Chick-fil-A Grants 2026: What's Open and Who Can Apply

Chick-fil-A grants open now: 7 routes checked November 6, 2026

Grantsights checked 7 routes against Chick-fil-A's program pages, FAQs and press releases on November 6, 2026. None takes a cash grant application today. Two have published cycles you can plan around, and two give food or local support with no deadline at all.

Recently closed: True Inspiration Awards applications for the 2027 awards (closed May 1, 2026).

Not for organizations: the Remarkable Futures scholarships ($1,500 and $25,000) go to restaurant Team Members, and Community Scholars awards 13 scholarships of $25,000 a year to students. Neither pays an organization, so neither is covered below.

The honest reading: if your nonprofit missed May 1, 2026, the True Inspiration Awards can't help you until the next window opens. The useful work between now and then is building a relationship with the restaurant Operators near you, because that's what opens the Regional category and Shared Table.

True Inspiration Awards: $6 million to 56 nonprofits in 2026

According to Chick-fil-A's 2026 recipients page (opens in a new tab), the company awarded $6 million to 56 nonprofits in 2026, with grants of up to $350,000. Its main program page (opens in a new tab) says the program started in 2015 and has paid nearly $40 million to more than 400 recipient organizations since then, across 40 states plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Canada, the U.K. and Singapore. Nearly 700,000 customers voted in the Chick-fil-A App for the 2026 regional finalists.

The 2026 awards fall into 5 groups. Grantsights counted each group from the recipients page:

That table explains the most useful fact in this guide. More than half the 2026 grants (29 of 56) went to the Regional category, which the learn-more page says is limited to nonprofits nominated by a Chick-fil-A Operator. Chick-fil-A's own application tips from March 2024 say the same thing: a nomination isn't required, but it improves the odds because Regional has the most award recipients. The nomination FAQ (opens in a new tab) adds that anyone may nominate a nonprofit, and an Operator nomination increases the number of categories you can win in.

Amounts Chick-fil-A published for 2026

The recipients page doesn't list a dollar figure for every grant, but Chick-fil-A's February 10, 2026 announcement (opens in a new tab) names several:

• Faith Kitchen, San Antonio, Texas: $350,000 as the S. Truett Cathy Honoree, for meal service and job training for people experiencing homelessness.
• For Oak Cliff, Dallas, Texas: $200,000 as a Subsidiary winner, for education, workforce and community programs in South Oak Cliff.
• San Diego Rescue Mission, San Diego, California: $125,000 as a Regional winner.
• Living and Learning Enrichment Center, Northville, Michigan: $125,000 as a Regional winner, for teens and young adults with disabilities.
• Fei Yue Community Services, Singapore: 170,000 Singapore dollars as a Global recipient, the first in Singapore.

One nonprofit in San Antonio shows how the program works. For example, Faith Kitchen received $350,000 in 2026 after its local Operator nominated it, and the same press release says San Antonio restaurants had donated surplus food to Faith Kitchen through Shared Table since 2017. That history matters more than any single line on the application. In 2025, the $350,000 honoree grant went to Old Skool Café, a San Francisco supper club run by at-risk youth, according to Chick-fil-A's 2026 cycle announcement (opens in a new tab).

Eligibility rules for the 2027 cycle

According to Chick-fil-A's True Inspiration Awards FAQ (opens in a new tab), the 2027 cycle had 4 rules:

1. Charity status. A 501(c)(3) based in the U.S. or Puerto Rico, or a Canadian, Singapore or U.K. charity that can provide an opinion of counsel confirming it's the equivalent of a U.S. 501(c)(3) public charity. The IRS page on 501(c)(3) exemption requirements (opens in a new tab) explains what that status means if you're unsure yours qualifies.
2. Location. Based in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, Singapore or the U.K.
3. No recent win. Organizations that received a grant in 2024 or 2025 couldn't apply. The 2024 application tips described this as past winners reapplying after 2 years.
4. Mission fit. Needs that match Chick-fil-A's 4 corporate social responsibility priorities: caring for people, caring for others through food, caring for communities and caring for the planet.

The learn-more page (opens in a new tab) describes the 4 categories this way: People covers education, character and leadership for underserved youth; Food covers hunger and food insecurity for children and families; Communities covers housing and direct services for young people and their families; Planet covers environmental work, including community gardens, outdoor classrooms and beautification.

