Best Grants for New Nonprofits in North Carolina

Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area

Our Mission

The Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area seeks to ensure that our community thrives today, tomorrow, and forever by building our Community’s Endowment to support high impact charitable projects, helping donors achieve their charitable goals, and leading and partnering in community-level initiatives.

Scholarships

CFHZ awards over $1 million in scholarships each year for students to attend schools of higher education throughout the nation. Our scholarships are possible thanks to the generosity of donors who invest in our community’s future by furthering the education of others.

All Holland/Zeeland area individuals interested in post-secondary education are encouraged to apply for CFHZ scholarships.

The Foundation proudly administers over 100 scholarships, each with unique eligibility criteria that must be met before a candidate can be considered.

Mark Winia Memorial Soccer Scholarship

• Graduating senior or graduating early college student who attends public, private, or home school in the primary service area of the Community Foundation or in Hamilton or Saugatuck
• Enrolling at an accredited post-secondary school within the United States
• Financial need, a consideration (encouraged to submit the page of the FAFSA Submission Summary showing the Student Aid Index amount)
• GPA of 2.5 or greater
• Club or varsity soccer participant
• High involvement and giving back to the soccer world through participation in activities such as coaching, mentoring, refereeing, or Cleats for Kids
• Recommended by applicant’s club or school soccer coach
• 1,200-character or less essay explaining how you have given back to the sport of soccer beyond participating on teams and being a team captain or co-captain

Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area

Our Mission

The Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area seeks to ensure that our community thrives today, tomorrow, and forever by building our Community’s Endowment to support high impact charitable projects, helping donors achieve their charitable goals, and leading and partnering in community-level initiatives.

Scholarships

CFHZ awards over $1 million in scholarships each year for students to attend schools of higher education throughout the nation. Our scholarships are possible thanks to the generosity of donors who invest in our community’s future by furthering the education of others.

All Holland/Zeeland area individuals interested in post-secondary education are encouraged to apply for CFHZ scholarships.

The Foundation proudly administers over 100 scholarships, each with unique eligibility criteria that must be met before a candidate can be considered.

Neydon Scholarship for the Children of Widows

• Graduating senior from one of the following high schools: Black River, Holland Christian, Holland High School, West Ottawa, Zeeland East, or Zeeland West
• Enrolling at an accredited post-secondary school within the United States
• Financial need (must submit the page of the FAFSA Submission Summary showing the Student Aid Index amount)
• Child of a widowed mother
• Preference given to those students who are not selected to receive other types of scholarships, particularly full scholarships

Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area

Our Mission

The Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area seeks to ensure that our community thrives today, tomorrow, and forever by building our Community’s Endowment to support high impact charitable projects, helping donors achieve their charitable goals, and leading and partnering in community-level initiatives.

Scholarships

CFHZ awards over $1 million in scholarships each year for students to attend schools of higher education throughout the nation. Our scholarships are possible thanks to the generosity of donors who invest in our community’s future by furthering the education of others.

All Holland/Zeeland area individuals interested in post-secondary education are encouraged to apply for CFHZ scholarships.

The Foundation proudly administers over 100 scholarships, each with unique eligibility criteria that must be met before a candidate can be considered.

Shelley Speet-Mills Creative Arts Scholarship

• Graduating senior or graduating early college student who attends public, private, or home school in the primary service area of the Community Foundation
• Enrolling at an accredited post-secondary school within the United States
• Financial need (must submit the page of the FAFSA Submission Summary showing the Student Aid Index amount)
• GPA of 3.0 or greater
• Planning to pursue a career in the arts
• Recommended by applicant’s high school art teacher
• This scholarship is potentially renewable and supports one student at a time. 

ASPCApro.org provides tools and resources for animal welfare professionals, veterinary personnel and volunteers. We take a progressive approach to helping the country's at-risk animals, promoting cutting edge research to advance the field.

ASPCA The Rescue Effect Campaign Grants

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals® (ASPCA®) is offering up to $2 million in grants to support adoption at shelters and rescues during the 2026 “The Rescue Effect”, a nationwide campaign that highlights the positive chain of events that occurs when people adopt, foster, volunteer, advocate and donate.

