Grants for Boys and Girls Clubs 2026: $8,000 Median

Club funding source review, Grantsights, November 12, 2026: Grantsights checked USDA's Child and Adult Care Food Program afterschool page (opens in a new tab), the Summer Food Service Program page (opens in a new tab), the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) mentoring program page (opens in a new tab), and the IRS page on group exemptions (opens in a new tab) against foundation filings that name local clubs. Where official sources stop: no federal page tells a unit director which family foundation in the county already pays for camperships, or what a realistic first ask looks like. That comes from the filings below.

Grants for Boys and Girls Clubs: What 990-PF Filings Show

Grantsights analysis of the November 12, 2026 snapshot found 20,794 foundation grants to local clubs from 7,597 foundations, totaling $700,356,000. According to IRS guidance on Form 990-PF (opens in a new tab), private foundations use that return to report their charitable distributions and activities, so every gift named here traces to a public filing.

The total hides how uneven the money is. This table splits the 20,794 grants by size.

Read it two ways. By count, 79% of club grants were $25,000 or less, according to Grantsights analysis of the snapshot, which is the world a small club lives in. By dollars, 57% of the money came in 1,137 gifts over $100,000, and those went mostly to metro clubs with many sites and full development teams. A common mistake is pitching a $250,000 request to a foundation because a big-city club got that much from it; check what it gave clubs your size first.

The youth cause tag holds most of these gifts. Of the 20,794, 15,103 carried a youth tag, 1,254 an education tag, and 5,152 no cause tag at all, according to Grantsights analysis of the snapshot. That's why Grantsights points clubs to the youth funder list, which also covers after-school and mentoring funders who never type the words "Boys & Girls Club."

The largest local club grants in the snapshot

The biggest gifts show where seven-figure club money comes from: one or two family foundations tied to a metro area, usually for a campaign or for multi-year operating support.

According to the snapshot, the John W. Anderson Foundation also gave the Northwest Indiana clubs $4,380,000 in 2024 and $4,320,000 in 2023, all for operating costs. That's what a long relationship looks like: the same funder, the same purpose, every year. No small club should plan around a gift like it, but it's worth knowing that operating money at this scale exists.

What a Small Club Can Realistically Get

The median local club grant in the November 12, 2026 snapshot was $8,000, and the middle half of grants ran from $2,500 to $25,000. These real grants from the snapshot show what that range buys.

The pattern is plain: each grant names one program, one site or one purchase, sized to a number the funder can picture. The Agnes M. Lindsay Trust made 40 club grants in the snapshot, 29 of them in Massachusetts and the rest in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire, and most were $3,000 camperships. If your club runs a summer camp in New England, that's a funder whose habit already matches your ask.

Grantsights also sorted the purpose lines on all 20,794 grants by keyword. The sort is rough, since many filings just say "charitable," but it shows what funders write down when they're specific.

Two things stand out. First, 8,999 grants, 43% of the total, named general operating support or no restriction at all. Club funders are more willing than most to pay for the lights and the staff, so ask for operating money plainly. Second, sports barely registers. Only 89 grants named sports or the gym, so pitch homework hours, meals and teen programs before the basketball league. Clubs that run a league should still read the youth sports league guide for field and equipment money.

Capital Grants: New Clubhouses and Renovations

Capital money is real but concentrated: 548 grants in the snapshot named a building, renovation, expansion or campaign, with a median of $35,000 and $82,587,678 in all. Outside the big metro campaigns, these rural and small-city projects show how it works.

• Kenai, Alaska. The Rasmuson Foundation gave the Boys & Girls Club of the Kenai Peninsula $500,000 in 2023 for clubhouse campus construction.
• Lewiston, Idaho. The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust gave the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Lewis Clark Valley $493,500 in 2024 for facility renovation, and gave the Boys & Girls Clubs of Ada County $375,000 the same year for new facility construction.
• Carter Lake, Iowa. The Peter Kiewit Foundation gave the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Midlands $350,000 in 2024 for capital support for a new club facility there.
• Riverton, Wyoming. The Daniels Fund gave the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Wyoming $425,000 in 2024 for general operating support and a Riverton expansion.

