Grants for Parks and Recreation 2026: 48 Funders and LWCF

Parks and recreation source review, Grantsights, November 6, 2026: Grantsights checked the LWCF state assistance statute at 54 U.S.C. 200305 (opens in a new tab), the National Park Service (NPS) state and local LWCF page (opens in a new tab), the Grants.gov Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership notice (opens in a new tab), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Recreational Trails Program page (opens in a new tab) and the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) activity rules at 24 CFR 570.201 (opens in a new tab) against foundation filings that name recreation agencies. Where official sources stop: the federal programs pay for land and facilities, and none of them pays a summer camp counselor or buys wrestling mats. The filings show who does.

Grants for Parks and Recreation: What 990-PF Filings Show

Grantsights analysis of 990-PF youth grants pulled November 5, 2026 found 48 foundations that made 75 grants to 56 departments, park districts and recreation commissions, worth $4,031,135 in all. According to IRS guidance on Form 990-PF (opens in a new tab), every private foundation files that return yearly and lists the grants it paid, so each gift below can be checked against a public filing.

One gift skews the total. The City Fields Foundation gave the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department $2,100,000 in 2023 to address a shortage of athletic fields for youth and adult athletes, which is 52% of the national figure. According to the same November 5, 2026 pull, the median grant was $5,000, a quarter of the grants were $1,000 or less, a quarter ran above $16,770, and 38 of the 75 (51%) were $5,000 or under.

Read the Hanover row with care: the filing splits the $332,588 into 3 equal parts for youth, adults and seniors, so only about a third of it is youth money.

Foundations aren't a department's main revenue. Property taxes or a park levy, program fees, field rentals, state grants and capital bonds pay most bills. Foundation grants usually cover what fees can't: scholarships for kids who can't pay, a new program's first year, or equipment the general fund keeps cutting.

3 Kinds of Youth Grants Departments Receive

Grantsights sorted the 75 youth grants in the November 5, 2026 pull by purpose: 27 grants worth $726,997 named a youth sport, 13 worth $302,250 named a summer camp, and most of the rest paid for youth programs or youth centers.

Youth sports gifts are small and steady. The Stevens County Foundation gave the Hugoton Recreation Commission in Kansas $19,333 in 2024 for wrestling club mats and youth football gear. The Cullman Foundation gave the City of Cullman Park and Rec Fund in Alabama $30,000 in 2025 and $10,000 in 2024 for community youth sports. The Dick's Sporting Goods Foundation filed youth sports grants of $5,000 to the Seabrook Recreation Department in New Hampshire, $4,000 to the Burke County Recreation Department in Georgia and $1,000 to Cherokee Parks and Recreation in Alabama, all in 2024. For example, Minooka received $18,539 for youth sports from the Jason Clearwater Fund in 2025, filed under the Minooka Park District in Illinois.

Summer camp money often comes back every year. The Beagary Charitable Trust funded summer camps at 3 Connecticut departments: Plainfield Parks & Recreation got $75,000 in both 2024 and 2025, Killingly got $4,000 in 2024 and $84,000 in 2025, and Brooklyn got $4,000 each year. An Ogden Codman trust gave Lincoln Parks and Recreation in Massachusetts $15,000 a year from 2023 to 2025 for summer camp financial aid. The International Paper Company Foundation gave the Macon County Parks & Recreation Department in Georgia $10,000 for its 2024 summer camp.

Youth programs reach beyond sports. The Charles H. Dater Foundation gave the Cincinnati Recreation Commission $25,000 in 2023 for youth and teen outdoor adventure programs, The Wyomissing Foundation gave the Reading Recreation Commission in Pennsylvania $20,000 in 2023 and again in 2024 for youth programs, and the Emporium Foundation gave the Cameron County Recreation Board in Pennsylvania $12,500 a year from 2023 to 2025 for 4-H out-of-school programs. The Helen R. Coe Trust gave the Lovell Recreation Department in Maine $12,000 in 2024 to cover youth program transportation, a cost few departments think to ask for.

Parks and Recreation Grants by State

California, Connecticut, New York and Ohio each have 4 funders in the November 5, 2026 youth pull, and 8 states have 3 or more. This table counts grants by the state where the department sits.

Connecticut's 12 grants are the deepest bench, mostly Beagary camp money plus The Barden Foundation's $2,000 youth services gifts to the Colebrook and Winchester recreation departments in 2023 and 2024. Vermont's 3 grants add up to $950, which tells a Vermont department to look at the all-cause list instead.

State samples in the free preview

The free preview on the Grantsights youth funder list opens Connecticut with the Beagary Charitable Trust, whose filings say it takes requests and list what to send and a contact. Georgia opens with the International Paper Company Foundation, which also takes requests and lists deadlines and limits. Pennsylvania's sample is The Wyomissing Foundation, and New York's is the Marie C. and Joseph C. Wilson Foundation, which gave the City of Rochester's recreation department $10,000 in 2023 for a youth mental health guidebook and public service announcements.

