Grants for Diabetes Prevention Programs 2026: 78 Funders

Diabetes program source review, Grantsights, November 1, 2026: Grantsights checked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) pages on the National Diabetes Prevention Program (opens in a new tab), lifestyle change program details (opens in a new tab) and becoming a program provider (opens in a new tab), the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR) text of 42 CFR 410.79 (opens in a new tab), 42 CFR 424.205 (opens in a new tab) and 42 CFR 410.140 (opens in a new tab), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program page (opens in a new tab), the Administration for Community Living (ACL) page on chronic disease self-management education (opens in a new tab) and the IRS page about Form 990-PF (opens in a new tab) against foundation filings that name diabetes programs. Where official sources stop: none of these pages says what a year-long cohort costs to run, how many participants drop out before Medicare pays, or which local funders cover the gap.

5 Kinds of Diabetes Programs and What Funders Want From Each

Of the 40 recipients Grantsights checked, 37 (93%) fell into 5 rough types. Each sells a different story. This table is illustrative, not data: program sizes and budgets vary widely.

A coalition with one part-time coordinator shouldn't frame its request like a hospital system. It wins by showing what nobody else in the county does, such as cooking classes in Spanish or screening at a Saturday market.

Grants for Diabetes Prevention Programs: What 990-PF Filings Show

Private foundations that file IRS Form 990-PF are one important source for diabetes prevention and education programs, though many programs lean just as hard on hospital budgets, county health departments, state contracts and Medicare or insurer payments. According to IRS guidance, foundations use Form 990-PF to report their charitable distributions and activities, which is why each gift below can be traced. Grantsights analysis of 990-PF health grants pulled November 1, 2026 found 78 foundations that made 124 grants to diabetes prevention and education programs, totaling $7,747,052.

The average is about $62,500, but don't plan around it. According to the Grantsights foundation filing data pulled November 1, 2026, the median grant was $14,813, a quarter of gifts were $5,000 or less, and three quarters were under about $38,981. Only 38 of the 124 grants were $5,000 or less, so this field pays more per gift than many single-disease causes. A small program can reasonably ask a regional health funder for $10,000 to $25,000.

One funder skews the total

The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust gave the Clinton Health Access Initiative in Boston 3 grants in 2023, $2,900,798 in all, for work to improve access to diabetes care. That's 37% of the national total and almost all of Massachusetts's $2,900,823. It's global market work, not a local program, and a community group shouldn't read it as a sign that Massachusetts funders are generous to diabetes classes.

The Quest gifts explain New Jersey: $1,072,329 of the state's $1,287,329 went to one Paterson hospital foundation. The Akwesasne gift is a useful model for youth groups, since a Boys & Girls Club won a near-$200,000 health grant by tying its recreation programs to type 2 risk.

Gifts that look like a community program's ask

For example, the Elevance Health Foundation gave the Diabetes Association of Atlanta $100,000 in 2023 and again in 2024 for its Diabetes Prevention and Control program. One organization in Texas, the San Angelo Diabetes Coalition, received $143,230 in 2023 and $125,000 in 2024 from the San Angelo Health Foundation, the second for diabetes education. In Virginia, the Strebor Family Foundation gave the Arlington Free Clinic $86,250 in 2023, $82,500 in 2024 and $78,750 in 2025 for an enhanced diabetes education program, a step-down schedule that may be a hint to line up other money before the grant shrinks further.

Diabetes Program Grants by State

11 states had 3 or more foundations giving to diabetes prevention and education programs in the November 1, 2026 pull, counted by the recipient's state.

Alabama leads on funder count because many small foundations back one group. Southeastern Diabetes Education Services in Hoover and Birmingham drew gifts from the Daniel Foundation of Alabama ($10,000 in 2024), the J. L. Bedsole Foundation ($5,000 in 2023 and 2024) and the Diabetic Clinic of Mobile, Alabama's free preview sample, which gave $20,000 in 2024 and $38,641 in 2025 toward a permanent endowment. Some of that group's filings describe camp and community programs for children with diabetes, so read the purposes before treating every Alabama gift as prevention money.

Georgia's 10 funders mostly back the Diabetes Association of Atlanta, which also drew $15,000 from the Boston Scientific Foundation in 2025 for its prevention and control program. Florida's money runs through hospitals and coalitions: the TD Charitable Foundation gave Jupiter Medical Center Foundation $15,000 in 2023 and 2024 for diabetes education, and the Quantum Foundation gave the Diabetes Coalition of Palm Beach County $26,289 in 2023. Washington's Babare Foundation gave the Diabetes Association of Pierce County in Tacoma $15,000 in 2023 and 2024 and $25,000 in 2025.

