Youth Garden Grant
2027 Youth Garden Grant
Since 1982, KidsGardening’s Youth Garden Grant has helped more than 5,700 under-resourced schools and youth organizations create and maintain gardens where kids learn, grow, and connect with their communities. It is the longest-running youth garden grant program of its kind in the country.
In 2027, KidsGardening will award $750 to 30-50 school and youth educational garden programs depending on funds raised.
¡Pueden aplicar a los programas en español!
Deadline: Friday, December 11, 2026
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 2025 and 2026 grant program (Waterwise Garden Grant, Youth Garden Grant, GroMoreGood Grassroots Grant, Lots of Compassion, Growing the Future Intergenerational Garden Grant) are not eligible to apply.
Organizations must:
- Support, work with, or serve under-resourced communities (those most impacted by systemic inequities and situational hardships)
- Have fifteen or more youth participate in the garden program.
- Have received less than $5,000 in grants for the garden program in 2026.
Funding Priorities
The selection of grantees is based on alignment to the grant theme, demonstrated need, existing support, and program impact. KidsGardening considers a variety of factors when determining needs, including:
- Theme: How does the proposal align with the grant theme of engaging youth in a garden? This should be a prominent focus of the program.
- Sub-Award Theme: How do the proposal and gardening goals align with the topic of container gardening? This theme should be a prominent focus of the program if applying to the Crescent Garden Container Gardening Award.
- 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
In 2027, KidsGardening will award $750 to 30-50 school and youth educational garden programs depending on funds raised. The 2027 Youth Garden Grant is made possible by KidsGardening’s generous donor base and sponsorships from our partners.
Ten grantees will receive the Bluestone Perennials School Garden Award
The Bluestone Perennials School Garden Award will support ten school garden programs with a $750 grant to kick-start or maintain their garden. This award is sponsored by our friends at Bluestone Perennials.
Up to forty grantees will receive the Garden Champions Award
The Garden Champions Award will support up to forty youth garden programs with a $750 grant to kick-start or maintain their garden. This award is sponsored by American Meadows, AMES, Baker Creek, BB Barns, Coast of Maine, Olivia’s, Mahoney’s Garden Centers, Woodland Tools, and individual donations.
All grantees will also receive seeds from our friends at Baker Creek.
Additionally, the 2027 Youth Garden Grant has a subaward opportunity.
Five of the grantees will also receive the Crescent Garden Container Gardening Award
The Crescent Garden Container Gardening Award will support five youth garden programs with a container gardening package, valued at $1,970. This award is sponsored by our friends at Crescent Garden.
How to apply
The deadline for application submission is Friday, December 11, 2026, at 11:59 pm PT.
KidsGardening has streamlined its grant application process and created a Common Application form. To apply for the Youth Garden Grant, use our Common Application form and apply by the deadline. You will also have the option to simultaneously apply for other grant opportunities you are eligible for. All applications must be submitted online.
You can download a copy of the questions below.
- English: Word document or PDF file.
- Español: Documento de Word o archivo PDF.
Required attachments
- Current photos of the garden site.
Optional attachments
- Garden sketch, land survey, or scale map of the garden site
- Video of the garden site
- Letter of support
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 time out 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 Fulfillment
Grantees will be announced and contacted by email in late January 2027. A list of grantees will also be posted on kidsgardening.org. Awards will be distributed in late February 2027.
Grant Recipient Requirements
Grant recipients are required to complete a grant-end report by June 15, 2027. These brief reports help KidsGardening and the sponsors determine the overall impact of the grant program. Grant recipients will receive a link to the 10-question online reporting form.
Grant-end reporting requirements include:
- A short narrative about the impact of the garden program
- Three to five photos or videos of the garden or garden programming
- Parental release forms to accompany images of children
If you do not feel that you will be able to comply with these reporting requirements, please do not apply.
Grant Application Technical Support
If you have any questions that were not addressed in the below Frequently Asked Questions section, please contact KidsGardening Program Director Sarah Lane at grants@kidsgardening.org.
Grant Sponsors
The 2027 Youth Garden Grant is sponsored by the following partners:
Frequently Asked Questions
This is a competitive grant opportunity, and we receive more applications than funding available. On average, KidsGardening is able to fund 13% of the applications submitted.
We also encourage you to explore our Grant Application Support page for advice on how to craft a standout grant application and check out Our Grantees to see a list of past grant recipients.
Organizations must wait two years before re-applying to KidsGardening for grant funding. Visit the KidsGardening website to view a list of Our Grantees.
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 50% of the budget can be used to cover salaries or stipends.
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.
No, applications that are started but not submitted will not be considered for the award.
The last application submitted will be evaluated.
To edit your submission, click the “Edit Submission” link at the top of the confirmation email sent from noreply@jotform.com. If you can not find the confirmation email, please complete a new application. We will only review the last application submitted by an organization.
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 grantee. 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 the grant program sponsor, who reviews the application materials and confirms the grantee selections.
We send a notification email about the grantee selection to the primary contact listed on your application. Emails are sent to both the grantees 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 primary contact’s Spam box. If you have unsubscribed from our newsletter list, there may be a delay in receiving grant communication. We encourage you to check your Spam box if you do not receive a notification email during the announcement timeframe or to visit the KidsGardening website to view a list of Our Grantees.
Grant Quick Details
Deadline: December 11, 2026
support the Youth Garden Grant!
Grant Application Support
Grant writing tips and how to navigate our online grant application platform
Other Grant Opportunities
We encourage you to join the Kids Garden Community to explore a current library of funding opportunities that might work for your garden program and to discuss fundraising strategies with a community of program leaders.
Our Grantees
Meet our amazing grant recipients, listed by award.