Grants for Equipment 2026: 903 Funders Who Paid

How Grants for Equipment Work in 2026

Only 2,594 grants in the November 5, 2026 pull named equipment in the filed purpose, out of hundreds of thousands of gifts on 990-PF returns. That's the honest starting point. A lot more equipment gets bought with general operating money, capital campaign gifts and program grants whose filings just say "general support." The grants in this guide are the ones where a funder wrote the purchase down, which makes them the best evidence of who will say yes to an equipment ask.

This table shows where equipment money usually comes from, and where it usually doesn't.

Grantsights' view: an equipment ask is one of the easiest gifts to win from a local funder and one of the hardest from a national one. A board member at a family foundation can picture a new freezer at the food pantry down the road. A national program officer is measured on outcomes across many sites and rarely has a budget line for a single group's oven.

Who Funds Equipment: What 990-PF Filings Show

Grantsights analysis of 990-PF equipment grants pulled November 5, 2026 found 903 foundations, 2,594 grants and $90,773,148. The median was $10,000, with the middle half between $5,000 and $23,000, and 878 of the 2,594 grants were $5,000 or less. According to IRS guidance about Form 990-PF (opens in a new tab), the return is used to figure tax on a private foundation's investment income and to report its charitable distributions and activities, which is why each gift below can be traced to a public filing.

Big gifts drive the total. The 176 grants of $100,000 or more account for about 61% of the dollars, and the 10 largest alone come to about 21%. Meanwhile, about 80% of all the grants were $25,000 or less. For a first ask, the $10,000 median is the number to plan around.

Every state has some equipment funders: 50 states had 3 or more foundations making these grants. The leaders by funder count were California (92), New York (89), Texas (73), Pennsylvania (49), Florida (43), Ohio (39), Wisconsin (39) and Illinois (36). California's 92 foundations made 216 grants worth $18,965,921, the largest state total.

New York's numbers need a footnote. Of the 557 grants to New York recipients, 384 came from one funder, The Hyde and Watson Foundation, which filed 541 equipment grants in the pull (384 in New York and 155 in New Jersey) worth $5,024,500. Its usual filed purpose is simply "purchase of equipment," and 308 of its grants used exactly those words. If you work in New York or New Jersey, that's the single most active equipment funder in this data, and its gifts are mostly in the $10,000 range.

Equipment funders also stay close to home. The Dickson-Allen Foundation filed 45 equipment grants, all in Texas, including $365,000 to Lavaca Medical Center in Hallettsville in 2024. The Oncor Cares Foundation filed 26, all to Texas recipients, mostly volunteer fire departments: it gave $25,000 each to the Monahans, Wink and West Odessa volunteer fire departments in 2024 to buy new equipment and help pay for training. The Arvest Foundation filed 34 in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri, such as $20,000 to Gravette Public Schools in 2023 for equipment and supplies for its vocational agriculture department.

Hospitals draw the biggest gifts. The $4,500,000 to a Fort Lauderdale hospital district was the largest grant in the pull with a clearly domestic, clearly equipment purpose, and medical equipment overall made up about 26% of the dollars. That's a red flag for small groups reading totals: the averages are inflated by imaging machines and emergency rooms.

What Equipment Foundations Actually Fund

School, classroom and lab equipment led the 2,594 purposes with 382 grants from 198 foundations. Grantsights analysis of the 2,594 filed purposes sorted each grant by keyword into the 9 categories below. A grant can land in more than one row (a school nurse's office counts as both school and medical, for example), so the rows don't add up to the total.

Two patterns stand out. First, the category with the most funders isn't medical: it's schools, which is why this guide points to the education list. Second, food and kitchen gear had 70 foundations for 92 grants, so those gifts are spread thinly across many funders. A food program that asks only one foundation is missing most of them.

If your purchase is computers and software for your office, the nonprofit technology grants guide covers that ground in more detail. Classroom devices for students are in grants for school technology. Vans, trucks and buses are a separate request with their own funders, covered in grants for nonprofit vehicles.

12 Equipment Grants Worth Studying

These 12 gifts, all from the November 5, 2026 pull, show the range from $1,000 to $704,000. Grantsights checked each purpose against the recipient's type of work.

