May 2026 Funding Opportunities for Nonprofits, Artists, Photographers, and More!
Blooming with new and exciting grants to help you move in Q2!
With the much-anticipated warmer weather soon upon us and flowers and trees blooming, we excitedly look forward to sunnier days ahead! 🌺🌸
We loved seeing the abundance of opportunities in Q1 extended to April. In May, we are noticing more nonprofit and artist opportunities, but as always, we will keep our eyes out for what is still to come and share them all with you.
➡️ This newsletter currently features (73) grants for U.S.-based creatives totaling approximately $2,307,150. We are continually adding more funding opportunities weekly, so stay tuned.
➡️ Click here for our April 2026 Grants Roundup!
How To Find Grants via Our Newsletter
New here? Our grants list is chronologically ordered from May 1st to May 31st.
To help you save time, we also indicate who grants are for in award titles, and we’ve included a numbered index below summarizing featured opportunities.
We will continuously share more May grants as we find them.
Artists: #5, 9 (Featured; Early Career), 1 (Ohio), 7 (New York City), 8 (Nevada), 28 (Alaska), 34, 42 (Philadelphia; Women/Trans/Gender Nonconforming), 45 (Washington State), 46 (Minnesota), 47, 52 (Washington State), 54, 59
Authors/Writers: #3 (Featured), 4 (Featured), 12, 33, 39, 53 (Puerto Rican), 58, 62
Ceramics: #54, 61
Community Enhancement Leadership: #10 (Brooklyn), 17 (North Carolina), 50, 63 (Portland)
Culinary Arts: #23 (Immigrants)
Entrepreneurs/Small Businesses: #6 (Featured), 15 (New York; Women), 64 (Young)
Filmmakers: #2 (Featured), 22, 24
Founders: #21 (Early Stage), 31 (Austin/Los Angeles/New York)
Health Innovations: #56
Humanities: #43
Jewelry Artists: #3 (Emerging)
Journalists: #41 (Early Career; Muslim)
Nonprofits: #1 (Featured), 2 (Missouri), 9 (Nebraska), 13, 27 (Colorado), 29 (Oregon), 30, 32, 35 (Vermont), 36 (New York), 37, 38 (Vermont), 44, 49, 57 (Northern Nevada)
Painters: #25 (Emerging; Bay Area)
Performing Artists: #18 (New York City)
Photographers: #7 (Featured; Women), 6 (Sports), 20, 48 (New York State)
Podcasters: #16 (San Francisco; Students)
Producers: #11 (New York City)
Researchers: #5, 51
Scholarships: #8 (Featured; College Students), 60 (Women; Food & Beverage)
Sculptors: #58
Visual Artists: #4 (Nevada), 19 (Contemporary), 40 (New York City), 55 (New Orleans)
Water Conservationists: #14 (Oregon; Students), 26 (San Francisco)
[FEATURED GRANTS]
1. The AARP Purpose Prize - For Nonprofits
Purpose is a powerful force for good. This opportunity honors extraordinary older Americans who put their purpose into action to support AARP’s mission of empowering people to choose how they live as they age. Winners receive $75,000 and a year of organizational support from AARP to grow the impact of their nonprofits. Examples of organizational support include data and evaluation, governance and succession planning, fundraising strategy, and prospectus development.
Deadline: May 1, 2026
2. [NEW] #CreateLouisiana French Culture Film Grant
Louisiana filmmakers, directors, and producer teams, lean in closer for this one. This annual grant supports filmmakers exploring the traditions, stories, and cultural influences shaped by French heritage in Louisiana. From language and music to foodways and community history, they are looking for projects that reflect the vibrant cultural landscape that continues to inspire storytelling today. It offers a $25,000 grant, production mentoring, and a special screening at the New Orleans French Film Festival. Projects can range from a scripted narrative to a short or a feature-length documentary, but must focus on Louisiana’s French and Francophone culture.
Note: Must currently live in the state of Louisiana and have lived in Louisiana for 12 months prior to submitting an application. The film can be in English or French with English subtitles.
