Best West Virginia Grants for Nonprofits

If your nonprofit is in West Virginia, there are actually a wide variety of funding sources for nonprofits available in your state. Currently, there are more than 100+ individual open grants available, totaling $9,430,800 in funding. For organizations interested in pursuing grant funding in West Virginia, the median grant size is $13,500. However, there are opportunities for greater funding, with 37 grant opportunities currently available that are over $25,000. In addition, we have 19 grants that support general operating expenses, while more than 100+ grants fund programs and projects. More specifically, over 2,000+ grants focus on community development & revitalization and more than 1,000+ grant opportunities are focused on economic services & development.

Nearly all of the more than 100+ of the grants that are currently available in West Virginia come from private foundations, but there are some lucrative funding opportunities on the federal, state, and local government levels. Corporate sponsors are also offering a few grants in a variety of fields. Here’s a breakdown of where you'll find the most grants available:

• Private Foundations: Currently there are 73 grants available from private foundations. Many private grants focus on educational issues like tutoring and mentoring, vocational and trade education, the visual arts, career/college preparation, and teacher development and training. Private grantors who focus on these educational issues include the William and Helen Thomas Charitable Trust, the Claude Washington Benedum Foundation, the Nora Roberts Foundation Grant, and the Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation.
• Federal, State & Local Government: There are 23 grant opportunities available at the state and local level that also focus on education along with environmental issues like agricultural crops, water resource management, freshwater conservation, recycling, and habitat and ecosystem restoration. Some of these state and local opportunities are funded by agencies like the West Virginia Department of Agriculture, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, and the West Virginia Conservation Agency. There are also a few grants available on the federal level from the USDA, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, and these also focus on numerous environmental issues.
• Corporate Funders: There are 12 grants available from corporations. Corporations like Toyota, Huntington National Bank, Food Lion, and Bell's Brewery, Inc. fund everything from youth and community services to food delivery, affordable housing, and public safety.

With the various areas of funding available in West Virginia, you should do your research on not only the amount of funding being offered by these grantors but also their focus. Keep in mind that government grants often have larger awards than those on the corporate level, but they also have equally large compliance requirements.

Based on the data we have now, the best time to apply for grants in West Virginia is in Q1, which is when about 31.4% of deadlines for grants land. This period offers nonprofits the most opportunities to secure funding. We also found that Q3 has a bit fewer grant deadlines, with 23.6%. Comparatively, Q2 is the grant period with the least activity, coming in at only 21.8%. To maximize your odds of winning grant funding, be aware of the peak fundraising periods.

The nonprofit funding landscape throughout West Virginia has shown modest activity over the past several years, decreasing slighlty from 2021 to 2022. Based on the funding reports sent to the IRS, overall grant funding reached more than $490.87 million in 2021 and then declined to around $489.59 million in 2022. Even with this minor decline, the largest area for funding was single-organization support. Likewise, the top counties that received the most funding were Monongalia County, Cabell County, and Kanawha County.