California's diabetes program funders

California's 7 foundations made 10 health grants to diabetes programs worth $923,202, according to the November 1, 2026 pull. The free preview on the Grantsights health funder list for California leads with the George A. and Marion M. Wilson Foundation, whose filings say it takes requests and list what to send, deadlines and a contact. It gave Children's Hospital Los Angeles $10,000 in 2023 and again in 2024 for a diabetes support group. The bigger California gifts went to safety-net providers: MLK Community Health Foundation and Neighborhood Healthcare in Escondido, above. Smaller ones show the range, from the Boston Scientific Foundation's $11,202 for a San Fernando Valley diabetes education project at Providence Holy Cross in 2024 to the Gordon Ross Medical Foundation's $5,000 for diabetes education at Taking Control of Your Diabetes in San Diego the same year.

Why the Health List for Diabetes Programs

Health is where diabetes prevention money is tagged. The pattern counts only health-tagged gifts, and the cause fits: these are clinics, coalitions and education programs, not schools or social service agencies. A youth program like the Akwesasne club still lands here when its grant names diabetes.

In these 6 states the middle health gift is $5,000 in 5 of them and $10,000 in California, according to the Grantsights health data report pulled October 29, 2026. The diabetes median of $14,813 sits above every one of them, which suggests health funders treat diabetes education as program work worth a real check. Groups new to health funding can read grants for health nonprofits for the wider picture. Buying one state's health list costs $29; $99 opens all causes in all states for 12 months, and you can get a refund on either within 30 days.

What CDC Doesn't Tell You About Diabetes Prevention Funding

CDC's pages explain the program well and say little about paying for it. Set them beside the regulations and the filings and 5 points emerge.

1. Recognition comes before most money. According to CDC, the lifestyle change program runs for 1 year, meeting about weekly in the first 6 months and once or twice a month after that, in person, online or by distance learning. Organizations apply for CDC recognition and appear on CDC's registry. A common mistake is asking a funder for start-up money without saying where you are in recognition; funders read "pending" and "full" very differently.
2. Medicare pays suppliers, not grantees. Under 42 CFR 424.205 (opens in a new tab), a Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program (MDPP) supplier must hold preliminary, full or full plus recognition from CDC's Diabetes Prevention Recognition Program (DPRP), keep an organizational tax ID and National Provider Identifier (NPI), pass high-risk screening when it first enrolls and file a roster of every coach. That paperwork takes staff time, and it's a fair thing to ask a foundation to fund.
3. Eligibility rules limit who Medicare covers. Under 42 CFR 410.79 (opens in a new tab), a Medicare beneficiary must be in Part B, meet set weight and blood test ranges, have no prior diabetes diagnosis other than gestational diabetes, no end-stage renal disease, and can receive the set of services once in a lifetime. People who don't fit, including many under 65, need another payer, which is where grants come in.
4. Online delivery is allowed for now. According to the CMS page, last modified October 29, 2026, the model is active with 941 participants, and the 2026 physician fee schedule rule added coverage for asynchronous online delivery through December 31, 2029. A program planning a virtual cohort should note that end date in any multi-year budget. The honest read: a new program is better off starting with foundation money and adding Medicare later than building around Medicare from day one.
5. Self-management education has a separate rulebook. Medicare's diabetes self-management training benefit depends on accreditation: 42 CFR 410.140 (opens in a new tab) defines an approved entity as one accredited by an approved organization and approved by CMS. ACL also funds the Diabetes Self-Management Program for older adults through Title III-D of the Older Americans Act and cooperative agreements with state agencies, area agencies on aging and nonprofits, per its self-management education page (opens in a new tab).

What most guides leave out: Medicare and insurer payments rarely cover recruiting, the first months before results come in, or participants who aren't covered at all. That's the gap foundations fill, and a request that names it plainly reads stronger than one that asks for general support.

What Diabetes Projects Foundations Pay For

Grantsights checked the filed purposes on the November 1, 2026 gifts against what community programs propose, and 7 project types appeared again and again.

