Best Grants for Mentoring Programs in Iowa

Nonprofit and community organizations providing youth mentoring and case management can access funding in Iowa to serve refugee youth ages 15–24. Iowa Department of Health and Human Services offers US $61,250 - US $245,000 to support positive civic and social engagement and educational or vocational advancement through one-on-one or group mentoring and related support services.

Nonprofits and agencies providing youth mentoring and case management for refugee and ORR-eligible youth ages 15–24 in Iowa can seek funding through the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. Focused on tutoring, mentoring, and vocational advancement, awards of US $61,250 - US $245,000 support civic engagement and educational or career development.

Schools and nonprofit partners in Iowa seeking to run after-school academic and enrichment programs, including mentoring and tutoring, can apply for the Nita M. Lowey 21st CCLC grants, with awards from US $50,000 - US $150,000 per year. With a mission to expand community learning centers, Iowa Department of Education funds programs serving high-need, Title I-eligible schools.

Iowa 501(c)(3) nonprofits running mentoring, tutoring, workforce readiness, or economic mobility programs can access funding through Bank of America Charitable Foundation’s Neighborhood Builders Program. Selected organizations receive a two-year leadership development experience plus a capacity-building grant, supporting efforts like career exposure, financial literacy, and stable housing in eligible Iowa communities.

$20K for changemakers with transformative ideas & firsthand insight in early childhood

About the Imagine Award

The Imagine Award by the Promise Fund offers $20,000 in flexible funding (see definition in FAQs) and a six-month cohort-based learning experience for community-rooted early childhood leaders with ideas for transformative impact. ​​Award recipients are at the idea stage and will launch a pilot within six months, testing their solutions with real users, gathering feedback, and refining their approach.

Imagine Award recipients will learn strategies for designing and executing lightweight tests for rapid learning while gaining clarity on their idea's direction using impact and business models. They will craft a compelling story about their work to build future partnerships and run a focused pilot with strong feedback loops for gathering data, all while growing alongside a supportive peer community.

What We Provide

Our grant dollars are flexible and meant to be used at award recipients’ discretion for the pursuit of tests or a pilot of a transformative idea. Read the FAQ for more information.

Direct, one-on-one support from our team to help you learn, get tailored help, and make relevant connections.

Multi-day gathering for peer connection, learning, and pilot design.

Access to a bench of mentors to guide you as you transition out of the program and navigate next steps with your pilot.

Light, tailored coaching to support pilot preparation, launch, and implementation.

Ongoing peer community and resources to continue learning and collaboration

Nonprofit schools and education programs in Iowa offering traditional or out-of-school learning, tutoring, mentoring, or adult education may be eligible for this education-focused funding. With a mission to recognize and advance individual potential, Andrus Family Foundation supports programs that promote personal empowerment, career advancement, and enriched learning experiences, primarily in Colorado and the Bay Area but occasionally elsewhere.

State education affiliates in Iowa and across the U.S. can apply for National Education Association Staff Organization’s ARP Implementation Network Grant, offering up to US $100,000 to fund a coordinator position. This role supports implementation of the American Rescue Plan for public education, which may benefit K–12 tutoring and mentoring initiatives.

About

What is the Pizza Hut Foundation?

In pursuit of happiness, the Pizza Hut Franchisee community, in partnership with Pizza Hut U.S. is proud to announce the formation of the Pizza Hut Foundation.

Our foundation is seeking to touch the lives of over 100 youth annually by partnering with youth-serving nonprofit organizations focusing on literacy education programs to enable our team members and their peers to be career and life ready.

Pizza Hut Foundation, Inc. is a nonprofit, tax-exempt charitable organization under the Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Donations are tax deductible as allowed by law.

Financial Assistance & Scholarships for Education

Education is key to success in life. However, each year two million students drop out of college due to financial hardship and a lack of financial assistance. In the United States there are more than 900,000 college-bound students who qualify for federal financial assistance each year. Yet almost 90% of these students don’t receive adequate guidance or support, leaving hundreds of thousands of students’ needs unmet.

The Pizza Hut Foundation is proud to partner with Kaleidoscope as our scholarship platform provider, pairing education dreams with funding.