Who actually gets Chick-fil-A grants

Grantsights analysis of the 56 recipients on Chick-fil-A's 2026 winners page found that 51 were in the U.S. (across 22 states), 2 were in Puerto Rico, and 1 each was in Canada, the U.K. and Singapore. Texas led with 8 recipients, followed by California and Florida with 5 each, and Tennessee and South Carolina with 4 each.

Seven Southern states (Texas, Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Louisiana) held 28 of the 56 awards, exactly half. Because Operators nominate most winners, a nonprofit in an area with few Chick-fil-A restaurants has fewer people who can put it forward.

The work they fund leans hard toward hunger and homelessness. The recipients page describes 27 of the 56 winners (all but the Regional winners), and 13 of those 27 describe hunger, meals, food insecurity or homelessness as the core work: rescue missions, food banks, food recovery groups and youth shelters. The rest include youth leadership and mentoring programs, a domestic violence program, an environmental education group and a veterans' career transition program. Faith-based organizations appear too, such as Christian Community Action in Lewisville, Texas and Greater Cleveland Youth for Christ, so a ministry running a community program isn't excluded by the published rules.

What the former Chick-fil-A Foundation funded

The Chick-fil-A Foundation's last full year of grantmaking was 2020. Grantsights analysis of its 2020 Form 990-PF, filed October 2021, found 9 grants totaling $8,950,000 paid during the year, with a median of $600,000. The money split almost evenly 3 ways:

The same return checked the box saying the foundation only made contributions to preselected organizations and didn't accept unsolicited requests. So even when it existed, the foundation wasn't an open grant program. Its 2021 return shows just 2 payments: $50,000 to Junior Achievement USA (listed as approved for future payment on the 2020 return) and the final $22,275 to Feeding America.

What happened to the Chick-fil-A Foundation

The foundation's final return answers the question most searchers are asking. According to its 2021 Form 990-PF, the board approved a plan of dissolution effective November 8, 2021, filed notice with the Georgia Secretary of State on November 20, 2021, paid its final cash of $22,275 to Feeding America on December 10, 2021, and filed articles of dissolution on December 21, 2021. Fair market value of its assets at year end was $0.

Two practical points follow. First, any list, database or blog that still shows "Chick-fil-A Foundation" as an active funder is out of date. On November 6, 2026, chick-fil-afoundation.org redirected to Chick-fil-A's Corporate Social Responsibility address, which then landed on the Global Impact page (opens in a new tab). Second, filings lag. According to the IRS private foundation annual return page (opens in a new tab), a 990-PF is due by the 15th day of the 5th month after the year ends, and the same rule applies after a complete dissolution; the foundation's final 2021 return was filed in April 2022. The IRS also explains the ways a foundation can end its status on its termination of private foundation status page (opens in a new tab).

The True Inspiration Awards never ran through the foundation. Chick-fil-A's press releases credit the grants to Chick-fil-A, Inc., and the foundation's 2020 and 2021 grant lists include no True Inspiration Awards recipients. Because Chick-fil-A, Inc. is a private company, there's no public tax filing that itemizes its grants; the company's own pages are the only source.

How to apply for Chick-fil-A grants: True Inspiration Awards step by step

Three straight cycles have closed on May 1, so plan around a spring deadline. According to Chick-fil-A's press room, the 2025 awards took applications March 1 to May 1, 2024; the 2026 awards took them from March 1, 2025 to May 1; and the 2027 window opened February 10, 2026, the same day the 2026 winners were announced, and closed May 1. Chick-fil-A hasn't published dates for the next cycle, so treat these as history, not a promise.

1. Watch the right page. Check the True Inspiration Awards learn-more page (opens in a new tab) and the Chick-fil-A press room from late January. The page currently says 2027 applications are no longer being accepted.
2. Confirm you're eligible for that cycle. Check the charity status, country and recent-winner rules on the FAQ again when the window opens. The 2027 rules barred 2024 and 2025 winners.
3. Pick the category that fits. Match your program to People, Food, Communities or Planet using the category descriptions. A youth shelter with a meal program might fit Food or Communities; decide based on what the grant would pay for.
4. Get to know the Operators near you. An Operator nomination puts you in the Regional pool, where 29 of the 56 grants went in 2026. Anyone can nominate, but only an Operator nomination widens your categories.
5. Gather documents before you start. Chick-fil-A's 2024 tips suggest collecting statistics, organizational policies such as whistleblower and conflict of interest policies, and photos and video. They say to allow several hours and submit a few days early.
6. Show results, then tell a story. The same tips ask for detail on growth and community impact, the organization's history and plans, and a short video; a phone video is fine.
7. Expect a long wait. Applications close in May, Regional voting happens in the app in the fall, and winners are announced early the following year. An application due May 1, 2026 is for money announced in 2027.