Deadline: May 1, 2026
3. [NEW] The Granum Foundation Prize - For Writers
This prize will be awarded annually to help U.S.-based writers complete substantive literary works—such as poetry books, essay or short story collections, novels, and memoirs—or to help launch these works. Funding from the prize can be used to provide a writer with the tools, time, and freedom to help ensure their success. For example, resources may be used to cover basic needs, equipment purchases, mentorship, or editing services.
Competitive applicants will be able to present a compelling project with a reasonable timeline for completion. They also should be able to demonstrate a record of commitment to the literary arts. One winner will be awarded $5,000. Up to three finalists will be awarded $500 or more.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The link for this opportunity will open on May 1st. For the 2026 Granum Foundation Prize, applications will be closed once 1,000 entries are received, even if this occurs before August 1. They encourage writers to apply early.
Deadline: August 1, 2026
4. [NEW] The Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant
This opportunity supports emerging and established writers who write about contemporary visual art. Ranging from $15,000 to $50,000 in four categories—articles, books, short-form writing, and translation—the grants support projects addressing both general and specialized art audiences, from short reviews for magazines and newspapers to in-depth scholarly studies. The program also supports art writing that engages criticism through interdisciplinary methods and experiments with literary styles.
Deadline: May 6, 2026
5. [NEW] The NEA National Heritage Fellowship - For Folk & Traditional Arts
This Fellowship is the nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. Each year since 1982, the program has recognized folk and traditional artists whose exemplary achievements contribute to the nation’s distinctive cultural heritage, increasing opportunities for the public to encounter different artists, art forms, and cultural traditions. Through their folk and traditional arts practices, National Heritage Fellows demonstrate the importance of the arts to personal, cultural, and national identity.
National Heritage Fellowship nominees must be worthy of national recognition and have a record of continuing artistic accomplishment. They must be actively participating in their art form, either as practitioners, mentors, or as community scholars. Successful nominations demonstrate significant contributions to living traditional arts, their source communities, and/or the transmission of traditional knowledge to future generations. Awards will be $25,000, and may be received once in a lifetime.
Deadline: May 11, 2026
6. The Small Business Hero Program
Celebrate a small business in your community. Nominate a small business that has shown courage, perseverance, and integrity. They could win a $20,000 grant, plus exclusive resources to boost their business growth.
Deadline: May 15, 2026
7. The Marilyn Stafford FotoReportage Award 2026 - For Professional Female Photographers
This award is granted annually to a professional female photographer towards the completion of a compelling and cohesive documentary photo essay that addresses an important social, environmental, economic, or cultural issue, whether local or global. The Award is reserved solely for documentary photographers working on projects intended to make the world a better place, and that may be unreported / under-reported. The work should, in part, showcase positive solutions to any issue/s it raises as well as demonstrate impact through practical engagement on the ground.
Women from any stage of their careers are welcome to apply, whether emerging, mid-career, or established. They must have already started the photo essay for which they are seeking funding, and be able to show work in progress. They must have already completed at least one other documentary photo essay in their career to demonstrate a track record. Entrants must be over 18, of any nationality, and based anywhere in the world. £4,000 will be awarded towards the completion of the applicant’s project.
Deadline: May 18, 2026
8. Financial Goals Scholarships - For College Students
Do you have an awesome financial goal? Is college your first step in getting there? Then, you can enter the Financial Goals Scholarship and win $2,000 to help make your dreams a reality. Available to U.S. citizens and Permanent Residents 18 or older, enrolled or planning to enroll in college.
Deadline: May 31, 2026
9. The Eliza Moore Fellowship for Artistic Excellence - For Early Career Artists
This opportunity is awarded annually to one outstanding early-career artist developing new works that address plants, gardens, or landscapes in the broadest sense. This award is open to visual, literary, dance, and musical artists. It includes a $10,000 individual grant and requires a 2- to 5-week stay at Oak Spring. OSGF intends to award the Fellowship to an exceptional artist whose works show remarkable promise to contribute to a deeper understanding of the natural world and humankind’s place in it.
Deadline: May 31, 2026
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