1. A fire blanket for electric cars. The Bank of Greene County Charitable Foundation gave East Chatham Fire Company in New York $1,000 in 2024 for an emergency plug and a car fire blanket for electric vehicle fires. Small, specific and easy to say yes to.
2. A humane society purchase. One organization in Vermont, Bennington County Humane Society, got $5,000 from the Bernice Barbour Foundation in 2023 for a purchase, though the filed purpose line is cut off after its first few words. The animal shelter grants guide shows who else funds shelters.
3. Outdoor program gear. The Treacy Foundation gave Montana Wilderness School in Bozeman $4,800 in 2021 to help buy equipment.
4. A milk bank lab. The Sarkeys Foundation gave Oklahoma Mothers' Milk Bank $30,000 in 2023 for high-priority equipment needs as it expanded its facility. In Texas, the Hoblitzelle Foundation and The Morris Foundation each gave Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas $25,000 in 2024 for new lab equipment.
5. A pediatric center. The Hyde and Watson Foundation gave Elizabeth Seton Pediatric Center in Yonkers $15,000 in 2023 to purchase equipment.
6. School nurses. The Tomball Health Coalition gave the Waller ISD nursing department in Texas $10,000 in 2023 for nursing equipment for all of the district's schools.
7. A food program freezer. The McCrory Foundation gave Southern Oklahoma Nutrition Program $50,514 in 2025 for a walk-in freezer and other equipment. The food bank grants guide covers the wider funder pool.
8. Adaptive equipment. The Herrick Foundation gave Disability Network Eastern Michigan $25,000 in 2023 to purchase adaptive equipment.
9. School music gear. The Ahmanson Foundation gave Save The Music Foundation $150,000 in 2023 toward instruments and equipment for schools in Los Angeles County. Smaller programs can compare notes in grants for music programs.
10. A playground. The Kiwanis Club of Lawrenceburg Tennessee Foundation gave Ingram Sowell Elementary School $69,905 in 2023 for new playground equipment. See grants for playgrounds for the full picture.
11. A free clinic. The Champlin Foundation gave Rhode Island Free Clinic $110,216 in 2023 for clinic accessibility and equipment upgrades. The free clinic grants guide lists more clinic funders.
12. Medical equipment for 3 sites. The Ahmanson Foundation gave AltaMed Health Services $704,000 in 2023 for medical equipment at 3 PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) sites.

Every one of these purposes names a thing and a place. That's the pattern to copy.

Who Usually Doesn't Pay for Equipment

More than half of the 903 funders filed just one equipment grant in the pull. Big national names show up rarely: Lilly Endowment, the W.M. Keck Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation each appear exactly once. That doesn't mean they never pay for equipment. It means equipment isn't what they're built to fund, so a cold equipment ask to them is usually a waste of a stamp.

Here's who tends to say no, and why:

• National foundations with set programs. Most publish focus areas such as policy, research or a single issue. An equipment purchase for one site rarely fits, unless it's part of a project they already back.
• Funders whose guidelines exclude capital costs. If a funder's published guidelines say it doesn't pay for capital or equipment, believe it. Check before writing; how to read a 990-PF shows how to check a funder's past gifts for equipment purposes.
• Federal programs outside fire, EMS and rural facilities. Grantsights didn't find a federal program whose purpose is buying equipment for nonprofits in general. Federal awards can include equipment a funded project needs, but the program comes first.
• Funders outside your area. The Texas, Arkansas and New York examples above show how local equipment giving is. A family foundation two states away has little reason to buy your scoreboard.

The groups that do best mix sources: a local foundation for half, a community campaign or service club for the rest, and the operating budget for maintenance.

Federal Equipment Money: Fire, EMS and Rural Facilities

Federal equipment money mostly goes to 2 kinds of applicants: emergency responders and rural public facilities. According to FEMA's Assistance to Firefighters Grant page (opens in a new tab), the program's main goal is meeting the firefighting and emergency response needs of fire departments and non-affiliated emergency medical service organizations, and since 2001 it has helped them get equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles and training. The page also names state fire training academies among recipients. As of November 5, 2026, the page says FEMA announced the Fiscal Year 2025 awards on September 30, 2026, and it doesn't list an open application period, so check it before planning around a deadline. Volunteer companies should read grants for volunteer fire departments, and ambulance services should read grants for EMS and ambulance services.

