Best Public Policy Grants in Delaware

Public charities and government units in Delaware can seek funding for education, STEM, and environmental stewardship projects that strengthen local communities. Vulcan Materials Company Foundation supports public schools, higher education institutions, and fact-based environmental organizations in areas where it operates, with preference for proposals that engage Vulcan employees and may inform public understanding of environmental and development issues.

The Scott and Isabelle Black Fellowship at Harvard Kennedy School supports students in two-year degree programs focused on addressing societal issues such as homelessness, poverty, and education. Awarded based on merit and financial need, this fellowship aims to cultivate future leaders in government and nonprofit sectors. It encourages studies that explore the causes and solutions to problems affecting vulnerable populations, ensuring that graduates are equipped to make a meaningful impact in their communities.

Graduate students focused on science, technology, and public policy can receive fellowship support for study and leadership development, including those from Delaware. Harvard Kennedy School provides Delaware public policy students with the Robert C. Seamans, Jr. Fellowship to back research or management work at the intersection of technology and public policy.

Public policy and international affairs students, including those from Delaware, can apply for Harvard Kennedy School’s Public Policy & International Affairs (PPIA) Scholarship to support graduate study. Eligible applicants must be alumni of a PPIA Junior Summer Institute; awards are based on a combination of merit and financial need for both U.S. and international students.

Public policy and higher education graduate students committed to LGBT+ issues in Delaware and beyond can access fellowship support through Harvard Kennedy School’s Margaret Traub and Phyllis Dicker LGBT+ Graduate Fellowship. Harvard Kennedy School supports students whose studies and leadership focus on advancing policy and practice for LGBT+ communities, including those planning to work in Delaware public policy roles.

Prospective graduate students in public policy or related fields, including those from Delaware, can apply for Kennedy Fellowships and Presidential Scholarships to support study at Harvard Kennedy School. Offered by Harvard Kennedy School, these awards are based on exceptional academic ability, professional distinction, and financial need, with some funding tied to area of study or region.

Harvard Kennedy School provides Delaware public policy and international affairs students with fellowship support for the Master in Public Policy program. The John Berger Fellowship supports MPP students who are graduates of Harvard College and intend to work in U.S. or international institutions focused on international affairs, which may benefit future policy professionals from Delaware.

Graduate students pursuing public policy, science, or higher education studies connected to Delaware can access funding through Harvard Kennedy School’s Charles Edison Fund Fellowship to extend the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program. Grants from Harvard Kennedy School help U.S. and international students deepen work at the intersection of science, technology, and public policy.

Nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations and fiscally sponsored groups working on food system public policy and transformation in Delaware can apply for Stray Dog Institute’s grants, typically US $2,500 - US $10,000, for project or general operating support. Funding supports areas like animal welfare, sustainable agriculture, environmental and health policy, labor, and food justice in the U.S. and internationally.

Muslim undergraduate or graduate students in film, television, acting, or theater at accredited U.S. universities, including those from Delaware, can apply for the Islamic Scholarship Fund’s film scholarship awards of US $3,000 - US $5,000 to support their studies. Funding supports future storytellers whose work can influence public opinion and public policy.

Law students focused on public policy in Delaware can receive a US $3,000 stipend to support unpaid judicial internships with district, state, or federal judges. Islamic Scholarship Fund provides U.S.-based American Muslim 1L and 2L students with funding to gain courtroom and chambers experience and build skills for advancing justice for Muslims in America.

Law students and early-career legal professionals focused on public interest law and public policy in Delaware and across the U.S. can receive US $5,000 - US $10,000 for tuition support through the Islamic Scholarship Fund. With a mission to increase American Muslim representation, ISF provides scholarships, mentorship, and career support to those improving access to justice for Muslims in America.

Nonprofit 501(c)(3) public charities and research institutions can seek funding for pollinator health research, advocacy, and public policy projects across the U.S. and Canada, including Delaware. With a mission to promote pollinator health, One Hive Foundation provides support for public education, science-to-policy initiatives, and sustainable agriculture and beekeeping programs, with awards up to US $75,000.