Mentorship Program

While the Scholarship program financially supports the awarded students enrolled in higher education, it doesn’t stop there. The Pizza Hut Foundation offers a mentorship opportunity, through leaders from within the Pizza Hut organization and Vendor partners, to engage Scholarship recipients in a meaningful way throughout their educational journey.

The Pizza Hut Foundation will support engagements with the students via monthly connections to ensure a positive experience for both the mentors and the mentees.

Nonprofit organizations, school districts, public agencies, and higher education institutions in Iowa expanding K–12 tutoring or mentoring supports can apply for the Community Collaboration Challenge, awarding US $5,000 - US $10,000 for evidence-based student support collaborations. Funded by the National Partnership for Student Success, strong community conveners and network-builders receive priority.

First-generation master’s and doctoral students in exercise physiology, sports science, kinesiology, or sports nutrition at U.S. schools can receive US $4,000 - US $6,000 for graduate research plus one year of 1:1 mentorship. With a mission to advance health and human performance, American College of Sports Medicine Foundation also provides ACSM Annual Meeting registration and presentation opportunities, benefiting Iowa students in mentoring-rich programs.

Nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations, schools, and government programs in Iowa that provide ongoing academic or life-skills mentoring for low-income youth can receive US $300 - US $500 in Ross gift cards to purchase school or professional clothing. Grants from Ross Stores Foundation help mentoring and tutoring programs serving socioeconomically disadvantaged youth near Ross or dd’s DISCOUNTS locations.

Undergraduate and recent college graduates in Iowa interested in public health and healthcare careers can access a full-time, 10-week summer mentoring internship through John Muir Health’s Health Career Connection program. Focused on diverse, underrepresented, and low-income students, it offers real-world experience, mentoring, and networking that can strengthen local tutoring and mentoring efforts.

High school, undergraduate, and medical students in Iowa interested in healthcare careers can apply for John Muir Health’s CLIMB Near Peer Mentorship Program, a year-long, multi-level mentoring experience. This virtual program connects participants with medical student mentors and offers opportunities to mentor high school students exploring medicine and family medicine pathways.

Focused on film music, New Music USA invites developing U.S.-based film composers, including those in Iowa, to seek support for feature-length narrative or documentary scores in production or post-production. Grants of approximately US $20,000 can cover composer fees, live musicians, studio time, recording, equipment, and other score-related costs, plus mentorship from leading composers.

Iowa students interested in mentoring-rich legal and higher education experiences can access funding through the Josh Dubin Fellowship, a seven-week paid professional and educational development program. Open to current Shawn Carter Foundation scholars across the U.S., it combines legal research, case analysis, mentorship, site visits, and additional scholarship support for undergraduate educational expenses.

Aspiring or current PhD-level researchers in fields like artificial intelligence, data science, and tutoring and mentoring can access multi-year predoctoral research positions through the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence. Grants from the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence help Iowa mentoring-focused scholars gain intensive research experience, co-author publications, and strengthen their preparation for top graduate programs.

Graduating high school seniors pursuing business, engineering, or related fields with strong character and interest in mentorship can receive renewable scholarship funding plus one-on-one mentoring through the Jacob A. Bradley Memorial Scholarship. Bradley Family Foundation provides U.S. students, including those from Iowa mentoring programs, with multi-year academic support and structured mentor relationships connecting school to the workplace.

Undergraduate, master’s, and medical students interested in pediatric oncology research can receive up to US $5,000 for a mentored summer research internship, including those in Iowa. With a mission to change the lives of children with cancer, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation provides hands-on training and mentoring through its Pediatric Oncology Student Training (POST) Program.

Milwaukee high school seniors seeking undergraduate education funding and mentorship can receive US $3,000 - US $5,000 scholarships that include ongoing support and guidance. With a mission to invest in future leaders, Rotary Club Of Milwaukee Community Tr provides need-based awards and mentoring that may interest Iowa programs supporting similar tutoring and mentoring pathways to college.

