Waterwise Garden Grant
2027 Waterwise Garden Grant
Now in its third year, the Waterwise Garden Grant—a collaboration between Hunter Industries and KidsGardening— will support public and charter schools that want to use gardens to teach about water conservation, water stewardship, and responsible water management.
Fifty schools will be awarded $1,000 – $2,250 in funding and an irrigation supply kit valued at $500.
¡Pueden aplicar a los programas en español!
Deadline: Friday, October 2, 2026
Eligibility
Any public or charter elementary, middle, or high school (K-12th grades) located in the United States or U.S. territories that works with at least 15 youth is eligible to apply. Applicants must be planning to use the funds to install a new or improve an existing youth garden.
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 so far.
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 teaching about water conservation, water stewardship, and responsible water management through gardening? These themes should be a prominent focus of the program.
- 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
Fifty schools (K-12th grades) will be awarded $1,000 in funding and an irrigation supply kit valued at $500. Programs will also have the opportunity to apply for additional funding through the Waterwise Garden Equity Specialty Award.
Waterwise Garden Equity Specialty Award: Designed to fund programs that have greater funding needs. The award will provide ten programs with an additional $1,250, for a total of $2,250 in funding and the irrigation supply kit.
Irrigation Supply Kit: The irrigation supply kit provides enough materials for three 4’ x 8’-raised beds, or an equivalent garden with different dimensions. It includes a timer, pressure regulator adapter, pressure regulator, 100-foot roll of irrigation tubing, 100-foot roll of emitter irrigation tubing, elbows/tees/couplers, end caps, and a tube cutting knife. Descriptions of each component are listed below. An instruction guide will be provided.
- Timer – Connects to the spigot/hose bib to allow you to control the frequency and duration of irrigation. It can also be used to turn the system on manually. Includes a screen to filter out particles that can clog the system. This device can be controlled from a smartphone using a free Hunter app. Adapter – An adapter to connect the 17mm drip tubing to your pressure regulator. This will convert from ¾” garden hose thread to 17mm irrigation tubing
- Pressure Regulator – Standard drip systems should be reduced to between 20 and 40 psi, which can occur at the spigot (after the timer). Connects to a ¾” garden hose thread.
- A 100-foot roll of standard 17mm blank irrigation tubing – This will be used to create the main header line that the drip lines will attach to. It can also be used as the water supply line.
- A 100-foot roll of standard 17mm in-line emitter irrigation tubing – This will be used to create the runs in the planting beds that deliver water to the plants.
- Elbows, tees, and couplers – The fittings connect to two or three pieces of tubing. They allow you to change direction at a 90º angle and add a piece of tubing to the side using a tee. Couplers let you join two pieces of tubing. The fittings have barbed ends, allowing you to easily push the tubing onto them to create a tight fit.
- End caps – These are used at the end of tubing runs and the end of each line of drip line.
- Hunter HEMT Tool – Blue folding knife to cut tubing.
If this collection of supplies is not a good fit for your garden’s needs, a custom kit of equal value can be developed with the assistance of a licensed irrigation professional.
How to apply
The deadline for application submission is Friday, October 2, 2026, at 11:59 pm PT.
KidsGardening has streamlined its grant application process and created a Common Application form. To apply for the Waterwise 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.
- Tax-exempt verification: Letter on school district letterhead, signed by a school district official, stating that the school in question falls under the school district’s jurisdiction.
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 November. A list of grantees will also be posted on kidsgardening.org. Checks will be distributed in December, and the irrigation supplies will be delivered in January 2027.
Grant Recipient Requirements
Grant recipients are required to complete a grant-end report by June 15, 2027. These brief reports help KidsGardening and Hunter Industries 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.
About the Grant Sponsor
Developing innovative irrigation solutions that save water and energy is a driving force at Hunter Industries. We offer a complete spectrum of water- and energy-efficient solutions for residential, commercial, golf course, and agricultural irrigation systems in over 120 countries. To promote sustainability, we’re proud to partner with organizations like KidsGardening that encourage the growth of green spaces while seeking ways to responsibly support the environment.
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.
2027 Waterwise Garden Grant
Grantees will be announced and contacted by email in November. Checks will be distributed in December, and the irrigation supplies will be delivered in January 2027.
Educational Resources
Hunter Industries and KidsGardening are excited to share educational materials, designed for middle school and elementary educators, for helping the next generation of gardeners be waterwise! Resources are available in English and Spanish!
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.
Grant Recipients
Meet our amazing grantees, listed by award.