Foundations matter here too. Fire, rescue and EMS gear drew 280 grants from 139 foundations in the November 5, 2026 pull, including $204,748 from the David and Eula Wintermann Foundation to the Eagle Lake Volunteer Fire Department in Texas in 2023 for updated equipment. Many rural companies pair a federal application with a local foundation ask.

The second route is USDA's Community Facilities grant program. According to 7 CFR 3570.62, grants can pay for up to 75 percent of the cost of developing essential community facilities, including fire, rescue and public safety, health services, and community, social or cultural services. The same section counts "the purchase of major equipment" that provides an essential service to rural residents as an eligible use, and its examples include fire service equipment and X-ray machines. Under 7 CFR 3570.61, eligible applicants are public bodies, nonprofits that can show close ties to the local rural community, and federally recognized tribes in rural areas. Under 7 CFR 3570.63, the share of grant aid is graduated by the community's population and median household income: the 75 percent tier is for communities of 5,000 or fewer people below the rule's income line. The USDA Community Facilities guide covers the program in more depth. Rural hospitals should also read grants for rural hospitals.

What 2 CFR 200 Doesn't Tell You About Buying Equipment With Grant Money

The federal threshold for "equipment" is $10,000 per unit, or less if your own capitalization level is lower. According to 2 CFR 200.1, equipment is tangible personal property, including information technology systems, with a useful life of more than 1 year and a per-unit cost that equals or exceeds the lesser of your capitalization level or $10,000. The same section separates general purpose equipment (office furnishings, phone networks, printing equipment, motor vehicles) from special purpose equipment used only for research, medical, scientific or similar technical work (microscopes, X-ray machines, surgical instruments).

That split matters under 2 CFR 200.439. General purpose equipment is allowable as a direct cost only with prior written approval from the federal agency or pass-through entity. Special purpose equipment is allowable, but items of $10,000 or more per unit need that approval. Equipment can't be charged as an indirect cost.

Once you own it, 2 CFR 200.313 applies. Title vests in your organization subject to conditions. You must keep property records (description, serial number, funding source, cost, federal share, location, condition), take a physical inventory at least once every 2 years, keep a control system against loss, and maintain the equipment. When you're done with it, equipment with a current fair market value of $10,000 or less per unit may be kept or sold with no further obligation; above that, the federal agency is entitled to its share. The grant equipment management guide walks through the records.

What the regulation text leaves out:

1. It doesn't pay for anything. These rules decide how equipment is handled inside a federal award; they don't create one.
2. Approval timing is a common mistake. Groups underestimate how long prior approval takes. Buy first and ask later, and the cost may be disallowed.
3. Foundation-funded equipment isn't covered. If a family foundation buys your oven, these rules don't apply, though the foundation may have its own reporting terms.
4. Mixed funding brings the rules back. Section 200.313(d) says the management rules apply whether equipment is bought in part or in whole with the award. One federal dollar in the purchase means inventory and records for the whole item.
5. Maintenance is your cost. The rule requires upkeep, but most equipment grants don't pay for it. Budget it before you accept.

The 2 CFR 200 Uniform Guidance guide covers the rest of the cost rules.

How to Write an Equipment Request That Gets Funded

A request at the $10,000 median should fit on 2 pages and answer 5 questions: what you're buying, what it costs, who uses it, how long it lasts, and who pays to keep it running. This table is illustrative, not data: prices and lines depend on your equipment, vendors and region.

Practical steps that tend to help:

• Get quotes first. A funder can judge a $9,800 quote for a commercial dishwasher. It can't judge "kitchen upgrades."
• Tie it to people served. Say how many meals, patients, students or calls the equipment supports each year, and what happens without it.
• Show who maintains it. Name the staff member or contract, and show the cost in your operating budget.
• Ask for the equipment line inside a bigger grant. Capital and program grants often allow an equipment line; the capacity building guide shows how to frame it.
• Weigh in-kind offers carefully. If a supplier or a larger organization offers used equipment, ask what condition it's in, how old it is and who services it before you accept.
• Split big purchases. Some of the largest gifts in the pull covered part of a bigger campaign, such as Lettie Pate Evans' $1,300,000 toward equipment inside The Atlanta Opera's $45 million campaign in 2023.

Common Mistakes in Equipment Grant Requests

These 6 mistakes cost small groups a gift near the $10,000 median.

