Best Massachusetts Grants for Nonprofits

The WaterSMART Cooperative Watershed Management Program offers funding to eligible entities for developing local solutions to water management issues. This initiative supports watershed group development, restoration planning, and project design, promoting stakeholder cooperation and improving water reliability. It aligns with key priorities from the Trump administration, addressing complex water challenges and enhancing federal grant oversight. By facilitating these efforts, the program aims to stretch limited water resources and foster collaborative solutions among diverse stakeholders.

The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) is inviting applications for the Clinical Trial Cooperative Agreement Program. This funding opportunity supports investigator-initiated, interventional clinical trials at various phases. Initial funding will facilitate the preparation needed to start trials, with successful milestones leading to further support. NIAMS emphasizes hypothesis-driven trials that promise significant clinical impact within its research mission.

The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) is launching a funding opportunity for Exploratory Clinical Trials Grants. This program aims to support innovative clinical trials that enhance the understanding and treatment of arthritis and other musculoskeletal and skin conditions. Research proposals should focus on early-stage trials, including first-in-human studies, dose-finding, and biomarker evaluation. The initiative encourages the translation of promising laboratory findings into effective clinical practices, ultimately improving patient outcomes.

Lilly Foundation

To extend Lilly’s charitable reach and impact, the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation (Lilly Foundation) was established in 1968 and is supported by donations from Eli Lilly and Company.

The Foundation is a tax-exempt, private foundation supporting programs that align with its philanthropic priorities.

Grantmaking Approach

The Lilly Foundation’s work is guided by a charitable vision of a world where every person has an opportunity to live their healthiest life. Through grantmaking focused on Lilly Foundation’s charitable vision, grants can serve as a catalyst for closing gaps and empowering individuals and communities to thrive.

All proposals should demonstrate clear alignment with at least one focus area and include charitable outcomes that are measurable and consistent with the Foundation’s long-term charitable goals.

Global Health, K-12 STEM Education and Economic Mobility Grant

Focus Areas

Global Health

Lilly Foundation, through its charitable grants, aims to support permissible charitable efforts to improve access to quality healthcare for resource-limited communities in low- and lower-middleincome countries (L/LMICs) and in the United States. Strengthening access to care is essential for enhancing community well-being and supporting economic stability in resource-limited settings.

The Global Health focus area aims to close gaps in quality healthcare by supporting charitable solutions that improve access, bring care closer to where people live, and address the high burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in resource-limited settings. To the extent permissible, the Foundation prioritizes charitable efforts related to cardiometabolic health in resource-limited settings.

K-12 STEM Education

The K-12 STEM Education focus area aims to close the gaps for students from low-income communities by supporting programs that foster new pathways and pipelines to STEM education through focused K-12 efforts, concentrating on the critical middle school years. The Foundation’s K-12 STEM Education grants are focused on initiatives that benefit Marion County, Indiana.

Economic Mobility

The Economic Mobility focus area supports charitable and educational programs that strengthen workforce readiness, postsecondary and skills-based educational pathways, and housing stability to promote long-term prosperity. This support is focused on Marion County, Indiana, with the goal of improving economic opportunity for low-income communities and advancing community well-being.

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education provides leadership, oversight, funding, support, and accountability for the Commonwealth's approximately 400 school districts that educate close to 1 million public school children each year. We also oversees programs that serve 20,000 adult learners each year.

METCO Program

Purpose

The purpose of the state-funded Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO) Program is to expand educational opportunities by fostering the opportunity for children from Boston and Springfield to attend public schools in neighboring communities for students to develop a deeper understanding of one another in an integrated public school setting. The METCO program provides students of participating school districts the opportunity to experience the advantages of learning and working in a racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse setting.

Priorities

The priorities of this fund source are to provide Boston and Springfield students further opportunities to achieve at high levels the learning standards of the state curriculum frameworks and enrich both the urban and suburban communities by providing opportunities and support for cross-cultural understanding and appreciation.

Applicants for this grant opportunity should be deliberate and intentional in the use of grant funds to support the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) standards and priorities. Specifically, this program may include, but not be limited to, the following priorities:

• Academic & mental health supports for METCO students, including: 1) Regular day and after-school tutoring and mentoring programs. 2) Initiatives that bridge opportunity gaps between and within METCO program students and in-district resident students. 3) Other programs and services that support family engagement and community engagement events.

• Hiring needs and professional development for METCO community members (all school and district-based staff and students), designed to support racial integration efforts, including: 1) Professional development geared towards building a culturally and linguistically responsive school culture that contributes to increased cross-cultural and racial understanding. 2) Professional development for new and current METCO staff, and 3) Memberships to and participation in professional organizations focused on diversity and reducing racial imbalance within METCO school communities.

