Grants for School Technology 2026: 214 Funders

School technology source review, Grantsights, November 4, 2026: Grantsights checked the eCFR text of the E-Rate rules on eligible recipients (opens in a new tab), eligible services (opens in a new tab) and discounts (opens in a new tab), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) hotspot rescission (opens in a new tab) and its August 2026 E-Rate proposal (opens in a new tab) in the Federal Register, and the text of 20 U.S.C. 7119 (opens in a new tab) against foundation filings that name device purchases. Where official sources stop: no federal page tells a school what a Chromebook refresh costs over 5 years, or which local funders have already paid for one.

What Grants for Technology for Schools Pay For

Grantsights sorted the 36 confirmed recipients by what they bought, and 6 kinds of purchase covered nearly all of them. Each row quotes a filing from the November 4, 2026 pull.

Funders pay for a named device going into a named building. The best filings say "155 Chromebooks" or "six interactive panels," and a request should read the same way.

These gifts are a supplement, not a device budget. District operating funds, bonds and levies, federal formula money, PTA fundraising and school foundations pay for most classroom technology. Private foundations filing Form 990-PF fill gaps: a lab no bond covered, a Catholic school with no tax base, a rural district replacing worn-out laptops.

School Technology Grants in 990-PF Filings

Grantsights analysis of 990-PF education grants pulled November 4, 2026 found 214 foundations that made 396 classroom technology grants to 333 recipients, totaling $6,128,651. According to IRS guidance on Form 990-PF (opens in a new tab), private foundations use that return to report their charitable distributions, so each gift here traces to a filing.

The total works out to about $15,500 per grant, and that's misleading. Per the same November 4, 2026 pull, the median gift was $7,500, a quarter were $2,000 or less, a quarter were about $17,600 or more, and 177 of the 396 gifts (45%) were $5,000 or less. A classroom set of devices from a local funder is a realistic first ask. A district-wide refresh isn't.

The large gifts that pull the average up

The Ahmanson Foundation's $459,000 gift to Junipero Serra High School in Gardena, California is about 7.5% of the national total by itself, according to the November 4, 2026 pull. Here are the biggest school gifts:

Private and religious schools show up often at the top, since they can't pass a levy.

Repeat funders worth a second look

Some funders come back year after year. The Arnold C. Dienstberger Foundation gave Delphos St. John's School in Ohio $40,000 in 2023 and $45,000 in both 2024 and 2025 for technology upgrades. The Hugo H. and Mabel B. Young Foundation gave Loudonville-Perrysville Schools in Ohio $53,092 for laptops in 2022, just under $40,000 for Promethean ActivPanels in 2024 and $30,285 for a VR kit and a 3D printer in 2025. One district in Oklahoma, Newkirk Public Schools, received $50,000 from the Madalynne L. Peel Foundation in 2024 for new Chromebooks. Fremont Bank Foundation gave Brentwood Union School District in California $50,000 for student Chromebooks in 2023 and Hayward Unified $50,000 for Chromebook charging power banks in 2024.

School Technology Funders by State

California's 24 funders lead, and 30 states had 3 or more foundations making classroom technology grants in the November 4, 2026 pull. This table counts the state where the school sits.

Oregon's 53 grants from only 7 funders stand out. The MAPS Community Foundation alone gave 40 school recipients a combined $34,500, in gifts of about $1,000 or less tied to teachers' projects, many at Salem schools. That's a different model from a single big check. Rhode Island had only 2 funders, yet the Champlin Foundation's 2 gifts, the Saint Raphael award and $54,800 for zSpace laptops at Rogers High School in Newport in 2023, add up to about three quarters of the state's $170,197.

Free preview samples elsewhere show how local the money is. Pennsylvania's sample, the Maurice Romy Foundation, gave Francis Scott Key Elementary School in Philadelphia $10,000 for iMac desktops and Our Lady of Angels Catholic School in Morton $10,000 for Chromebooks in 2024. Texas's sample, the Wood Family Memorial Trust, gave Nazareth Academy in Victoria $7,500 in 2024 for iPads and a charging cart. In Connecticut, Thomaston Savings Bank Foundation gave the Catholic Academy of Waterbury $2,500 in 2025 toward 13 Chromebooks.