The online form isn't linked while the window is closed, and Chick-fil-A's pages don't name an outside grants platform, so don't trust a third-party site that claims to take True Inspiration Awards applications.

Getting help from your local Chick-fil-A restaurant

More than 2,700 restaurants take part in Shared Table, and Chick-fil-A's FAQs say most restaurants are run by independent franchised Operators who decide local giving. Chick-fil-A's fundraising FAQ (opens in a new tab) says fundraising opportunities are set by each Operator and invites schools, charities, sports teams and ministries to ask. Its donation FAQ says the same about sponsorships and donations for local events. There's no national form, no published budget and no deadline.

Shared Table is food, not money. According to Chick-fil-A's Shared Table page (opens in a new tab), participating restaurants package surplus food at the end of each day (except Sundays), and partner nonprofits pick it up and turn it into new meals. The page lists more than 50 million meals since 2012, more than 1,600 nonprofit partners and more than 61 million pounds of food waste diverted since 2020. Restaurants opt in, so ask your local Operator whether it participates and has room for another partner. According to EPA, whose Wasted Food Scale (opens in a new tab) ranks pathways for surplus food, donating food sits among the most preferred options, which is the logic behind the program. According to the 2025 Global Impact report page, Shared Table donations created more than 12 million meals in 2025 alone.

Hunger gifts are chosen, not requested. Chick-fil-A's hunger FAQ says it donates 25,000 in local currency to a nearby food bank or hunger partner each time a new restaurant opens, and more than $20 million since 2020. A December 2025 press release says Chick-fil-A, Inc. gave $1 million in hunger relief grants to 22 nonprofits in 14 cities that fall, including $100,000 to Feeding South Florida and $50,000 each to Boston Rescue Mission and The Greater Boston Food Bank. Neither program publishes an application. The December 2025 list included Boston Rescue Mission, which the release describes as a Shared Table partner of a Boston restaurant, so existing local ties appear to count.

The Impact Accelerator is the one capacity-building route. According to the Impact Accelerator FAQs (opens in a new tab), Chick-fil-A covers the cost of the one-day Atlanta conference for 501(c)(3) leaders, with limited in-person seats given first come, first served, and the 12-month cohort takes 15 leaders a year with a $15,000 direct grant on top of the training. The FAQ says the cohort deadline is the first Monday of March each year and that funding isn't guaranteed. On November 6, 2026, the conference page offered only a sign-up for news about the 2027 conference.

What Chick-fil-A's Grant Pages Don't Tell You

Chick-fil-A gave 56 True Inspiration Awards grants in each of 2025 and 2026, and the pages that describe them leave out several things a grant writer needs.

The odds aren't published. Chick-fil-A doesn't say how many organizations apply. Of the 56 awards in 2026, 29 Regional grants required an Operator nomination, 5 Subsidiary grants required a nomination from a Chick-fil-A Supply or Bay Center Foods manager, and the 2026 honoree was Operator-nominated. That leaves 21 slots (16 Category, 5 Global) for an applicant with no nomination, spread over the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, the U.K. and Singapore. Don't underestimate how competitive that is.

Relationships come first. The 2026 honoree had been a Shared Table partner of San Antonio restaurants since 2017. Regional winners must be nominated by an Operator, according to the learn-more page. A common mistake is treating the application as a cold submission when the program is built around local Operators who already know your work.

Some pages are out of date. On November 6, 2026, the donation FAQ still said grants total "a collective $5 million" a year to organizations in the U.S. and Canada, the Global Impact community page said $33.8 million awarded and didn't mention Singapore, and the Global Impact home page said 2,400+ Shared Table restaurants. The main True Inspiration Awards page says nearly $40 million and includes Singapore, and the Shared Table page says 2,700+. Use the program pages and the latest press release, not the older FAQs.

The money arrives a year after you apply. The 2027 window closed May 1, 2026, and those grants will be announced in 2027. Don't build a budget gap around a True Inspiration Awards grant.

The foundation name is a red flag in grant databases. If a database lists the Chick-fil-A Foundation with an address or deadline, it's using records from before the 2021 dissolution.