Two samples are weak fits, and it's better to say so. Ohio opens with the Bokom Foundation, whose sample shows two $500 donations to Cleveland Metroparks youth outdoors work in 2023 and 2024, and whose filings don't say it takes requests; the Dater grant is the better Ohio model. Illinois opens with the Jason Clearwater Fund, which gave the Minooka and Seneca park districts youth sports grants but doesn't say on its filings that it takes requests. Vermont's sample, the Lamson Howell Foundation, gave the Bethel Recreation Department $200 in 2024 for a kids and coffee program.

California's parks and recreation funders

California's 4 foundations made 6 youth grants worth $2,700,350, according to the November 5, 2026 pull, and the City Fields gift is 78% of that. The free preview leads with the LA84 Foundation, whose filings say it takes requests and list what to send and a contact. It gave the County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation $425,000 in 2023 and $125,000 in 2024, both filed as youth sports. That's a strong fit for a large county system and a long shot for a small city outside Southern California.

The Semloh Foundation gave the West Side Recreation and Park District in Taft $30,000 in 2023 for youth sports and $20,000 in 2024 for youth programming, a better model for a small district. Across every cause, 51 California funders gave to recreation agencies, including the Resnick Foundation's $500,000 to the Shafter Recreation & Park District in 2024.

Capital Projects: What the All-Cause Filings Show

Counting every cause, the same name match pulled November 5, 2026 reaches 880 foundations and 1,595 grants worth $86,226,914, with a $5,000 median, and 39 states have 3 or more funders. Most of these gifts carry no cause tag, and that's where park construction, renovation and land money sits.

Smaller building gifts show the range. The Tom Feist Foundation gave the Spearville Recreation Commission in Kansas $380,000 in 2023 for a swimming pool, the W. Darrell Kilton Foundation gave the Litchfield Park District in Illinois $162,000 in 2024 for a restroom and concession stand, and the Braxton Davies Reed Charitable Foundation gave the City of Houston Parks and Recreation Department $125,000 in 2023 for a playground. The Nicholas Family Foundation Trust gave the Rockford Park District Foundation $500,000 a year from 2023 to 2025 for enhancements and programming at the Nicholas Conservatory.

Illinois (129 funders) and Ohio (125) lead the all-cause count by a wide margin, ahead of California (51), Indiana (44) and New York (43). Many of their recipients are park districts and metroparks named on their own, rather than a city department, which is one reason those 2 states show up so often. A Grantsights hand check of 40 all-cause recipients found 37 departments, park districts or their own parks and recreation foundations; 2 were employee-program gifts and 1 was a statewide parks advocacy group. Several large rows were left out of this guide's examples: a related-party gift to the Galveston park board, a horse park run by a state commission, and grants to a state parks agency.

Why the Youth List for Parks and Recreation

Youth is where tagged department money sits. The 75 youth grants are the cause-tagged gifts to recreation agencies in the November 5, 2026 pull, and they're mostly camps, sports and programs for kids. A department raising money for youth programs should start with youth funders; one building a park should read the all-cause giving of foundations in its own county.

Each row covers all youth giving on 990-PF returns in that state, according to Grantsights analysis of filings pulled October 29, 2026, not only grants to departments. The typical youth grant is $5,000 to $5,200 everywhere but California, where it's $10,000, and the share of funders saying they take requests runs from 22% in California to 36% in Ohio. The youth funder list includes every state, and if it doesn't pay off for your department, a full refund is available within 30 days.

Federal Money for Parks and Recreation: 4 Routes

These 4 federal routes reach local recreation agencies, as of November 6, 2026. All 4 pay for places or services under strict rules, and none is a quick grant.

1. LWCF state-side grants. According to the NPS state and local LWCF program, the fund has helped pay for over 46,000 projects since 1965 through matching grants to state and local governments. Under 54 U.S.C. 200305 (opens in a new tab), federal payments cover no more than 50% of a project's cost, they're paid to the state, and the state may transfer them to a political subdivision for an approved project. Your department applies through the state's LWCF office on the state's schedule.

2. Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP). According to Grants.gov, the current ORLP notice (opens in a new tab) is a recurring 5-year notice with applications due November 1 each year, awards from $300,000 to $15,000,000, about $85,000,000 in estimated funding and about 35 awards. Projects must sit in an urban area of 25,000 or more people, or in an area run by a tribe or Native organization, and the grant covers up to 50% of costs. Cities, counties and park districts must apply through their state lead agency. The 2026 deadline passed on November 1, so a department starting now is aiming at November 1, 2027.

3. Recreational Trails Program (RTP). According to the FHWA Recreational Trails Program (opens in a new tab) page, RTP gives states money to build and maintain motorized and nonmotorized trails, each state runs its own program, and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act reauthorized it for fiscal years 2022 through 2026. The page didn't describe funding after fiscal year 2026 as of November 6, 2026, so call your state RTP administrator before planning on a round. Grants for trail organizations covers trail funders.