The Rescue Effect will run through the months of August, September, and October 2026, during which grantees must offer a minimum of two (2) fee-waived adoption days/events each month. 

Restrictions and Parameters

Grant funds may be used for any of the following:

• make-ready costs for cats/dogs available for adoption during the Campaign months covered by the grant term (e.g., s/n surgery, microchips, vaccinations, testing, dewormer, flea-tick treatment, heartworm preventative, bloodwork)
• marketing/advertising costs (e.g., adoption promotions, volunteer/foster recruitment)
• waived adoption fees for adoptions occurring during the Campaign months covered by the grant term
• foster program expansion/ramp up
• operating costs related to supporting participation in The Rescue Effect campaign

Preston Coiner Scholarship

The Preston Coiner Scholarship is a multi-year award administered through the Charlottesville Scholarship Program. Based on funding availability, the award may be used for a two or four year undergraduate program. Only one award is given every four years. 

The Lingnan W.T. Chan Fellowship Program provides transformative educational experiences for Chinese students in the U.S. through service learning and intercultural exchange. Inspired by Professor Wing-Tsit Chan, this program emphasizes a commitment to service, personal growth, and leadership development. Fellows engage with non-profit organizations, gaining practical experience while living with American families and participating in seminars and reflection meetings, fostering intercultural understanding and professional skills.

Established in 1948, the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES) – a nonprofit, non-political, scholarly society – is the leading international organization dedicated to the advancement of knowledge about Central Asia, the Caucasus, Russia, and Eastern Europe in regional and global contexts.  

As a private, non-political international professional organization, we support our members, who are scholars and students in diverse disciplines and specialists in various professions, to share their knowledge and expertise and to foster greater understanding of the region and its impact in the world.

ASEEES Internship Grant Program

The ASEEES Internship Grant Program promotes the entry of young scholars with Russian studies expertise into sectors outside traditional academia, including not-for-profit and non-governmental organizations, business/trade councils, government, media, the arts, museums, publishers, and other non-academic sectors.

Funded by an external grant, ASEEES’s Internship Grant Program provides incoming, current, and recent (i.e. those who have graduated no more than two years prior to the competition deadline) MA, PhD, and professional school students with grants that make it possible for them to accept unpaid or underpaid internships in areas broadly related to Russia, including Russia’s relations with other regions/countries.

Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation

Vision: We envision a vibrant, prosperous northern Chautauqua community, rich in opportunity today and tomorrow.

Our Mission

To realize our vision we focus on:

• strategic and responsive grant making
• encouraging local philanthropy and building permanent endowments for the future
• actively serving as a community leader and partner for the benefit and enrichment in our community.

Scholarships

Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation proudly manages over 200 individual scholarship funds,

Ruth C. Stacy Counselor Scholarship

The Ruth C. Stacy Counselor Scholarship Fund is presented to students who have earned a Bachelor’s Degree and have been accepted into an accredited Master’s Degree program majoring in school or mental health counseling.

American Chemical Society

The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a non-profit organization founded in 1876 and chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS is committed to improving all lives through the transforming power of chemistry. Our mission is to advance scientific knowledge, empower a global community, and champion scientific integrity. Our vision is a world built on science.

What We Do

More than 145 years after our founding, we remain a champion for chemistry, its practitioners and our global community of members.

We’re recognized as a leading publisher of authoritative scientific information. Our 80+ peer-reviewed journals are ranked the “most-trusted, most-cited and most-read.”

We empower our members to advance chemistry, elevate their career potential, expand their networks, inspire future generations, collaborate globally and build communities that provide scientific solutions.

We provide broader networks that facilitate connections and open doors in a way no other professional organization can match!

ACS Award in Industrial Chemistry

Purpose

To recognize outstanding contributions to chemical research in the industrial context. Significant creative contribution to chemistry in any field of chemical, chemical engineering, pharmaceutical, or biochemical research is appropriate.

The award consists of $5,000 and a certificate. Up to $2,500 for travel expenses to the meeting at which the award will be presented will be reimbursed.

Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area

Our Mission

The Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area seeks to ensure that our community thrives today, tomorrow, and forever by building our Community’s Endowment to support high impact charitable projects, helping donors achieve their charitable goals, and leading and partnering in community-level initiatives.

Scholarships

CFHZ awards over $1 million in scholarships each year for students to attend schools of higher education throughout the nation. Our scholarships are possible thanks to the generosity of donors who invest in our community’s future by furthering the education of others.

All Holland/Zeeland area individuals interested in post-secondary education are encouraged to apply for CFHZ scholarships.

The Foundation proudly administers over 100 scholarships, each with unique eligibility criteria that must be met before a candidate can be considered.

Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 104 Undergraduate Studies Scholarship

• Graduating senior, graduating early college student, or current college student from any school system within the Community Foundation’s service area or the following high schools: Fennville, Hamilton, or Saugatuck
• Enrolling/enrolled in a 2 or 4-year degree program at an accredited post-secondary school within the United States
• Financial need, a consideration (encouraged to submit the page of the FAFSA Submission Summary showing the Student Aid Index amount)
• GPA of 2.5 or greater
• Past recipients of this award may reapply.
• Top priority given to students planning to study laenforcement.
• Priority given to the direct descendants (children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, etc.) of present or past Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 104 members.
• Priority given to children of active duty or retired police officers.

The Ian Miskelley Be Better Scholarship, offered by the Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area, aims to support high school seniors who are active in swimming and demonstrate strong character. Eligible applicants must be graduating seniors from public, private, or home schools within the foundation's service area, have participated in a swim team during their junior and senior years, and be recommended by a swim coach. Community service related to mental health is a plus.

Carolyn L. Ballard & Beverly J. Schoch Scholarship

Graduating senior from a high school within the Community Foundation’s primary service area.

Brooks Family First Generation Scholarship

Graduating senior or graduating early college student from one of the following high schools: Black River, Holland High School, West Ottawa, Zeeland East, or Zeeland West.

Benjamin H. Van Andel Promise of Excellence Scholarship

This scholarship recognizes and supports exceptionally talented students in any field who exhibit the gifts and passion to be world class leaders, performers, or artists in their area of giftedness.

The Sarah Scaife Foundation Grant supports public policy initiatives that tackle significant domestic and international challenges. This grant is intended for publicly-supported non-profit organizations and does not extend to individuals or national fundraising groups. Proposals related to event sponsorships, capital campaigns, or organizations reliant on government funding are typically declined. The focus remains on impactful projects that align with the Foundation's mission.

Zeeland Rotary – Donald Morgan Memorial Scholarship

Graduating senior who resides in the Zeeland Public School District (student does not have to attend Zeeland Public Schools to be eligible).

Batts Family Scholarship

Graduating senior or graduating early college student who attends public, private, or home school in the primary service area of the Community Foundation.

Purpose of the Fund

This fund provides timely assistance to residents and nonprofits in Orange, Durham, Johnston, and Wake counties when a crisis interrupts everyday life. Grounded in our Invest–Convene–Amplify approach, it strengthens the region’s ability to respond quickly and ensures families and community partners get the help they need without delay. Because it is fueled entirely by donor support, every contribution goes directly to stabilizing neighbors and helping them move forward.

Individuals Experiencing Financial Hardship

Residents in any of the four counties can apply directly.

Eligible support may include housing stability, food access, transportation, or other essential needs created by a crisis.

Award Amount:

Up to $1,000 per approved application.



The Rachael Ray Save Them All Grants support innovative projects aimed at enhancing the lifesaving efforts for cats and dogs in U.S. shelters. Eligible organizations, including public and private shelters and rescue groups, can apply for up to $50,000 to fund initiatives like intake prevention services, medical care for at-risk pets, and shelter enrichment programs. All projects must align with the mission of increasing adoption rates and improving animal welfare within the Best Friends Network.

Kids' Chance of Pennsylvania Scholarship

The mission of Kids’ Chance of Pennsylvania, Inc. (Kids’ Chance of PA) is to provide scholarship grants for college and vocational education to children of Pennsylvania workers who have been killed or seriously injured in a work-related accident resulting in financial need.

The hardships created by the death or serious disability of a parent often include financial ones, making it difficult for deserving young people to pursue their educational dreams. That's where we come in - helping those dreams become a reality!

