Best Early Childhood Development Grants in South Dakota

South Dakota 501(c)(3) nonprofits supporting early childhood development, family stability, or related youth services may be eligible for funding to advance economic opportunity, housing, and community arts and culture. Grants from US Bancorp Foundation help organizations in designated U.S. Bank communities that address multiple pillars of work, home, and play and advance diversity, equity, and inclusion.

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 South Dakota and across the U.S. can access flexible US $20,000 awards to pilot transformative, community-rooted ideas. Promise Venture Studio’s Imagine Award supports leaders ready to test early childhood, tutoring, mentoring, or civic leadership solutions through a six-month cohort, mentoring, and ongoing alumni community.

Students pursuing careers in early childhood development and related early learning fields can apply for scholarship support, including those from South Dakota. South Dakota early childhood development students can access funding through Chuckanut Health Foundation to reduce financial barriers to higher education and help strengthen future services for young children and families.

Nonprofit charities serving children’s needs, including early childhood development, across the U.S. may be eligible for child-focused support from CAPTRUST Community Foundation. CAPTRUST Community Foundation provides South Dakota early childhood development organizations with opportunities for a large annual Charity of Choice award and multiple national partnership grants that expand their reach and impact.

Nonprofit organizations supporting early childhood development can access free On My Way to Kindergarten kits, providing bilingual school-readiness resources for families with children ages 3–5. Grants from The Molina Foundation help programs in South Dakota and nationwide equip preschools, Head Start sites, clinics, libraries, and other community organizations with these materials.

South Dakota early childhood development nonprofits serving at-risk children ages 0–5 can apply for Ohio Children’s Foundation grants to support early learning, school readiness, and advocacy initiatives, with awards up to US $20,000. Programs that strengthen early brain and language development, reduce toxic stress, and equip parents to talk and read with their children may be competitive.

Nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations supporting children’s health, wellness, early childhood development, and related services in South Dakota and nationwide can apply for grants up to US $15,000. Grants from 15 And The Mahomies Foundation help child-focused programs expand care, resources, and support for young children and communities in need.

Focused on early childhood language development, this grant invites master’s and doctoral students at U.S. graduate programs in speech-language pathology or speech-language science, including those in South Dakota, to fund research studies. Awards of US $4,000 support projects on preschool or early school-age children, with preference for early verbal populations and inclusion of children with hearing impairment when applicable.

U.S. nonprofit professional development providers, school districts, and colleges serving early childhood programs can seek up to US $500,000 over three years to strengthen the early educator workforce. With a mission to improve early childhood development, Stranahan Foundation provides South Dakota and other U.S. organizations with funding for scalable coaching, leadership development, substitute pools, and reinvestment in proven PD models.

South Dakota early childhood development nonprofits 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) organizations near O’Reilly Auto Parts locations may request project, general operating, or capital support for early childhood services within broader health, literacy, and social service initiatives.

U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofits, churches, and government entities working on early childhood development, family services, or community wellness can apply for Cdv5 Foundation grants. Funding may support general operations, capital campaigns, or specific programs, which can include early childhood initiatives benefiting children and families in South Dakota and other communities.

South Dakota early childhood development nonprofits and other 501(c)(3) organizations can access funding through Jesse W Couch Charitable Foundation to strengthen education and related programs. Grants of more than US $50,000 support early childhood education, 21st-century learning, teacher support, and wellness or preservation initiatives that help children and families thrive.

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 improving child welfare and early childhood development, including those in South Dakota, can seek support for projects that help children and families thrive. Doris Duke Foundation backs prevention-oriented, community-led efforts that meet families’ needs before maltreatment occurs and test alternatives to traditional child welfare systems through its Child Well-Being National Program.

Nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations improving early childhood welfare, education, and parenting in the U.S., including South Dakota, can seek seed funding for innovative projects with potential national impact. Caplan Foundation for Early Childhood supports research, curricula, play environments, and parenting education that enhance the lives of children from infancy through age seven.

U.S. 501(c)(3) public charities working in health, education, or housing can apply for FDC Foundation grants supporting programs like early childhood development, nutrition, diabetes care, alternative medicine, and housing access. South Dakota organizations with early childhood development or housing initiatives may be eligible if their work fits these priorities.

Grants from WK Kellogg Foundation help South Dakota early childhood development organizations fund programs in nurturing early care, education, and family economic security. Eligible 501(c)(3) and public entities across the U.S., including South Dakota, may apply to support maternal and child health, nutrition, child care services, workforce readiness, and racial equity efforts for children and families.

South Dakota early childhood and youth-focused 501(c)(3) nonprofits can request monetary or in-kind dining certificate support for programs serving children’s health, development, welfare, and hunger needs. Brinker International provides one donation per organization per year, with applications submitted online at least six weeks before the related event.

With a mission to strengthen community institutions, Alleghany Foundation provides U.S. 501(c)(3) organizations and qualifying public entities with project-focused funding for economic transformation, education, health, and early childhood development. South Dakota early childhood programs may be eligible if they align with these strategic priorities and can leverage additional public or private support.

Early childhood development nonprofits and public agencies in South Dakota can seek support for programs that improve child health, education, and family stability. SC Johnson Giving supports U.S.-based 501(c)(3) organizations and government entities, prioritizing communities near its operations, with grants addressing healthier lives, sustainability, and expanded opportunity for children and families.

The Otter Tail Corporation Foundation Grant Program focuses on supporting 501(c)(3) organizations in communities across Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Priorities include early childhood education, health services for families in need, community development, and environmental sustainability. While the 2025 budget is fully allocated, they encourage applications for 2026, emphasizing collaborative projects that create measurable impacts.

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.

The Francis R. Dewing Foundation Grant provides seed money to support innovative projects in early childhood education, benefiting children up to sixth grade. Founded by Frances R. Dewing in 1963, the foundation aims to stimulate intellectual growth in young children through unique educational methods. Grants typically range from $1,000 to $25,000, with a focus on projects that demonstrate a broad impact on the educational community. Applications are accepted from 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations and government entities across the United States.

The Hearst Foundation: Education Grant aims to support outstanding nonprofits that promote education across various levels, focusing primarily on higher education. With a minimum grant size of $100,000, the foundation prioritizes organizations demonstrating significant impact and sustainability. They support innovative educational models, professional development, and scholarships, specifically targeting underserved populations. Since the 1940s, the foundation has evolved while maintaining its commitment to fostering healthy and productive lives for all individuals in the United States.