Delaware public policy and international affairs nonprofits can access funding through the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission for U.S.-Japan training, research, and exchange projects. Eligible U.S. 501(c)(3) and Japanese nonprofit institutions may propose programs in arts and culture, education and public affairs, exchanges and scholarship, or global challenges that strengthen bilateral understanding.

Delaware public policy and early childhood organizations can access funding through Ohio Children’s Foundation to support early learning, development, and advocacy initiatives for children ages 0–5. Grants up to US $20,000 back programs that build school readiness, strengthen families, promote early literacy, and advance public policies expanding high-quality early childhood education.

Agronomy, crop, soil, and related science PhD holders interested in public policy can apply for a one-year Congressional Science Fellowship in Washington, D.C. Grants from Crop Science Society of America help Delaware public policy professionals and researchers work on legislative issues at the federal level. U.S. citizenship is required.

Researchers and research institutions in Delaware studying social programs and public policy using rigorous quasi-experimental designs can apply for funding from Arnold Ventures to evaluate causal impacts. Grants support studies in areas like higher education, workforce training, infrastructure, reproductive health, and public finance, which may benefit public policy efforts and decision-makers.

Sophomore and junior undergraduates in Delaware studying environmental issues, Tribal public policy, or Native health care can receive up to US $7,500 for eligible academic expenses through the Udall Undergraduate Scholarship. With a mission to support future leaders, the Udall Foundation provides U.S. students with funding plus access to a national alumni network and scholar orientation.

The FY2027 Grants to Highest State Courts aim to enhance guardianship systems by evaluating and improving the fairness and effectiveness of adult guardianship proceedings. This initiative, funded by the US HHS Administration for Community Living, seeks to implement necessary changes based on assessments, streamline filing processes, and better detect fraud, ultimately ensuring the safety and integrity of protected individuals.

The Advancing State Implementation of the National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers grant aims to support state-level projects that align with the 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers. Grantees will form cross-agency partnerships to implement the Strategy's recommendations, focusing on sustainability through planning phases. The initiative encourages innovative solutions to enhance caregiver support while ensuring that project outcomes are maintained beyond federal funding.

The OJP FY 2026 Integrity in American Elections Grant Program aims to enhance election integrity across the United States. This initiative, supported by the US Department of Justice, focuses on empowering state and local prosecutors to effectively prevent and prosecute voter fraud and maintain the integrity of voter rolls. By safeguarding elections against illegal voting and registration practices, this program is vital for upholding public confidence in democratic processes and ensuring that every American's vote counts.

The NIJ FY 2026 Research and Evaluation on Human Trafficking funding opportunity aims to support comprehensive research and evaluation projects. It focuses on preventing human trafficking, assessing the impact of federal policies, and enhancing services for victims. This initiative, led by the National Institute of Justice in partnership with the Office for Victims of Crime, seeks to generate insights that can inform better responses to human trafficking in the U.S.

The SMART FY26 Support for Adam Walsh Act Implementation Grant Program aims to enhance sex offender registration and notification practices across jurisdictions in the U.S. By supporting the implementation of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), this grant facilitates the establishment of comprehensive sex offender registries, ensuring that states, territories, and federally recognized tribes comply with federal standards. This initiative also promotes interjurisdictional information exchange and helps maintain public safety.

The NIJ FY 2026 Research and Evaluation on Justice System Responses to Illegal Immigration invites proposals for impactful research on the adult criminal justice system's response to illegal immigration. This initiative aims to explore innovative solutions and evaluate their effectiveness across various jurisdictions, focusing on challenges like location, apprehension, and crime prevention. By fostering collaboration among federal, state, local, and tribal entities, the program seeks to enhance strategies that address illegal immigration effectively.

Request for Proposals: Launchpad Funds

Background

Coefficient Giving is increasing its giving, primarily to prepare for the billions of dollars in new philanthropic capital that may become available in the coming years. Our increased giving in global health and wellbeing is a temporary surge, with two objectives: to smooth funding and pull forward initiatives we expect to be cost-effective, and to help create an ecosystem of regrantors and implementers with the capacity to allocate this new money as cost-effectively as possible. Additional context on our scaling is provided in this blog post. 