• Transportation

Fund Use

Grant funds must be aligned to the purpose of this grant (see "Purpose" section) and priorities (see "Priorities" section). Funds may be used for local district costs incurred as a result of the participation of Metropolitan Council for Educational OpportunityMETCO students, Metropolitan Council for Educational OpportunityMETCO transportation costs, and for supplemental services that will contribute in a measurable way to enhanced educational opportunities and academic achievement, as well as enrichment.

Funds can be used to supplement but not supplant the costs of district participation in Metropolitan Council for Educational OpportunityMETCO. All budgets must be reviewed and approved by the district Metropolitan Council for Educational OpportunityMETCO leader. 

About McElhattan Foundation

Founded in 2017 following the sale of Industrial Scientific Corporation, McElhattan Foundation invites bold ideas that advance the goals of its four program areas, including Ending Death on the Job.

Zero Electrocution Challenge

Despite decades of regulations, training, and personal protective equipment, workers continue to die from electrical contact every year.

McElhattan Foundation’s Zero Electrocution Challenge seeks breakthrough solutions that present pathways to eliminate life-threatening tasks that lead to fatal electrocution on the job by the year 2050, while increasing enterprise profitability and productivity. This is the inaugural ZERO 2050 challenge, awarding two Winners up to $1 million each.

The FY27 Communications and Networking Applied Research program aims to advance technologies essential for Naval operations. This initiative aligns with the Design for Maritime Superiority, focusing on the Naval Tactical Grid (NTG) to ensure seamless connectivity among distributed units. The technologies developed will operate under challenging conditions across multiple domains, enhancing command and control capabilities for effective decision-making in maritime and other operational theaters.

About Henry L. Hillman Foundation

Henry L. Hillman Foundation inspires, invests in, and leverages great ideas to improve the quality of life in Pittsburgh and southwestern Pennsylvania.

Backup Power When Your Community Needs It

The Powered & Prepared Initiative seeks proposals from nonprofit and municipal organizations in southwestern Pennsylvania for backup power solutions that allow those organizations to offer essential services during emergencies without disruption.

Southwestern Pennsylvania is increasingly impacted by severe weather events that cause widespread power outages and disruptions. The Powered & Prepared Initiative, supported by Henry L. Hillman Foundation, seeks proposals from nonprofit and municipal organizations for backup power solutions that allow those organizations to offer essential services during emergencies without disruption.

Building the Future Workforce Challenge

Awarding $5 million and the opportunity to test bold, tech‑forward solutions that strengthen the advanced manufacturing and industry technician workforce—today and for the future.

About the Challenge

Caterpillar knows preparing the workforce for the future is urgent. Communities, employers, and industry need new ways to close advancing skill gaps. The Building the Future Workforce Challenge invites fresh perspectives from all sectors to rethink training. Up to five teams will be awarded $1 million each for sustainable, tech‑forward solutions that strengthen today’s—and tomorrow’s—advanced manufacturing and industry technician talent pipelines.

What types of solutions are you looking for?

The Building the Future Workforce Challenge aims to identify, test, and scale innovative, sustainable solutions that will address today’s and tomorrow’s advanced manufacturing and industry technician skill gaps. A core requirement of any solution is that it remains relevant amid evolving technology—ensuring that breakthrough innovation and human potential rise together.

Strong proposals for Building the Future Workforce Challenge will meet four criteria outlined in the scoring rubric, and proposed solutions must focus on one or more of the following solution categories for Building the Future Workforce Challenge:

Pre-clinical Investigation of anti-TFPI-mediated Rebalancing Mechanisms in Non-Hemophilic Bleeding Disorders 

There remains a scientific gap in understanding of the role of anti-TFP Imediated hemostatic rebalancing in the context of inherited or non-hemophilic bleeding disorders. This competitive grant program encourages competitive submissions focsed on generating preclinical/foundational data exploring the therapeutic potential and mechanisms of TFPI modulation in bleeding disorders other than hemophilia.

Geographic Scope

Brazil, China, Europe, Israel, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey, USA

Funding Range and Project Length

Individual projects requesting up to $50,000 USD will be considered.

Request for study drug or compound is allowed (max $50,000 USD), additionally to the study project costs.

Maximum project length is 1 year.

Pediatric Hidradenitis Suppurativa Challenge Grant

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a devastating chronic inflammatory disease that manifests as recurrent painful nodules under the skin in the intertriginous areas of the body. It is associated with significant impacts on quality of life, psychosocial well-being, and long-term health outcomes of patients as well as consequences for families and caregivers. HS is prevalent, affecting between 1 and 4% of the population beginning in adolescence and persisting into adulthood. Despite the impact of HS, it remains underdiagnosed, undertreated, and understudied particularly in the pediatric and adolescent populations. Contributing to this dynamic are unknowns related to a complex disease etiology, stigma associated with HS symptoms (e.g., sweating, itching, and scarring commonly in the genital region), and limited treatment options to date with even fewer available for children under the age of 12.