Iowa mentoring and tutoring leaders developing innovative youth support models can access funding through the Bergel Institute to pursue a year-long, part-time fellowship focused on mentoring as a profession in the U.S. Individuals of all ages, including graduate students worldwide, spend the year researching and designing training, certification, and licensing frameworks for mentors and mentoring organizations.

Early-career production managers in live entertainment who are USITT members and U.S.-based can apply for United Institute for Theatre Technology’s Carolyn A. Satter Production Management Mentorship Program; awards US $2,000 for conference-related expenses and intensive mentoring. Iowa professionals seeking tutoring and mentoring-style career development may benefit from this national opportunity.

Faculty at U.S. colleges developing or expanding undergraduate programming in the liberal tradition can apply for Institute for Humane Studies’ Free Society Grants to support mentoring-style initiatives, reading groups, and discussion series. Iowa tutoring and mentoring programs based in higher education settings may be eligible if they feature sustained student engagement and faculty-led activities.

The Retina Society, Inc.

The Retina Society was founded in 1968 exclusively for educational and scientific purposes concerning the diagnosis, care and treatment of diseases and injuries to the retina. The Retina Society began as an outgrowth of alumni meetings of Retina Associates, a retina practice founded in Boston in 1951 by Charles L. Schepens. Dr. Schepens is credited with establishing retina surgery as a sub-specialty.  

Our mission is to reduce worldwide visual disability and blindness by promoting the education and professional interaction of vitreoretinal specialists, providing optimal care for patients with vitreoretinal diseases, and encouraging, through clinical and basic research, the discovery and development of new means to further patient care.

Retina Society Underrepresented in Medicine (RESOURCE) Mentoring Program

The Retina Society Underrepresented in Medicine (RESOURCE) Mentoring Program was created to engage and interest ophthalmology residents from underrepresented populations* in research and in pursuing careers in the retina subspecialty through dedicated mentoring exposure. The program will pair ophthalmology residents from underrepresented backgrounds with Retina Society mentors, with the goal of providing the residents with research and career mentorship.

*The American Association of Medical Colleges definition of underrepresented in medicine is: "Underrepresented in medicine means those racial and ethnic populations that are underrepresented in the medical profession relative to their numbers in the general population." We define the following groups as underrepresented: Black (African American or African), Latino/Hispanic, American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. We will also be considering applicants from LGBTQIA+ and socioeconomically underprivileged backgrounds.

Mentors will work with their designated mentees on research projects that will be presented at the Retina Society Annual Meeting in 2027 and submitted for publication consideration. Mentors and mentees will be acknowledged at the Retina Society Annual Meeting.

The Alliant Energy Foundation offers community grants to support local organizations within its service areas. With a focus on strategic areas such as hunger, housing, workforce readiness, environmental stewardship, and community safety, the foundation has invested over $76 million since 1998. Applications are accepted year-round, and funding is available for specific programs aimed at enhancing community well-being and innovation. Organizations may receive one grant per year, emphasizing the foundation's commitment to diverse community support.

The McGraw Foundation offers annual grants to not-for-profit organizations, primarily in the greater Chicago area, focusing on education, conservation, and human services. Grant amounts typically range from $2,000 to $10,000, with larger grants available for particularly impactful projects. While supporting diverse initiatives, the Foundation does not fund individuals or specific events. Organizations must be tax-exempt under IRS regulations to qualify for funding. The Foundation encourages innovative approaches and partnerships in grant applications.

The John Ben Snow Memorial Trust Grant supports educational programs and initiatives that assist individuals demonstrating financial need. Founded in 1975, it prioritizes funding for organizations that enhance educational opportunities, arts, culture, and community initiatives, particularly for youth and disadvantaged populations. The Trust encourages proposals from 501(c)(3) organizations, with grants typically ranging from $10,000 to $20,000. It also considers limited proposals in disabilities, environmental protection, and historic preservation, focusing on educational impact.

The Old National Bank Foundation offers grants to nonprofit organizations for community impact initiatives across Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Focused on four key areas—Affordable Housing, Workforce Development, Economic Development, and Financial Empowerment—the foundation prioritizes programs that support underrepresented communities. Organizations must have 501(c)(3) status and align with the foundation’s funding priorities to qualify for grants, which can be applied for every two years.