Best Asheville Grants for Nonprofits in North Carolina

N.C. Forest Service - Timber Loss Relief Program

Program Overview

The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services was awarded a U.S. Department of Agriculture block grant to support Hurricane Helene recovery. Part of these disaster recovery funds will be administered by the N.C. Forest Service through a new Timber Loss Relief Program (TLRP). TLRP funds will be used to partially compensate eligible woodland owners for the value of timber loss as a result of Hurricane Helene. 

Our Roots

Dogwood Health Trust was born from a long legacy of caring ­ – one that combines the resilience and “can-do” spirit of Western North Carolina with the sincere desire to help out one’s neighbors. Our story began with seeds planted in 1885, when the women of the Flower Mission, an auxiliary of the North Carolina branch of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, created the first Mission Hospital. In an era where quality medical care was reserved for those with an ability to pay for it directly, Anna Woodfin, Fanny Patton, Rose Chapman and Lily Carmichael, recognized as the Flower Mission’s most prominent figures, established a place of healing for anyone who was sick or in need of a home. Their effort became known as “The Little Flower Mission,” and it transformed healthcare in Western North Carolina. Mission Hospital’s first facility, a five-room cottage, opened in Asheville in October 1885 with funding that these four women raised by selling flowers in downtown Asheville.

Grant Writing Support

Every year, significant amounts of grant funding are distributed by federal and state agencies, national foundations and other funders. Dogwood Health Trust’s Leverage Fund helps bring more of this funding to Western North Carolina by connecting nonprofits and community-based organizations with professional grant writers at no cost. 

Since its inception in 2019, the Leverage Fund has helped secure more than $173 million for WNC organizations, providing support to 150 nonprofits and government organizations.

These dollars do more than just enhance budgets. Diversifying a nonprofit’s funder base reduces financial risk by preventing overreliance on a single funding source. This can create greater long-term sustainability and increase the likelihood that the organization can weather economic fluctuations and policy changes. 

Leverage Fund Grant

Every year, significant amounts of grant funding are distributed by federal and state agencies, national foundations and other funders to nonprofit organizations and local governments to support or expand their work. To bring more of this funding into WNC, Dogwood created the Leverage Fund to connect community-based organizations with consultants who provide grant writing assistance at no cost to the applicant. 

The Laura Jane Musser Fund was established by the estate of Laura Jane Musser of Little Falls, Minnesota to continue the personal philanthropy, which she practiced in her lifetime.

Environmental Initiative Program

The Laura Jane Musser Fund assists public or not-for-profit entities to initiate or implement projects that enhance the ecological integrity of publicly owned open spaces, while encouraging compatible human activities. The Fund’s goal is to promote public use of open space that improves a community’s quality of life and public health, while also ensuring the protection of healthy, viable and sustainable ecosystems by protecting or restoring habitat for a diversity of plant and animal species.

Projects must..

• Focus on protecting/restoring a sustainable ecosystem that is a defined, public open space.
• Promote public access to and use of the defined open space.
• Involve active participation of local community members, with a particular appreciation for volunteer and youth engagement and stakeholder contributions.
• Contain measurable outcomes within the first 12-18 months.
• Include a plan for the long term financial and environmental sustainability of the proposed program.

Projects during any one grant period will be eligible for either:

• implementation grants or 
• planning grants

Environmental Initiative - Implementation Grant Program

Implementation grant applications must demonstrate clear evidence of local community active participation and support.

Projects will be eligible for either planning or implementation funds during any one grant period.

grantmaking

Creating a Western North Carolina where every generation can live, learn, earn and thrive, with dignity and opportunity for all – no exceptions.

The best ideas for dramatically improving the health and wellbeing of the region come from the people who live and work in our local communities. 

Dogwood invests in aligned organizations that advance efforts in our four strategic priorities of housing, education, economic opportunity, and health & wellness.

Digital Opportunities

Sustaining Momentum for Digital Opportunities

Launched in 2025, Dogwood’s Digital Opportunities Initiative focuses on making high-speed internet more available, affordable and useful for everyone in Western North Carolina.

This funding opportunity will support programs, projects and skill development that help organizations and communities: 

• Gain access to resources and tools that reduce the “digital divide”
• Distribute devices and other technology for using affordable internet 
• Offer digital skills training and technical support that helps people connect to resources for their day-to-day needs (health, education, employment, housing, etc.)
• Develop supportive digital applications and content that expands access to health, education, economic and housing resources 
• Increase access to affordable internet

Program grants ranging from $20,000 to $500,000 (minimum of $20,000 per year; maximum of $250,000 per year) for 1-2 years will support projects and programs that sustain or expand digital opportunities in Western North Carolina. Grantees will participate in the WNC Digital Navigator Network, which includes events and training designed to equip organizations with practical strategies to help clients overcome barriers to internet access and meaningful use. Due to anticipated demand, this pathway will utilize a two-stage application process. Organizations will first submit a Letter of Intent (LOI). From there, a smaller group of applicants will then be invited to submit a full application.