Winners sit out 2 years. A 2026 winner can't count on back-to-back grants; the 2027 cycle excluded 2024 and 2025 winners, so plan the next ask elsewhere.

A 4-point fit check before you spend time on Chick-fil-A

Run these 4 checks in order. If one fails, put your time into funders with open deadlines.

1. Mission. Does the work clearly fit one category: youth character and education, hunger for children and families, housing and services for young people and families, or environmental work tied to those? A general arts program with no youth, food or community-service angle is a weak fit.
2. Status. Are you a 501(c)(3) (or an equivalent charity in Canada, Singapore or the U.K.) that hasn't won in the last 2 years?
3. Local footprint. Are there Chick-fil-A restaurants near you, and does any Operator know your work? Without one, you're limited to the smaller non-nominated pool.
4. Timing. Can you wait until early the following year for a decision on an application due in spring?

Bad fit, for example: a newly formed arts nonprofit in a state with few restaurants, applying cold. Plausible fit: a food pantry that already picks up Shared Table food from 2 local restaurants and wants to expand a children's weekend meal program.

Alternatives when Chick-fil-A grants are closed

With the 2027 True Inspiration Awards window shut since May 1, 2026, most organizations need other funders for the next 6 to 12 months. Start with the ones that fit the same 4 causes.

For food banks, pantries and meal programs, the grants for food banks guide and the best grants for food banks in 2026 list funders with published cycles. According to USDA, its Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) (opens in a new tab) provides USDA Foods and administrative funds to states to run the program. Ask your state agency or regional food bank whether your pantry can take part. Shelters with meal programs should also read grants for homeless shelters.

For youth programs, see grants for youth programs, grants for mentoring programs, grants for after-school programs and the best grants for youth development nonprofits in 2026. Grantsights' youth funder lists group private foundations by state using the grants they reported on recent 990-PF returns, and you can preview your own state's list for free.

For environmental and garden projects, the grants for environmental nonprofits guide covers funders for the kind of work Chick-fil-A puts in its Planet category.

For other company programs, the corporate grants for nonprofits guide covers other company giving programs and how they pick grantees. For leadership and operations funding like the Impact Accelerator, see grants for capacity building. Ministries running community programs can also check grants for churches.

To search open opportunities by cause and location, use the Grantsights grant search.

How Grantsights Checked This Guide

Grantsights checked Chick-fil-A's program pages, FAQs and press releases against the Chick-fil-A Foundation's IRS filings on November 6, 2026. Every status in this guide is as of that date.

Sources

• Chick-fil-A: True Inspiration Awards (opens in a new tab)
• Chick-fil-A: True Inspiration Awards, learn more or apply (opens in a new tab)
• Chick-fil-A: True Inspiration Awards 2026 winners (opens in a new tab)
• Chick-fil-A FAQ: True Inspiration Awards program and how to apply (opens in a new tab)
• Chick-fil-A FAQ: Who can nominate an organization for the True Inspiration Awards? (opens in a new tab)
• Chick-fil-A FAQ: Requesting a donation from Chick-fil-A (opens in a new tab)
• Chick-fil-A FAQ: Does Chick-fil-A offer fundraising opportunities? (opens in a new tab)
• Chick-fil-A FAQ: How does Chick-fil-A fight hunger? (opens in a new tab)
• Chick-fil-A: Shared Table (opens in a new tab)
• Chick-fil-A: Global Impact (opens in a new tab)
• Chick-fil-A: 2025 Global Impact report page (opens in a new tab)
• Chick-fil-A press room: $6 million in 2026 True Inspiration Awards grants (Feb. 10, 2026) (opens in a new tab)
• Chick-fil-A press room: Applications open for the 2026 True Inspiration Awards (Feb. 12, 2025) (opens in a new tab)
• Chick-fil-A press room: Three keys to a great grant application (Mar. 4, 2024) (opens in a new tab)
• Chick-fil-A press room: $1 million in hunger relief grants (Dec. 22, 2025) (opens in a new tab)
• Chick-fil-A Impact Accelerator: FAQs (opens in a new tab)
• ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer: Chick-fil-A Foundation Inc. (EIN 26-2343206) filings (opens in a new tab)
• IRS: Exemption requirements for 501(c)(3) organizations (opens in a new tab)
• IRS: Private foundation annual return (opens in a new tab)
• IRS: Termination of private foundation status (opens in a new tab)
• EPA: Wasted Food Scale (opens in a new tab)
• USDA: The Emergency Food Assistance Program (opens in a new tab)