4. CDBG. Under 24 CFR 570.201 (opens in a new tab), CDBG can pay for public facilities and improvements, and public services may include recreational needs, but public services are capped at 15% of each grant. A city with its own allocation decides internally; a small town applies to its state program. Rural towns of 20,000 or fewer can also look at USDA Community Facilities grants.

Two national nonprofits worth checking. The National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) posts grants for park and recreation agencies on its grant and fundraising page (opens in a new tab); as of November 6, 2026 it listed the NRPA x MLS GO Play Fund, up to $100,000 in all for agencies that become MLS GO league operators, with applications due December 31, 2026. KaBOOM! says on its grants page (opens in a new tab) that it builds playspaces with child-serving nonprofits and municipal agencies, was accepting applications for community-built playspaces, and offered grants of up to $25,000 through a Georgia playspace refresh fund.

What the LWCF Pages Don't Tell You About the Match and the Forever Rule

The ORLP notice says its forever rule covers the whole park or site, not just the part the grant touched. Put that beside the statute and the filings and 4 lessons come out.

1. The whole park is bound. Under section 200305(f)(3), property bought or developed with LWCF help can't be converted from public outdoor recreation use without federal approval and replacement land of at least equal value and use. A department that might sell a corner for a fire station should settle that before applying.
2. The match is your fundraising target. LWCF and ORLP cover up to 50%. A local foundation gift, like Pattee's $525,000 for Monmouth's soccer field, is exactly the kind of non-federal money that can complete a match, so ask funders early and in writing.
3. Federal money won't run the camp. None of these 4 programs pays for summer staff, scholarships or uniforms, except CDBG services inside the 15% cap. That's the gap youth foundations fill: 40 of the 75 youth grants named sports or camps.
4. Reimbursement means cash flow. ORLP reimburses costs, so the department fronts the money. Line up bridge cash or a foundation's upfront gift before you sign contracts.

Common Mistakes in Parks and Recreation Grant Requests

These 6 mistakes show up whether a department asks for $500 in soccer balls or $3,000,000 for a capital campaign.

• Pitching the park instead of the kids. The youth funders paid for camps, mats and teen trips. A request that says how many children can't afford a program fee, and what a scholarship costs, reads better than one about turf.
• Sending a city request where a 501(c)(3) is required. A common mistake is skipping a funder because it gives only to charities. Several districts in the all-cause filings, from Rockford to Sioux City, received large gifts through their own parks foundations.
• Ignoring repeat funders. The Lincoln, Plainfield, Reading and Cameron County gifts came back year after year. Report results and ask again before the next camp season.
• Underestimating the match timeline. LWCF and ORLP applications need the local share committed. A foundation board that meets twice a year can't decide in October for a November 1 deadline.
• Chasing ORLP in a small town. It's only for urban areas of 25,000 or more, or tribal areas. Skip it if you don't qualify and talk to the state LWCF office about the regular state-side round instead.
• Asking a foundation for more than its habit. A funder whose recreation gifts ran $1,000 won't fund a $200,000 pool. Check its past grants with how to read a 990-PF first.

Related Guides for Recreation Agencies

Single projects have closer guides: grants for playgrounds, grants for skate parks, grants for dog parks and grants for swim programs. Program staff can compare funders in grants for youth sports leagues, grants for summer camps and grants for senior centers. Departments that serve summer lunches or senior meals at a recreation center can find those funders in grants for nutrition programs, and a nature center that books school buses into the park should read grants for field trips.

A town government raising money beyond its parks should read grants for municipalities. A charger project in a park lot is covered in grants for EV charging stations, a residents' group adopting a pocket park fits grants for community projects, and a club asking to keep hives on park land can use grants for beekeeping associations. City staff weighing larger federal programs can use federal grants for local governments. Open federal and state recreation notices are listed by state in the Grantsights grant database.

FAQ: Common Questions

Are there grants for parks and recreation departments? Yes. 48 foundations made 75 youth grants to departments and districts in the pull dated November 5, 2026.

How big is a typical parks and recreation grant from a foundation? The median was $5,000, and 38 of 75 youth grants were $5,000 or less.

Can a city parks department get Land and Water Conservation Fund grants? Yes, through the state's LWCF office, with at least a 50% local share.

Is the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership open? Its notice takes applications each November 1; the next deadline is November 1, 2027.

Do foundations pay for park construction and renovation? Yes, mostly local foundations giving without a cause tag, such as the Mandel and James gifts.

Should a park foundation or friends group use this guide? Use the park foundations guide; this one counts gifts to public agencies.

Sources

• 54 U.S.C. 200305, LWCF financial assistance to states (U.S. Code, 2024 edition) (opens in a new tab)
• National Park Service: LWCF state and local grant funding (opens in a new tab)
• Grants.gov: Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Program recurring 5-year notice (opens in a new tab)
• FHWA: Recreational Trails Program (opens in a new tab)
• 24 CFR 570.201, CDBG basic eligible activities (eCFR) (opens in a new tab)
• IRS: About Form 990-PF (opens in a new tab)
• NRPA: Park and recreation grants and fundraising resources (opens in a new tab)
• KaBOOM!: Apply for a grant (opens in a new tab)