October 2025 Grants To Fund Your Big Ideas: For Creatives & Small Business Owners
Funding you can apply for right now.
Hello, creators!
We are sending this newsletter a bit early, as we are gearing up for our upcoming virtual summit taking place October 1 & 2nd!
So far, we’ve found (87) grants with October deadlines totaling approximately ($504,200) in potential funding.
➡️ Click here for our November 2025 Grants List with an additional (85) awards.
How To Find Grants via Our Newsletter
Our grants list is chronologically ordered from October 1st to October 31st.
To help you save time, we also indicate who grants are for in award titles, and we’ve included a numbered summary below.
We will continuously share more October grants as we find them.
Audio/Podcast: #2 (Featured), 12 (Spokane), 67 (Philadelphia students), 85 (Women of Color),
Artists: #5 (Featured), 7 (Featured, Ceramics), 10 (Featured), 2 (Buffalo), 4 (Rhode Island), 6 (Delaware), 12 (Spokane), 22 (Orlando), 30, 39 (Bay Area), 40 (Minnesota), 46, 50 (Arizona), 54 (Minnesota), 56 (Denver), 65 (Alaska), 70 (Prairie-based), 74, 80, 82 (Maryland), 83 (DMV), 84 (Nebraska)
Athletes: #75 (Women disabilities)
Authors/Writers: #15, 17, 19, 33 (Black; Georgia), 68 (African American), 78 (Kentucky; Women)
Circus Artists: #49 (People of Color)
Community Leaders: #64 (Milwaukee)
Creatives: #17, 32 (Boston), 60 (Massachusetts)
Curators: #2 (Buffalo), #56 (Emerging), 80
Dancers: #27, 28, 60 (Massachusetts)
Educators: #83 (DMV)
Entrepreneurs/Small Business: #4 (Featured), 1, 24, 53 (Ohio), 59 (Tennessee, Florida, and Georgia), 76 (Michigan), 79 (Los Angeles County), 81
Executive Arts Leaders: #55
Filmmakers: #2 (Featured), 3 (Featured), 16, 20, 60 (Massachusetts), 67 (Philadelphia students), 69 (Georgia LGBTQIA+)
Graduate Student Fellowships: #62
Journalists: #6 (Featured), 7 (Print), 9, 37
Musicians: #25 (Orchestral), 41 (Jazz), 43 (Chamber), 60 (Massachusetts)
Nonprofits: #1 (Featured), 3, 5 (Illinois), 8 (Nebraska), 12 (Spokane), 13, 29 (AI), 29 (Minnesota), 35 (Minnesota), 39 (Bay Area), 42 (Rhode Island), 44, 61, 63, 66, 82 (Maryland)
Orchestra: #25
Performance Artists: #6 (Delaware), 8 (Nebraska; Nonprofits), 17, 28, 60 (Massachusetts)
Photographers: #2 (Featured), 5 (Illinois), 21, 24, 28, 60 (Massachusetts), 71, 72, 73
Photojournalists: #21, #31
Poets: #15, 45, 52, 57 (Denver), 77 (Poets of Color)
Public Libraries: #10 (Children’s Book)
Radio Production: #11
Reporters: #8 (Featured)
Researchers: #15, 34, 48, 58, 74, 80
Scholars: #15, 58, 74
Scholarships: #9 (Featured), 45 (Poet)
Single Parents: #23 (Black)
Startups: #26 (Maryland)
Storytellers: #2 Featured (Oregon)
Theaters: #28, 60 (Massachusetts)
Visual Artists: #14 (Portland), 18 (Los Angeles County), 28, 47 (Oklahoma), 60 (Massachusetts)
Women’s Leadership: #38
Young Social Innovators: #51
[FEATURED]
1. The SFWA Givers Fund - For Nonprofits, Municipal Organizations & Churches
These grants are outward-facing, and they raise awareness of the speculative fiction genres (science fiction, fantasy, horror, and related genres) in some way–you define that way in your application. The Givers Fund supports organizations, activities, and public interest programs that further SFWA’s mission. Funding ranges from $1,000 to $2,000.
Deadline: October 1, 2025
2. [NEW] Community Storytelling Fellowship - For Oregon Storytellers
This $5,000 award supports storytellers working in any medium—written journalism, audio, video, comics, photography, and more—in sharing stories from communities they are part of.
Deadline: October 1, 2025
3. [NEW] Bumble Bee Tuna Cans Film Festival
Create a 60-second (or less) video featuring Bumble Bee Tuna. Enter for a chance to win $25,000 and a $5,000 donation to your favorite film education program. They are looking for storytelling, originality, technique, and overall impact.
Deadline: October 3, 2025
4. Cape Cod Fall 2025 Blue Economy Pitch Contest - For Early-Stage Entrepreneurs
EforAll Pitch Contests are lively two-hour events that offer early-stage entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch their business idea to a friendly audience and receive valuable feedback from experienced judges. Business ideas across a wide range of industries are encouraged! Four cash prizes ranging from $500 to $1,000 will be awarded.
Deadline: October 6, 2025
5. Morgan's Artist in Residence
The AiR Program is funded by the Windgate Foundation to offer emerging and established artists from around the world who work with papermaking, book arts, and printing to explore focused projects in their facilities. As a working studio, gallery, gathering place for the community, educational hub, and purveyor of some of the finest handmade papers in the world, the Morgan offers AiR a variety of ways to grow their practice and build strong connections with the community. They provide a $500 stipend to cover travel costs, but do not offer housing.
Deadline: October 15, 2025
6. [NEW] Karsh Journalism Fellowship - For Early- or Mid-career Journalists
This fellowship awards a $4,000 stipend for journalists produces original work of exceptional depth and authority on Jewish issues in the United States and around the world. All expense paid travel and lodging to (3) retreats is also fully covered. Open to journalists from all backgrounds and platforms.
Deadline: October 15, 2025
7. [NEW] The Color Network Studio Stipend Materials Grant - For Artists of Color
The Color Network is pleased is offering $500 grants for artists of color working in ceramics. Use the funds to purchase materials to continue your work in ceramics.
Deadline: October 15, 2025
8. [NEW] Women and Prisons: Covering the Impact of Incarceration - For Reporters
This free, two-part webinar series is designed to deepen your coverage of incarcerated women and women with incarcerated family members. Get research and tips on ethical reporting. Five $10,000 reporting grants are available. Tune in live at noon Eastern on Oct. 23 & 30 to enrich how you cover women in the criminal justice system and see if you are eligible for one of the grants.
Deadline: October 23, 2025
9. 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: October 31, 2025
10. [NEW] ComfiArt Creative Fund - For Artists
This award supports artists with mini-grants from $250 - $1,000 to support the creation of new, original works of art. Funds should cover materials, studio time, or project development — while building toward a special showcase in 2026.
Art must respond to “How is art priceless to you?”
Mediums Accepted: Painting, mixed media, drawing, digital art, photography, and sculpture.
Deadline: October 30, 2025
We hope you enjoyed this preview of our monthly newsletter. This is as far as free subscribers go. To access our complete list of grants available for October and beyond, become a paid subscriber of Grants For Creators. We spend dozens of hours a month researching and curating this resource. Thank you for supporting our work.