To address the needs of children and adolescents living with HS, the Pediatric Dermatology Research Alliance (PeDRA), HS Connect, and the HS Foundation are offering the 2026 Pediatric HS Challenge Grant to support an early-to-mid career investigator for a one-year project focused on a high-priority, patient-centric research topic.

Focus

Proposals should address one or more of the following high-priority research topics:

• Predicting treatment effectiveness and risk utilizing real world evidence and/or experience
• Early disease and factors involved in severe disease development
• Optimizing surgical and procedural approaches to minimize pain, shorten healing time, and reduce recurrence
• Improving recruitment of diverse and representative populations for clinical studies, trials and advanced therapeutics

Funding:

• Up to $50,000 to support one year of research
• One award anticipated for this funding cycle

The Alpha Omega Alpha/Pharos Poetry Award

To encourage students to write effective poetry. Winning poems are published in The Pharos.

The Award

Up to 5 poems will receive a $1,500 award. The winning entries will be published in The Pharos.

Summer Medical Internship Program (SMIP)

Fosters an interest in research by funding a summer research project conducted by a medical student.

The SIR Foundation Summer Medical Internship Program introduces medical students to interventional radiology research and medical device development. The goal of this program is to foster an interest in research by funding a summer research project conducted by a medical student.

Students applying for the program must show strong potential for a career in IR with proven academic success. Selected students will have an opportunity to intern with an interventional radiologist research mentor or corporate research and development mentor for 8 weeks during the summer.

SIR Foundation will provide a $6,000 stipend to help ease the financial burdens throughout their internship experience.

• Budget: Up to $6,000
• Grant Length: Eight weeks

Hilcorp Future Leaders of America Scholarship

Benefiting select communities across the United States where Hilcorp operates.

The Hilcorp Future Leaders of America Scholarship Program was developed to give back to the communities in which Hilcorp Energy Company operates to develop future leadership talent as the next innovators, educators, and business leaders.

Award Amount

Multiple scholarships awarded annually. The scholarship is comprised of up to four (4) annual awards of $2,500, for a total award of up to $10,000.

The four annual (4) awards may be received over a period of up to 6 years, allowing for deferment if needed.

GBA1 Parkinson's Disease Research Catalyst Program

The GBA1-PD Research Catalyst Program seeks to build a deeper, globally integrated understanding of GBA1-associated Parkinson’s disease by aligning efforts across geographies and maximizing the value of shared datasets and research assets. Funding will support hypothesis- driven projects with an emphasis on integrative, cross-cohort analyses and the systematic characterization and standardization of models to enable broad use by the research community.

Funding

Duration: 12 to 24 months

Award Amount: Up to $300,000. Requested support should be commensurate with work proposed.

These budgets include direct and indirect costs. For academic and for-profit institutions, no more than 15% or 10%, respectively, may go to indirect costs. 

Patrick J. Kiley / Houston AGC Scholarship

Benefiting employees, dependents of employees, and/or interns of AGC Houston member firms OR students involved in AGC Student Chapters.

Award Amounts

Multiple awards are given each year. Scholarship award amounts will vary for each selected scholarship recipient.

Investigating the Benefit of Early Treatment with Ritlecitinib in Alopecia Areata: A Real-World Evidence Approach

Alopecia Areata (AA) is a chronic, immune-mediated condition causing nonscarring hair loss that affects about 2% of the global population and can lead to substantial psychosocial burden if disease is severe and untreated. The treatment landscape has recently evolved with the approval of ritlecitinib, a systemic therapy for severe AA in adults and adolescents aged 12 years and older, based on efficacy demonstrated in the ALLEGRO phase 2b/3 program.

Despite this advance, important questions remain regarding the optimal timing of therapy initiation. Emerging post-hoc analyses from the ALLEGRO program indicate that patients with shorter disease duration and lower baseline severity achieve higher response rates, suggesting that earlier intervention with ritlecitinib may lead to improved outcomes.

Geographic Scope

United States 

Funding Range and Project Length

Individual projects requesting up to $100,000 USD will be considered.

Maximum project length is 24 months.

Hemophilia Fellowship

This competitive grant program seeks to support an institution-based fellowship that emphasizes shared decision making (SDM), patient education, and multidisciplinary team-based care. The intent is to strengthen the hemophilia care through equitable education, and patient-centered shared decision making in a rapidly evolving treatment landscape.

Geographic Scope

• United States 

Funding Range and Project Length

• Grant funding is available to support a one year fellowship up to $100.000 USD. 