With new potential capital on the way, we want to increase the supply of actionable and fundable plans to address some of the world’s hardest problems. We’re looking for specific, credible strategies to convert funding into measurable progress. Our ideal funds are:

However, we are also open to funds that are thematic and don’t have a quantified goal — for example, a fund organized around a promising type of intervention. Such funds still need to be led by a single, identifiable person who is accountable for the fund’s direction.

Through this request for EOIs, we aim to seed or scale Launchpad Funds that can grow to $100m+ over the next few years. We don’t seek scale for its own sake; it is a proxy for the ambition of the fund, and a signal that the problem is large and tractable enough to justify deploying significantly more capital over time.

What we will fund

• We expect to support established ideas that have either not yet secured anchor support or could significantly scale beyond their existing level of funding.
• This funding can cover operating expenses, but we expect most of it to be used for activities that make progress on the fund’s goals — whether through regranting or direct implementation.
• For exceptional proposals, we may consider funding levels beyond $50m. We anticipate higher funding levels will involve more thought partnership from our team.
• While we don’t expect to make grants longer than 36 months, funded proposals may later be considered for additional funding beyond the initial period.

Better Food Policy Fund 

Since its inception, the Better Food Policy Fund has set its strategic direction in a participatory fashion. We are intentionally building capacity for engagement to ensure the Fund aligns with the needs of food policy council stakeholders.   

Thus far, the Fund has engaged 300+ food policy council stakeholders to help co-develop the Fund. We are immensely grateful for the individuals who helped shape the initial direction of this fund. We view this growing stakeholder audience as the people to whom the Fund’s governing body, the Independent Advisory Committee, is ultimately accountable.

Grantmaking

The Better Food Policy Fund invests in US-based food policy councils, empowering community and government collaboration for progressive food policy. We utilize participatory processes to enhance equity and redistribute power in the funding landscape. We seek to celebrate and uplift the work of food policy councils, and believe every food policy council is worthy of financial support.

We define “food policy councils” as councils, networks, coalitions, or other groups working across boundaries at the tribal, municipal, county, state, or regional level.  

We support actions aimed at ensuring an enabling environment for policy change, such as: 

• increasing levels of inclusive and equitable stakeholder engagement in public processes
• engaging systems thinking when tackling complex food system challenges
• facilitating collaboration with and across local government agencies and departments 
• developing or revising local policies and plans  

We define “better food policy” as practices, procedures, ordinances, laws, etc. of governing institutions which strengthen community-based food systems.

We define “civic collaboration” as people joining together at the intersection of community and government to address public issues.

Grant Guidelines

To advance its mission to build a responsible and equitable technology ecosystem, the Kapor Foundation makes strategic grants across three focus areas: (1) Computing Education, (2) Innovation, and (3) Governance.

Within each focus area, we fund research on critical topics at the intersection of racial equity and tech, capacity-building that strengthens coalitions and movement-building infrastructure, and policy advocacy that drives systemic change.

Funding Priorities

We fund organizations and initiatives aligned with our core focus areas:

Given advances in Al, a new vision of education is urgently needed — one that ensures students are equipped with the technical skills to build emerging technologies and the critical skills to navigate their socio-technical implications. We fund computing education initiatives across K-12, postsecondary, and alternative pathways that expand computing participation at scale, shift policy to ensure equitable access, and expand the pipeline of educators prepared to teach computing.

2. 

Al is being designed, developed, and deployed rapidly, yet the communities most affected by its impacts are largely excluded from its creation and subsequent economic benefits. We support organizations and individuals that build responsible Al technologies, leverage technology to close gaps in access and opportunity, and invest in initiatives and coalitions that advance responsible Al in the entrepreneurship and venture capital ecosystems.

3.

As Al adoption accelerates, bolder approaches to regulation are necessary to protect marginalized communities from technological harm, expand economic opportunity, and ensure the benefits of technology reach everyone. We support efforts that build awareness of key policy issues, develop policy agendas, and mobilize coalitions.

For 2026, our priority advocacy areas are: 1) computing education, 2) algorithmic bias, 3) Al safeguards for children, 4) data center development, and 5) surveillance and civil rights.