We are dedicated to supporting the higher education of the children of seriously injured or killed Pennsylvania workers. Since our inception in 1997, we have provided over 1,150 scholarships totaling more than $3.2 million to deserving students! If you are one of these children, we encourage you to take the time to fill out this application. Additionally, if you receive a KCPA scholarship, you may be eligible to receive supplemental grant money through an agreement with the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency/Pathways to Higher Education (PHEAA/PATH) Program

Scholarships are awarded on an annual basis and must be reapplied for each year. 

Arizona Community Foundation

For more than four decades, the Arizona Community Foundation has worked in tandem with generous individuals, families, and organizations to address some of the biggest challenges facing our state.

Scholarships

In partnership with our generous donors, we award millions of dollars annually to help students achieve their educational goals. Through our online system, students complete one application and are matched with available scholarships, based on their eligibility requirements.

The Maria Gomez Dream Scholarship

Sponsored by the MG Dream Foundation, the Maria Gomez Dream Scholarship was established in memory of a friend and daughter who lost her battle with cancer in 2014. Maria cared about her community, giving her time and talents to make the world a better place. Through this scholarship, the MG Dream Foundation honors Maria by supporting college-bound youth in pursuit of higher education. Our vision is to set forth a ripple effect and create a positive generational change in students' lives.

The Runschke Family Scholarship, established by Gernot and Anne Runschke, supports students from Northwest Ottawa County pursuing vocational or trades programs. It aims to empower local youth by easing educational costs, while emphasizing community involvement and academic potential. Financial need is not a primary consideration, allowing a diverse range of applicants to qualify. This scholarship reflects the Runschke family's commitment to enhancing education and workforce development in their community.

The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown offers a prestigious Writing Fellowship for emerging writers. This seven-month residency, running from October to April, provides a $1250 monthly stipend, private accommodations, and a $1000 exit stipend for relocation. With a legacy of supporting notable writers like Louise Glück and Jhumpa Lahiri, the fellowship emphasizes self-directed creative time. Application fees vary by date, starting at $40, to enhance accessibility for all applicants.

The DAV Charitable Service Trust provides essential support to empower veterans in leading dignified lives. This private funder focuses on rehabilitation programs, mobility enhancements for veterans with disabilities, and assistance for aging and homeless veterans. Additionally, it addresses the needs of veterans affected by recent conflicts and supports their caregivers and families. Grants are available to eligible organizations recognized by the IRS as tax-exempt, ensuring that the trust's mission effectively reaches those who have served.

About

What are Artist Support Grants?

Artist Support Grants is a program funded by the N.C. Arts Council to provide the opportunity for regional consortia of local arts councils to award project grants to artists in their regions.

Application Information

• Pitt County Arts Council at Emerge 
  • Primary Contact: Holly Garriott
  • Phone: 252-551-6947
  • Email: holly@pittcountyarts.org
  • Web: https://www.pittcountyarts.org/

Eastern Colorado Scholarship

The Eastern Colorado Scholarship is designed to support post-secondary pursuits of students throughout the region and is funded through contributions from many community members and legacy gifts. 

The Eastern Colorado Scholarship is available to students attending school in Eastern Colorado (Logan County, Morgan County, Phillips County, Washington County, Sedgwick County, and Yuma County). The scholarship is open to students pursuing any kind of secondary education including four-year degrees, two-year degrees, trade schools, etc. 

Scholarship amount:

• $3,000

Number of awards:

• 4

Scholarship awards are one-time awards. The amount awarded to a selected recipient may be used for the cost of attendance. All scholarships will be paid directly to the recipient’s school and must be used for the upcoming academic year. Award disbursement is contingent upon the outside scholarship policies of a recipient’s college or university.

About

What are Artist Support Grants?

Artist Support Grants is a program funded by the N.C. Arts Council to provide the opportunity for regional consortia of local arts councils to award project grants to artists in their regions.

Application Information

• Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County
• Primary Contact: Michael Houck
• Phone: 910-323-1776
• Email: michaelh@theartscouncil.com
• Web: https://www.theartscouncil.com/