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Manuel Ramirez and Cecilia Ulibarri in front of a mural painted by Cecilia in the new headquarters of Positive Street Art in Nashua. Read more.

Manuel Ramirez and Cecilia Ulibarri in front of a mural painted by Cecilia in the new headquarters of Positive Street Art in Nashua. Read more.

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New Hampshire's nonprofit organizations help make New Hampshire a great place to live.
Thanks to the generosity of hundreds of New Hampshire citizens, the Foundation awards thousands of grants every year to organizations doing critical work in our communities, and improving quality of life for all. Together, we are doing great things.

What we fund

Through our competitive grant programs, we fund programs and operations of qualified nonprofits working in the areas of health and well-being, civic engagement, education, economic development, environmental protection and arts and culture.

We also make grants to nonprofit partners working in specific areas of strategic Foundation priorities – like fighting substance use disorders and increasing youth opportunity.

And we work closely with generous donors to connect them with funding opportunities that match their areas of interest in fulfilling community needs. Please create an organizational profile on GrantSource to help us connect your work with donor interest.

Explore our grant opportunities for nonprofit organizations

  • Community Grants Program - Express Grants We will not be offering our 2023 Express Grants program

    As we work to improve our Community Grants program for the long-term, in 2023 we will offer a single, one-year, Unrestricted Grant program with awards of up to $20,000. There will be no Express Grants awarded in 2023.

    If your organization was planning to apply for an Express Grant, please consider applying to our 2023 Unrestricted Grant program.

    Learn more about why we’re making this change.

  • Community Grants Program - Unrestricted Grants Deadline: September 8, 2023

    As we work to improve our Community Grants program for the long-term, in 2023 we will offer a single, one-year, Unrestricted Grant program with awards of up to $20,000. There will be no multi-year Unrestricted Grants awarded in 2023. Learn more about why we’re making this change.

    Learn more

  • Greater Rochester Community Health Foundation - Small Grants Program Please check back for 2023 deadline

    This grantmaking program is open to nonprofit organizations that serve Strafford County residents and work on access to care challenges. Access to care may include: mental health, substance use disorder, food security, housing, senior services, transportation and logistics, culturally appropriate care, awareness of services, care coordination and patient motivation.

    Learn more

  • Mary Gale Foundation The Mary Gale Foundation grantmaking program is now being managed by Granite United Way. For more information please contact Susan Howland at fhfna.ubjynaq@tenavgrhj.bet.
  • Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund - Dash-Grants Program Deadline: Rolling

    The Dash–Grants Program supports projects that focus on sustainable community and economic development in Coös County, NH and communities in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont and the MRC De Coaticook in Québec, Canada that share a border with Coös County.

    Learn more

  • Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund - Empower Coös Youth Grants Program Deadline: January 18, 2023

    The Empower Coös Youth Grants Program supports programs in Coös County, NH and Essex County, VT and surrounding communities in both states that focus supporting environmental initiatives that involve youth; increasing extracurricular activities for youth; strengthening community engagement, and addressing gaps in need. This grant program awards support of up to $10,000 to eligible organizations.

    Learn more

  • Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund - Local Grants Program Deadline: January 18, 2023 or July 19, 2023

    The Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund supports projects in Coös County, NH and communities in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont and the MRC De Coaticook in Québec, Canada that share a border with Coös County. This grant program awards support of $20,000 or less to eligible organizations.

    Learn more

  • Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund - Large Grants Program Deadline: Rolling

    The Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund supports projects in Coös County, NH and communities in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont and the MRC De Coaticook in Québec, Canada that share a border with Coös County. This grant program awards support of $20,000 to $300,000 to eligible organizations.

    Learn more

  • New Hampshire Library Technology Grant Program Deadline: Rolling

    The New Hampshire Library Technology Grant Program awards grants of up to $10,000 to community libraries to support online access, technology upgrades, distance learning and staff development.

    Learn more

  • Nonprofit Loan Program Deadline: Rolling

    The Nonprofit Loan Program is focused on strengthening nonprofits, helping them have greater impact in the community, through sound financial management and greater access to working capital.

    Learn more

  • Upper Connecticut River Mitigation and Enhancement Fund Please check back for 2023 deadline

    The fund supports restoration, protection, and enhancement of the river, wetlands, and shore lands within the Connecticut River watershed upstream of the confluence of the White River and the Connecticut River at White River Junction, VT and West Lebanon, NH.

    Learn more

  • Wellborn Ecology Fund - School-based Project Grants Deadline: Rolling

    The Wellborn Ecology Fund is dedicated to using “the power of place” to increase environmental and ecological science knowledge in the Upper Valley. Since 2013, the Foundation has been focusing Wellborn resources to increase access to place-based ecology education for children and youth, with particular emphasis on K-12 and early childhood education centers in underserved communities.

    Learn more

Grants for teachers, artists and public officials

  • Caroline and Martin Gross Fellowship Deadline: February 10, 2023

    The Caroline and Martin Gross Fellowship honors individuals for their extraordinary work in public service.

    Learn more

  • Christa McAuliffe Sabbatical Deadline: February 10, 2023

    Each year, the Christa McAuliffe Sabbatical awards a year-long leave of absence to an exceptional New Hampshire public school teacher.

    Learn more

  • David M. Brooks Music Fund Please check back for 2023 deadline

    The David M. Brooks Music Fund supports music education in New Hampshire’s public schools.

    Learn more

  • Louise Tillotson Teaching Fellowship Please check back for 2024 deadline.

    The Louise Tillotson Teaching Fellowship program strives to raise public awareness about the value of excellence in education and to retain good public teachers in the New Hampshire’s North Country and in Essex County, VT.