Accelerating the Development of Combined CGM–Pump Devices

A combined continuous glucose monitor (CGM) and insulin pump device represents an innovative approach to simplifying diabetes management by integrating two essential technologies into a single device. This approach has the potential to improve quality of life for people with type 1 diabetes (T1D) by reducing the burden associated with wearing and managing multiple devices.

Despite this promise, the development of combined CGM–pump devices presents technical and commercialization challenges. These include the need for further advances in device compatibility and lifespan, system reliability, and scalable manufacturing, while maintaining affordability and broadaccessibility. In addition, a potential insulin dilution effect may require adjustment of the CGM algorithm.

Breakthrough T1D invites applications for research and development projects that address key technical, clinical, and translational challenges related to combined CGM–pump devices, with the goal of accelerating their development and improving outcomes for people living with T1D.

In response to this announcement, applications may request up to a total of $900,000 USD for up to three years. 

OREF/Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation Research Grant

Solicits investigator-initiated proposals focusing on research in the science of biologic – reconstruction, bone regeneration, transplantation - allografts, and including stem cells for graft transplantation.

The NEA Arts and Artifacts International Indemnity Program, administered by the National Endowment for the Arts, provides financial protection for museums exhibiting significant art and artifacts. Launched in 1975, it minimizes insurance costs for international exhibitions. The program allows U.S. entities to receive indemnity for works of art while on display in the U.S. Applications are assessed by expert panels, ensuring a thorough review process before approvals or conditional notices are issued.

The FY25-FY26 Advanced Transportation Technology and Innovation (ATTAIN) grant program aims to enhance transportation through the deployment of innovative technologies. It focuses on improving safety, mobility, and efficiency while fostering economic competitiveness. Projects funded will prioritize core infrastructure improvements and address roadway congestion, aligning with the Trump Administration's goals. The program emphasizes economic opportunities and community benefits, ensuring that selected projects contribute positively to families and communities, ultimately enhancing their quality of life.

The NEA Arts and Artifacts International Indemnity Program, established in 1975, supports the exhibition of significant art and artifacts by minimizing insurance costs for international exhibitions. Administered by the National Endowment for the Arts, it covers U.S. owned art during exhibitions in the country. The program evaluates applications through advisory panels and the Federal Council on the Arts and Humanities, ensuring that vital cultural works are accessible while providing necessary financial protections.

The NEA Arts and Artifacts Domestic Indemnity Program, administered by the National Endowment for the Arts, ensures that U.S. museums can exhibit significant art and artifacts without the burden of high insurance costs. Established in 1975, it provides indemnity against loss or damage, promoting access to cultural heritage. The program evaluates applications through expert advisory panels and typically meets three to six months after deadlines to decide on indemnity requests, thereby supporting the arts and enriching public engagement.

The NEA Arts and Artifacts Domestic Indemnity Program provides museums and cultural institutions in the U.S. with financial protection against loss or damage to significant artworks during exhibitions. Established in 1975 and expanded in 2007, the program aims to enhance public access to art by minimizing insurance costs. Managed by the National Endowment for the Arts, it involves thorough evaluations by expert panels to ensure eligibility and compliance, facilitating the safe display of invaluable cultural treasures.

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) is seeking applications for research coordination and data support under the Health and Extreme Weather initiative. This funding opportunity aims to engage NIH grantees and the broader community by sharing best practices, developing training resources, and facilitating access to health and environmental data. The initiative will enhance collaboration, reduce duplication, and promote data standards to support impactful research and infrastructure activities.

Age Strong Commission

For us, strength comes in many forms. Strength of community. Of cultures. Of experiences. Strength to embrace new chapters and opportunities. We believe that Bostonians who are 55+ make our City strong and vibrant. Our mission is to enhance your life with meaningful programs, resources, and connections so we can live and age strong in Boston together.

Older Americans Act Long term Care Ombudsman Grant Program

Grant Program Description

Through the Older Americans Act Support and Health Services Grant, the City of Boston’s Age Strong Commission seeks a partner who can deliver the services of the Long term Care (LTC) Ombudsman Program. The State Ombudsman Program is managed by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Aging & Independence State Ombudsman. The purpose of the Ombudsman Program is to protect the rights and benefits of long term care residents according to State and Federal laws. Ombudsmen work closely with the Executive Office of Aging and Independence, the Age Strong Commission, and the Department of Public Health to advocate for institutionalized older adults.   

Grant Priorities 

• Receive, investigate, and resolve nursing and rest home complaints;
• Protect the rights of residents
• Provide information on long term care issues to residents and their families
• Advocate for positive changes to the long term care system 

Reporting Requirements

All grant recipients will be required to submit monthly or quarterly programmatic and fiscal reports to the Age Strong team. Please refer to the Subrecipient Monitoring Guide for details on monitoring, reporting, fiscal requirements, invoicing and procedural guidance.