• Asking without a quote. A common mistake is a round number with no vendor price behind it. Funders read that as a guess.
• Ignoring the years after. A red flag for funders is new equipment with no plan for repairs, supplies or replacement.
• Calling a building an equipment grant. Renovations and equipment are different asks; funders who buy equipment may not touch construction. Split them.
• Asking a national funder first. Start with funders whose past filings show equipment gifts in your county.
• Overlooking service clubs and company foundations. 5 Kiwanis club foundations filed equipment grants in the pull, and company foundations such as Oncor Cares and Arvest gave dozens near home.
• Mixing federal and private money without tracking it. If any federal dollar is in the purchase, the 2 CFR 200.313 records follow the whole item.

Why the Education List for Equipment Grants

More foundations made equipment grants within education (220) than within any other cause tag in the November 5, 2026 pull, ahead of health (217), youth (145), community (104), arts (67) and human services (64). Schools, school foundations, PTAs and booster clubs also make up a large share of equipment requests, from lab benches to concession stands. That's why Grantsights points equipment seekers to the education list. The free preview on the Grantsights education funder list shows education funders across your state broadly, not funders picked for equipment. A clinic or hospital should use the health list instead.

Each row counts all education giving in that state, according to Grantsights analysis of 990-PF filings pulled October 29, 2026, so none of it is limited to equipment. The typical education gift sits at about half the $10,000 equipment median, which fits how many equipment asks get split across 2 funders. Between 23% (California) and 36% (Wisconsin) of these foundations say they take requests: start there. The education funder list gives you every state, not just your own, and Grantsights refunds it within 30 days if the names don't fit your project.

Related Guides for Equipment Purchases

The 2,594 grants here cover many kinds of organizations, so the best next read depends on what you run. School booster groups should see grants for booster clubs, and youth leagues buying team gear should see grants for youth sports leagues. Fire and rescue companies have their own guides in grants for volunteer fire departments and grants for EMS and ambulance services. High school athletic departments pricing scoreboards, bleachers or weight-room gear will find their own funders in grants for school athletics, and a school or food pantry building a hoop house should read grants for greenhouses. If the gear on your list is cameras, door hardware or access control, the Nonprofit Security Grant Program guide covers FEMA's program and the foundations that paid for the same upgrades, and if the real need is a new site rather than hardware, read grants for nonprofit websites.

Clinics should read grants for free clinics, and food programs grants for food banks. Anyone buying equipment with federal money should keep the grant equipment management guide close. To see which federal and state equipment programs are taking applications right now, search the Grantsights grant database.

FAQ: Common Questions

Are there grants for equipment for nonprofits? Yes. 903 foundations made 2,594 equipment grants worth $90,773,148 in the November 5, 2026 pull.

How much is a typical foundation equipment grant? The median was $10,000; 878 of the 2,594 grants were $5,000 or less.

What kind of equipment do foundations fund most often? School and lab equipment, then medical gear, then fire, rescue and EMS gear.

Is there a federal grant for nonprofit equipment? Only in set sectors: FEMA's AFG for fire and EMS, and USDA Community Facilities in rural areas.

What federal rules apply if a grant buys equipment? 2 CFR 200.1, 200.313 and 200.439: a $10,000 threshold, records, inventory and approvals.

Why does Grantsights point equipment seekers to the education list? Education had the most foundations making equipment grants: 220.

Sources

These 9 pages, checked November 5, 2026, back the federal and filing claims above.

• FEMA: Assistance to Firefighters Grant program (opens in a new tab)
• eCFR: 2 CFR 200.1, definitions (equipment, general and special purpose equipment) (opens in a new tab)
• eCFR: 2 CFR 200.313, equipment (title, use, management, disposition) (opens in a new tab)
• eCFR: 2 CFR 200.439, prior approval rules for equipment and capital spending (opens in a new tab)
• eCFR: 7 CFR 3570.61, eligibility for Community Facilities grant assistance (opens in a new tab)
• eCFR: 7 CFR 3570.62, use of Community Facilities grant funds (opens in a new tab)
• eCFR: 7 CFR 3570.63, Community Facilities grant limitations and percentages (opens in a new tab)
• IRS: About Form 990-PF (opens in a new tab)
• Grantsights pull of 990-PF equipment grants, November 5, 2026, and education statewide pull, October 29, 2026