Each of these funders is a large regional foundation with a defined home territory. The Murdock Trust's 8 club grants in the snapshot had a median of $300,000, and the Daniels Fund's 7 had a median of $175,000, which tells you they fund projects, not programs. Don't apply to them with a $5,000 request, and don't bring them a building without a site, a budget and other gifts already pledged.

The honest friction: capital grants almost never come first. Funders that write six-figure building checks want to see that local donors and a community foundation have already committed. If your club is planning a new site, read the capacity building guide before the campaign, and the community center guide for public money that sometimes pays for shared buildings.

Boys and Girls Club Grants by State

California had the most club funders in the November 12, 2026 snapshot, with 1,018 foundations and 2,703 grants. This table counts grants by where the club sits, for the 8 states with the most funders.

Massachusetts punches far above its size: 1,744 grants, more than Florida or New York. Several funders there give to many clubs at once. The DeMoulas Foundation made 56 club grants with a median of $5,000, the Amelia Peabody Foundation made 39 with a median of $50,000, and the Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation made 25 with a median of $5,000, according to Grantsights analysis of the snapshot. All three filed application details showing they take requests.

Other foundations that gave to many clubs and say they take requests include the Otto Bremer Trust (42 club grants, median $67,500, most often to Wisconsin clubs in the filings), the Leon Levine Foundation in North Carolina (22 grants, median $50,000), the Wood-Claeyssens Foundation in California (26 grants, median $10,000) and the Ford Family Foundation in Oregon (24 grants, median $17,500). Read each one's past gifts with how to read a 990-PF before you write; a funder whose club gifts all went to one county won't stretch to yours.

Federal and State Money That Runs Through Clubs

There are 0 federal grant programs written for Boys & Girls Clubs alone, but 3 federal funding streams reach clubs through state agencies and national partners, and most clubs already use at least one.

1. Afterschool meals. According to USDA's Child and Adult Care Food Program afterschool page (opens in a new tab), afterschool programs that take part in CACFP give children and teenagers the nutrition they need while drawing them into structured activities. The page links USDA's at-risk afterschool handbook and reimbursement rates; your state agency runs enrollment. A club that pays for snacks out of its general budget is leaving reimbursable money on the table.

2. Summer meals. According to USDA's Summer Food Service Program page (opens in a new tab), kids aged 18 and under can get free meals and snacks during the summer at schools, parks and other neighborhood sites in eligible areas, and schools and nonprofit organizations serve them. A club that runs a summer day program can be a site or a sponsor. Foundation meal grants, like the $5,000 Albert Haller Foundation gift above, then fill the gaps USDA doesn't cover.

3. Mentoring. According to the OJJDP mentoring program page (opens in a new tab), the office awarded more than $89.2 million in fiscal year 2024 to increase mentoring for youth and improve its quality. Most of that flows through national mentoring organizations and their local affiliates, so a club usually joins as a site rather than applying alone. The mentoring program guide explains how those programs are structured.

Clubs that run after-school learning should also watch their state's 21st Century Community Learning Centers competition, covered in the after-school program guide. That's the largest public source of after-school program money, and states run it, not the federal government.

What Boys & Girls Clubs of America Doesn't Tell You About Local Funding

The national organization speaks for the movement, and its gifts show up in the filings too. Grantsights checked the filings and IRS guidance against what local clubs face, and 4 gaps stand out.

