Best Early Childhood Development Grants in Louisiana

Fall 2026 Early Childhood Education Funding Cycle

Overall Early Childhood Education Program Blueprint

The Stranahan Foundation’s Early Childhood Education grant program supports efforts to improve access to high-quality early care and education for young children (birth to five), especially those from low-income families. We do this by investing in strategies that strengthen, support, and retain a high-quality, thriving early educator workforce.

The Foundation has a history of supporting professional development (PD) and learning systems through its Provider strategy (). We believe strong professional development systems are essential for building a skilled early childhood workforce and creating positive learning environments for young children.

The Fall 2026 funding cycle is available for organizations that align with this Provider strategy.

Funding Opportunity

This funding opportunity will provide up to $750,000 to support early childhood education providers in strengthening existing professional development (PD) systems. Funding is intended to improve a specific area of an established PD system—not to build a brand-new system from scratch or put the foundational elements in place.

What kind of improvements can funding support?

Organizations should focus their projects on strengthening their professional development systems. The Stranahan Foundation defines a strong professional development system as one that includes:

• Connect learning opportunities that build on one another over time.
• Use adult learning best practices.
• Align staff learning to educator competencies, credentials, career growth, or compensation.
• Provide learning experiences that are individualized, scaffolded, and responsive to educators’ needs, experience, and goals.
• Have dedicated leadership and organizational capacity to support ongoing implementation.

• Gather regular feedback from staff and families.
• Use standardized assessment and evaluation tools to understand what is working and where improvements are needed.
• Make ongoing improvements based on what is learned.
• Support reflective practice, peer learning, and collaborative inquiry among educators.

• Offer both individual and group learning opportunities, such as training, professional learning communities, coaching, and mentoring.
• Provide learning opportunities on an ongoing basis rather than in a one-and-done situation.
• Connect internal and external learning opportunities to make the best use of available resources.
• Support classroom implementation through observation, modeling, feedback, and continuous improvement cycles.

• Provide learning experiences that are practical, relevant, and easy to apply in daily work.
• Include fundamental topics such as family engagement, effective instruction, developmentally appropriate practice, and classroom management.
• Align with established standards, research, and effective practices in the early childhood field.
• Equip educators to support all learners, including multilingual learners, children with disabilities, and children impacted by trauma or adverse experiences.

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.

The Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program seeks applications for Development and Implementation Grants to support evidence-based home visiting programs for expectant families and young children. Funded by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, these grants aim to enhance maternal and child health, improve parenting practices, and foster early childhood development within tribal communities, ultimately promoting better socio-economic outcomes and reducing instances of child maltreatment.

Early childhood development innovators in Louisiana and across the U.S. can receive flexible funding to pilot transformative, community-rooted ideas. Promise Venture Studio’s Imagine Award offers US $20,000 plus a six-month cohort experience with mentoring, workshops, and alumni support for leaders ready to test early childhood, tutoring, mentoring, or civic leadership solutions.

Louisiana students pursuing careers in early childhood development can access funding through Chuckanut Health Foundation’s Dr. Chao-ying & Sue Wu Early Learning Scholarship. This program supports higher education for future early learning professionals, and may benefit those focused on early childhood development, children’s health, youth services, and educational access and equity.

Nonprofit charities serving children’s needs, including early childhood development, in Louisiana and nationwide can seek funding for programs that improve children’s health, welfare, and opportunities. CAPTRUST Community Foundation provides support for local and national partners, including a major Charity of Choice award and several additional national partnership grants each year.

Nonprofit organizations supporting early childhood development in Louisiana can access free On My Way to Kindergarten kits to prepare children ages 3–5 for school readiness. Grants from The Molina Foundation help provide bilingual (Spanish-English) activity books and online songs, games, crafts, and stories that engage families and caregivers in kindergarten preparation.

Louisiana early childhood organizations can access funding through Ohio Children’s Foundation to support innovative programs for children ages 0–5 and their families. Grants up to US $20,000 back quality early learning, early brain and language development, parent engagement, stress reduction, and public policy advocacy that expands high-quality early childhood education.

Childcare centers and academically approved family childcare providers in select Louisiana parishes can receive approximately US $1,000 to support early childhood workforce retention through one-time bonuses, salary subsidies, or substitute pay. Grants from Agenda For Children help eligible early childhood programs strengthen staff stability and quality of care across participating parishes.

Nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations supporting children’s health, wellness, and early development in Louisiana can apply for grants up to US $15,000 to strengthen programs and services. Grants from 15 and the Mahomies Foundation help early childhood and youth-focused organizations expand resources for children, including those with disabilities or mental health needs.

Graduate students conducting early childhood language development research at U.S. speech-language pathology or speech-language science programs may be eligible for this funding, which includes Louisiana-based students. Focused on early childhood development, the American Speech Language Hearing Foundation invites proposals for studies on preschool or early school-age children, with up to US $4,000 available per grant.