1. Community health workers. The Quest Diagnostics Foundation's 2024 and 2025 gifts, $1,072,329 in all, expanded St. Joseph's community health worker network in Paterson, New Jersey.
2. A diabetes center in a neighborhood. The Altman Foundation gave One Brooklyn Health System $115,000 in 2023 to launch a diabetes center of excellence in Central Brooklyn and $115,000 in 2024 to support it.
3. Prediabetes programs for families. The Edna Kynett Memorial Foundation gave Children's Hospital of Philadelphia $40,000 in 2024 for an intervention to address prediabetes.
4. Free clinic programs. The Tony and Renee Marlon Charitable Foundation gave Volunteers in Medicine in Las Vegas $50,000 in 2024 for its diabetes program.
5. Lifestyle change programs in a territory. The Bennie and Martha Benjamin Foundation gave the Virgin Islands Diabetes Center of Excellence $28,320 in 2024 for a diabetes prevention program.
6. Healthy cooking. The Knapp Community Care Foundation gave the Rio Grande Valley Diabetes Association $18,354 in 2023 for healthy cooking and healthy lifestyle work, online and in person.
7. Food access equipment. The Del E. Webb Foundation gave the Diabetes Prevention and Aid Fund in Nogales, Arizona $60,000 in 2025 for two forklifts for its produce warehouse.

The pattern: tie the ask to one named program, show who it reaches, and say what happens after the grant ends. Programs with several years of the same funder, like the Arlington and Atlanta examples, describe results every year.

Budgeting a Diabetes Prevention Program for a Grant

Programs often underestimate the cost of keeping people enrolled for a full year. At the $14,813 median, one grant can cover a coach for a cohort or two, not a whole program. This table is illustrative, not data: costs depend on setting, language needs and payer mix.

Report enrollment, sessions attended, retention at 6 and 12 months, and people reached who had no other coverage. Keep reports to program facts; funders don't expect, and shouldn't receive, clinical claims about individual participants.

Common Mistakes in Diabetes Program Requests

These 6 mistakes show up when a program writes for clinicians instead of a funder, and each can cost a $15,000 grant.

• Treating the national total as typical. A common mistake is quoting the $7.7 million total. Use how to read a 990-PF to check a funder's usual gift first.
• Hiding the payer gap. A red flag for a funder is a request that doesn't say what Medicare, Medicaid or insurers already pay. Show the gap in dollars.
• Confusing prevention with care. Clinical treatment belongs in a health center's operating budget. If your clinic is the applicant, grants for free clinics covers its wider funding.
• Skipping community health workers. Several of the largest gifts paid for outreach staff. Grants for community health workers explains how those roles get funded.
• Ignoring food. Cooking classes, produce and food pharmacy work appear in the filings. Pair your request with the funders in grants for food security where it fits.
• Promising outcomes you can't measure. Report attendance and retention you actually track; don't promise health results a small program can't document.

A Diabetes Program's Funding Calendar

This 12-month plan suits a program that starts new cohorts in spring and fall. Adjust it to your own schedule.

The Grantsights grant database tracks open federal and state health notices, including chronic disease programs that reach community providers.

Related Guides for Diabetes Programs

The 78 foundations behind these 124 grants also give to other community health work. Programs that reach rural counties will find overlapping funders in grants for rural health nonprofits, and those that run screening vans can compare notes in grants for mobile health clinics.

Health centers that run diabetes programs alongside primary care should read federal grants for community health centers. For CDC's wider public health funding, start with the CDC public health grants guide. The same Older Americans Act health promotion money that can pay for diabetes self-management classes also reaches exercise and support programs for older adults with a movement disorder, covered in grants for Parkinson's support groups.

FAQ: Common Questions

How many foundations give grants to diabetes prevention programs? 78 in Grantsights' search of 990-PF health grants pulled November 1, 2026.

How big is a typical diabetes prevention grant? The median was $14,813, with the middle half from $5,000 to about $38,981.

Does Medicare pay for diabetes prevention programs? It pays enrolled MDPP suppliers with CDC recognition; that's payment, not a grant.

Is there a CDC grant for local diabetes prevention programs? No open notice for local programs appeared on the CDC pages checked November 1, 2026.

Are type 1 diabetes camps and research covered here? No. They were left out on purpose.

What kinds of groups get these grants? Free clinics, health centers, hospital programs, local associations and coalitions.

Sources

• CDC: National Diabetes Prevention Program (opens in a new tab)
• CDC: lifestyle change program details, length and meeting schedule (opens in a new tab)
• CDC: becoming a lifestyle change program provider (opens in a new tab)
• eCFR: 42 CFR 410.79, Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program (opens in a new tab)
• eCFR: 42 CFR 424.205, requirements for MDPP suppliers (opens in a new tab)
• eCFR: 42 CFR 410.140, diabetes self-management training definitions (opens in a new tab)
• CMS: Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program expanded model (opens in a new tab)
• ACL: chronic disease self-management education programs (opens in a new tab)
• IRS: About Form 990-PF (opens in a new tab)