1. National gifts aren't local gifts. Large foundations gave the national office in Atlanta eight-figure sums, such as Lilly Endowment's $30,000,000 in 2024 for a youth character development initiative. None of that shows up in your bank account unless a national program passes it down. This guide leaves those gifts out for that reason, and a red flag in any funding plan is counting national partnerships as local revenue.
2. Your tax letter may not be your own. According to the IRS page on group exemptions (opens in a new tab), the IRS sometimes recognizes a group of organizations as tax-exempt when they're affiliated with a central organization, and a group exemption letter has the same effect as an individual letter for every member. Many local nonprofits operate under one. Know which letter covers your club before a funder's grants manager asks, and keep your own annual IRS filings current either way.
3. Most club funders gave to only a handful of clubs. In the snapshot, 4,980 recipient names drew a gift from just one foundation. Statewide "who funds clubs" lists overstate how many funders are actually open to you. The useful list is the one or two dozen foundations within driving distance that already gave to a club like yours.
4. Corporate grant rounds aren't the same as asking. Some corporate foundations appear on hundreds of club grants because they run national rounds or match employee gifts. Those are worth entering when a round opens, but they're not relationships. A local family foundation that gave your neighboring county's club $7,500 twice is a better first call.

Common Mistakes in Club Grant Requests

These 6 mistakes are the easiest to avoid, and each can sink a $5,000 request to a family foundation.

• Leading with the brand. Funders know the name. What they don't know is your attendance, your waitlist and your cost per child per day. Lead with those numbers.
• Asking for "programs" in general. The grants above named camperships, supper, a teen center, computers or a heating system. Pick one and price it.
• Underestimating operating money. 43% of club grants were general operating or unrestricted. If a funder's past club gifts say "general support," ask for general support.
• Skipping the meals reimbursement. Funders notice when a club asks them to pay for snacks USDA would reimburse. Show that the federal piece is already in place.
• Treating one big gift as a funder's habit. The Murdock Trust's six-figure club gifts are capital grants. The Lindsay Trust's are $3,000 camperships. Size the ask to the funder's pattern, not its largest check.
• Waiting until the building is designed. Capital funders want to be asked early enough to shape the campaign, with local gifts already pledged.

For example, one organization in Massachusetts shows the steady approach: the Boys & Girls Club of Worcester drew $3,000 camperships from the Agnes M. Lindsay Trust in both 2024 and 2025, the same purpose and the same size each year. Small, repeated, well-reported gifts are what a funding base is built from.

Related Guides for Youth Clubs

Clubs share funders with every kind of youth program. The after-school program guide covers the 21st Century Community Learning Centers route, the youth center guide covers buildings, and the summer camp guide covers camperships. Clubs with a teen tech lab can compare STEM education grants, and clubs buying a van should read grants for nonprofit vehicles.

Clubs that host a baseball or softball league can read grants for Little League, and clubs with a boxing room can read grants for boxing programs. For public money with a deadline attached, search the Grantsights grant database.

FAQ: Common Questions

Are there grants for Boys and Girls Clubs? Yes. 7,597 foundations made 20,794 grants to local clubs in the November 12, 2026 snapshot, with a median of $8,000.

Is Grantsights part of Boys & Girls Clubs of America? No. Grantsights isn't affiliated with the national organization or any club.

How much should a small club ask a foundation for? Usually $3,000 to $10,000 for a named program, sized to the funder's past club gifts.

Do foundations pay for new clubhouses and renovations? Yes. 548 capital grants had a median of $35,000, mostly from regional foundations.

Is there federal money for Boys and Girls Clubs? Through USDA meals programs, state 21st Century competitions and OJJDP mentoring partners, not a club-only grant.

Which foundations say they take requests from clubs? 2,765 of the 7,597 filed application details, including the Agnes M. Lindsay Trust and the DeMoulas Foundation.

Sources

• USDA Food and Nutrition Service: CACFP afterschool programs (opens in a new tab)
• USDA Food and Nutrition Service: Summer Food Service Program (opens in a new tab)
• OJJDP: Mentoring program page (opens in a new tab)
• IRS: Group exemptions (opens in a new tab)
• IRS: About Form 990-PF (opens in a new tab)