Louisiana early childhood development organizations can access funding through O'Reilly Automotive Foundation for programs improving quality of life for underserved children and families. U.S.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofits near O’Reilly Auto Parts locations may request project, general operating, or capital support for early childhood, health, literacy, and related community services.

Nonprofit 501(c)(3) programs in good standing in Orleans Parish can apply for Institute of Mental Hygene of the City of New Orleans funding to support early childhood development and child care services. Grants back evidence-based programs that boost kindergarten readiness, social-emotional well-being, parent support, early intervention, and sustainable Diverse Delivery preschool partnerships in Louisiana.

Nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations, churches, and government entities in Louisiana working on early childhood development, youth, family services, or community wellness can apply for Cdv5 Foundation’s flexible funding. Grants may support general operations, capital campaigns, or specific programs that nurture successful children, strengthen families, and cultivate healthier communities, with applications accepted year-round and reviewed quarterly.

Louisiana early childhood development and education nonprofits can access funding through the Jesse W Couch Charitable Foundation’s Storytelling Grant to share the impact of their work. Registered 501(c)(3) organizations or aligned for-profits may receive more than US $50,000 to tell powerful stories within the foundation’s preservation, education, or wellness pillars.

With a mission to support early childhood development, nonprofits in Louisiana serving children and youth in Orleans Parish can receive US $10,000 - US $20,000 for programs and operational costs. The GPOA Foundation funds early childhood education, kindergarten readiness, literacy, out-of-school enrichment, special needs services, and work-readiness initiatives, including summer programs and collaborative projects.

The Global Health and Wellbeing Grantmaking program by Coefficient Giving focuses on addressing critical health and welfare issues worldwide. With an emphasis on proactive engagement and evidence-based solutions, the initiative supports projects that improve health outcomes and wellbeing. The program prioritizes funding for organizations tackling neglected global health challenges, advocating for effective philanthropy, and enhancing the lives of both humans and animals in vulnerable communities.

Nonprofit organizations working on child welfare, early childhood development, or preventing child abuse and neglect in Louisiana may be eligible for Doris Duke Foundation’s Child Well-Being National Program. The program backs bold, community-led, prevention-oriented projects that help children grow up in safe, healthy, and secure families, including initiatives like the OPT-In for Families model.

Nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations improving early childhood welfare, education, or parenting support in the U.S., including Louisiana, can seek seed funding for innovative projects that benefit children from infancy through age seven. The Caplan Foundation for Early Childhood backs research and development efforts with potential national impact and broad professional interest.

U.S. 501(c)(3) public charities working in early childhood development, health and nutrition, or housing, including those serving Louisiana, may be eligible for program support. FDC Foundation supports improved nutrition, diabetes treatment, alternative medicine, early childhood development research and programs, returning scholars, literary achievement, and housing opportunities or real estate education initiatives.

Nonprofit and public 501(c)(3) organizations can seek funding for early childhood development, maternal and child health, nutrition, and family economic security initiatives, including work in Louisiana. Grants from WK Kellogg Foundation help U.S. and international communities advance racial equity and support children and families through community-based, charitable projects.

Brinker International provides Louisiana early childhood development and youth-serving nonprofits with monetary or in-kind dining certificate support for programs benefiting children, hunger relief, and education. Eligible 501(c)(3) organizations can request support once per calendar year and must apply online at least six weeks before their fundraising event or activity.

The Alleghany Foundation, a private 501(c)(3) organization in Virginia, focuses on enhancing the quality of life in the Alleghany Highlands through strategic funding initiatives. It seeks grant applications that address key areas such as economic transformation, educational excellence, health and wellness, community capacity, and civic leadership. By prioritizing innovative projects and supporting local organizations, the Foundation aims to foster sustainable growth and community engagement, ensuring a vibrant future for the region.

SC Johnson Grants aim to enhance community welfare through charitable contributions, focusing on health, sustainability, and opportunity. Since 1937, the company has committed five percent of its pretax profits to support registered charities and nonprofit organizations, especially in areas where it operates. The grant program prioritizes initiatives addressing healthcare access, environmental conservation, and educational equity, ensuring that efforts align with the values of community service and corporate responsibility.

The CenterPoint Energy Foundation aims to enhance community vitality through grants supporting affordable housing, environmental education, and workforce development. Focusing on low- to moderate-income populations, the Foundation prioritizes innovative programs that foster community connections and educational opportunities. By investing in both community vitality and education, they strive to create vibrant neighborhoods and empower individuals with the skills needed for success in today's workforce. Their commitment extends across Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, and Texas.

The Comis Foundation Grant aims to provide equitable opportunities for children to thrive through education and community engagement. It supports innovative programs that enhance educational outcomes, focusing on areas such as capacity building and pilot projects. With funding ranging from $5,000 to $75,000, the foundation prioritizes nonprofit organizations that foster inclusive environments. By emphasizing trust and collaboration, Comis Foundation strives to create lasting impacts in the communities it serves.