donation from Garden Tower.
How to apply
The application is now closed.
The deadline for application submission is Friday, December 15, 2023, 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 Friday, January 19, 2024. A list of winners will also be posted on KidsGardening.org on that date. Awards will be distributed in February 2024.
Grant Recipient Requirements
Grant awardees are required to complete a year-end report by June 15, 2024. These reports help KidsGardening determine the overall impact of the grant program. Winners will be provided with a link in May 2024 to the 10-question online form to complete.
Year-end reporting requirements include:
- 5-10 digital images of the garden
- 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 Youth Garden Grant application?
The Youth Garden Grant differs from our other grant programs in that winning programs receive a product package in addition to a monetary award. As such, a competitive application will demonstrate a clear need for the product package items. Please be as precise and descriptive as possible when outlining how the assorted gardening supplies and tools would benefit your program.
We also encourage you to explore our Grant Application Support page for advice on how to craft a standout grant application.
What are my chances of winning a Youth Garden Grant?
The Youth Garden Grant is our most competitive funding opportunity. We typically receive between 750-850 applications each grant cycle.
My program has previously been awarded a grant from KidsGardening. Am I eligible to apply for and receive a Youth Garden Grant?
Previous Youth Garden Grant winners are not eligible to receive another Youth Garden grant. However, programs that have previously been awarded other grants from KidsGardening (except from 2022, 2023, and 2024) are welcome to apply and are eligible to be selected.
How do I know if I’ve successfully submitted my application?
You will receive a confirmation email following the submission of your application on JotForm. Occasionally these emails end up flagged as Spam, so we recommend checking your Spam box.
What if I have started my application but have not finished it? Will it be reviewed?
Applications that are started but not submitted will not be considered for the award.
What if I need to update my submitted application?
You can email [email protected] to make minor changes to your application. If you need larger changes, please complete a new application. We only review the last application submitted by an organization.
What if I submit more than one application for the same organization?
The last application submitted will be reviewed.
How do you select grant winners?
We have a team of grant readers that evaluates applications and supporting materials for 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.
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, garden field trip expenses, 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 or stipends.
I didn’t receive an email on Friday, January 19, 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.
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].
Grant Sponsors
The 2024 Youth Garden Grant is sponsored by the following garden industry partners:
Youth Garden Grant 2024
The application is now closed. Meet the winners!
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