    Learn more

  • Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund - Empower Coös Youth Grants Committee Member Please check back for 2024 deadline

    The Empower Coös Youth Grants Program seeks area high-school students from Coös County and surrounding communities in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont to decide how to award up to $50,000 in grants to nonprofit organizations that focus on reducing carbon emissions; increasing extracurricular activities; and strengthening community engagement.

    Learn more

  • Piscataqua Region Artist Advancement Grant Deadline: May 1, 2023

    The Artist Advancement Grant Program provides financial support to individual visual artists and craftspeople in the Piscataqua Region to promote their artistic growth.

    Learn more

Explore our interactive map to see where New Hampshire generosity is making a difference.

Search Foundation grantmaking by region, interest area, initiative and more.

Nonprofit Resources

Webinars and presentations

Grantee press kit

CEP Grantee Perception Survey

Final and interim grant reports

Fiscal sponsorship agreement form

Grant change request form

 

Guidance for tracking and reporting lobbying grants

New Hampshire Eligibility Checklist

Strategic Plans



Grants in Action

Sheri Rockburn, Assistant Commissioner of the Department of Administrative Services (third from right) pictured with former Caroline and Martin Gross Fellows and Foundation president (left to right): Richard Ober, Marilee Nihan, Sylvio Dupuis, Mary Beth Walz, Catherine Provencher and Philip Bryce. (Photo by Cheryl Senter.)

Sheri Rockburn awarded Caroline and Martin Gross Fellowship

Rockburn, assistant commissioner of New Hampshire’s Department of Administrative Services, will attend an intensive, three-week program at the Senior Executives in State and Local Government program at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government with public servants from around the world.

Greg Stottt, a science teacher at Frances C. Richmond Middle School in Hanover, has been awarded the 2023 Christa McAuliffe Sabbatical

Earth science teacher awarded Christa McAuliffe Sabbatical

Teacher Gregg Stott of Hanover plans to produce a documentary film about how the Ice Age affected the Connecticut River Valley and develop an Earth Science curriculum to help students from elementary to high school notice and better understand the geology of their own backyards.

The Ugandan dance troupe “Dance of Hope” performed for Gorham, NH students thanks to a Neil and Louise Tillotson DASH grant (Courtesy photo.)

Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund awards $916,000 through its application grantmaking programs to support efforts in the North Country

Large, Local, Dash and Empower Coös Youth application grant programs support essential needs for individuals and families, a healthy workforce ecosystem, environmental stewardship, and more.

Deb Ryan (left) leads a class in the metalsmithing shop at Makers Mill, demonstrating how to use a flex shaft to drill holes in metal jewelry. In this class the students learn how to cut and texture silver, brass and copper metal to make pendants and earrings. (Photo by Cheryl Senter.)

Building projects, friendships and community

Wolfeboro’s Makers Mill provides spaces for learners of all ages to tinker, fix, invent, build, design, craft and innovate — together.

Julianne Gadoury, executive director of Kimball Jenkins in Concord. (Photo by Cheryl Senter.)

Art for all

Julianne Gadoury, executive director of Kimball Jenkins in Concord, wants everyone to have the opportunity to experience — and benefit from — art.

Our Story NH, reflections from the pandemic and beyond.

Concentric stories: New initiative eases process for telling pandemic story

"Our Story NH" project, which aims to provide a historical archive, launches new option for people to share stories quickly.

The Exeter Farmers Market, now run by Seacoast Eat Local, had a successful 2022 season. (Photo courtesy of Seacoast Eat Local.)

Legal Food Hub helps farms and food businesses thrive

Conservation Law Foundation’s Legal Food Hub connects farmers, food entrepreneurs, and food-related organizations with pro bono legal services to help start, grow, and operate their businesses.

Teens enjoying time and building community at Avenue A. (Photo by Cheryl Senter.)

All teens welcome at Avenue A

At Avenue A, young people participate in everything from small group discussions to biking, hiking, cooking and basketball. They listen to and play music, learn woodworking or just unwind in a place where they feel welcomed, appreciated and not judged. They also learn about being part of a community and how to build belonging, while knowing they are in a place created for them by a community that supports them.

A grant from the Library Technology program helped the Conway Public Library to buy and install a privacy pod. (Photo by Cheryl Senter.)

Grants help libraries keep up with tech needs

Thanks to a generous donation, the Charitable Foundation was able to develop the New Hampshire Library Technology Grant Program to help rural and under-resourced libraries meet the increasing need for online access by supporting technology upgrades, distance learning and staff training.

Stafford Meals on Wheels volunteer driver, Don. (Courtesy photo.)

Greater Rochester Community Health Foundation awards $80k in inaugural grants

New Foundation awards first grants to improve health and well-being of people in Strafford County.

Gardeners at a Grow Nashua community garden. (Courtesy photo.)

Charitable Foundation awards $3.8 million in operating support to nonprofits

Recent funding from Foundation's Community Grants program provides multiyear operating support to more than 80 nonprofits working across New Hampshire.

Traci Fowler, the Charitable Foundation’s director of behavioral health, co-chairs the Budget Task Force of the Governor’s Commission on Alcohol and Other Drugs and is a member of New Hampshire’s Opioid Abatement Commission and Children’s System of Care Advisory Council. (Photo by Cheryl Senter.)

Reason to hope

Traci Fowler, the Charitable Foundation’s director of behavioral health, on the current substance use crisis, why an integrated approach to addressing mental health and substance use makes sense, and promising practices that offer reason for hope.


We're here to help

  • Wendy Cahill
  • Senior Community Grants Associate