California's school technology funders

California's 24 foundations made 45 classroom technology grants worth $1,500,254, according to the November 4, 2026 pull. The Ahmanson Foundation's 6 gifts among the state's largest add up to $760,100, about half of the state total, so a school outside Los Angeles shouldn't read California as easy money. The free preview on the Grantsights education funder list for this kind of school leads with the Antone and Marie Raymus Foundation, whose filings say it takes requests and list what to send, deadlines, limits and a contact. It gave 8 recipients a combined $203,408 in the pull.

One school in Ripon, California, Ripon High School, received $27,959 from the Raymus Foundation in 2024 for Promethean board stands. Lottie Grunsky Elementary School in Stockton got $22,025 in 2023 for smart board displays and computers, and Delta Charter Elementary School in Stockton got $21,101 in 2024 for computers for every student. Salida Union School District received $20,325 in 2023 for 6 interactive panels.

Why the Education List for School Technology

Education is where classroom technology money sits, since the filings name a school and a device. The focus counts above come from education-tagged grants only, so the education list is the one to use whether you're a district, a parish school or a parent group.

These rows count every 990-PF education grant, according to Grantsights analysis of filings pulled October 29, 2026, not only technology gifts. Between 23% and 38% of the education funders in these states say they take requests, and the typical education gift, $5,000 to $6,647, sits a little below the $7,500 technology median. Many of those funders give for scholarships, tuition help or general school support, so read each one's past gifts for devices before you write. The education funder list includes every state, and if it isn't useful you can ask for your money back within 30 days.

E-Rate Is a Discount, Not a Grant

E-Rate cuts 20% to 90% off the price of eligible connectivity, and that's all it does. Per the eCFR text of 47 CFR 54.505 (opens in a new tab), the discount is set by indicators of poverty and high cost, chiefly the share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch under the National School Lunch Program. A school at a 40% discount still pays 60% of every eligible bill.

What the discount covers, under 47 CFR 54.502 (opens in a new tab):

1. Category One: telecommunications and internet access to the building.
2. Category Two: internal connections, basic maintenance and managed internal broadband services inside instructional buildings.
3. A five-year Category Two budget: the rule text sets a base of $167 per student, before the discount, over a fixed cycle that reset in funding year 2026, with a floor of $25,000 per school. The FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau adjusts the multiplier for inflation before each cycle, so check USAC for the current figure.

According to the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) eligible services overview (opens in a new tab), Category One can't include charges for end-user devices, and Category Two means equipment like routers, switches, wireless access points and cabling. Laptops, tablets, interactive panels and 3D printers aren't on the list. A school that wants Wi-Fi strong enough for 30 Chromebooks per room can use E-Rate for the access points, then needs a grant or its own budget for the Chromebooks.

Eligibility has limits too. Per 47 CFR 54.501 (opens in a new tab), for-profit schools and schools with endowments over $50,000,000 can't get discounts. With narrow exceptions, applicants also have to run a fair and open competitive bid for eligible services before signing a contract.

What the FCC Doesn't Tell You About Paying for Devices

The FCC rolled back 2 recent E-Rate expansions in 2025, and its August 2026 proposal hints at more trimming. Read the current rules, not a 2024 blog post, before you build a plan on E-Rate.

1. Hotspot lending is out. According to the Federal Register notice published January 21, 2026, the FCC rescinded its July 2024 rules that let E-Rate pay for Wi-Fi hotspots used off school grounds, finding that section 254 of the Communications Act doesn't permit it. The rescission took effect February 20, 2026.
2. School bus Wi-Fi is out too. The FCC's August 14, 2026 proposed rule says the 2023 school bus Wi-Fi expansion and the 2024 hotspot expansion "were reversed in 2025." Districts that budgeted bus routers on E-Rate need another source.
3. More cuts are on the table. The same proposal asks whether other services that are eligible now should be reconsidered. Comments closed October 13, 2026 and reply comments are due November 12, 2026, so as of November 4, 2026 nothing in it is a final rule.
4. The Emergency Connectivity Fund is over. The Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) was the one FCC program that paid for laptops and tablets. According to the August 2026 proposal, the FCC set up the ECF in 2021 to distribute $7.171 billion, and the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency triggered a June 30, 2024 sunset. All purchases had to be done by then, and the FCC has proposed deleting most of the program's rules.
5. Devices were never E-Rate's job. With the ECF closed and hotspots rescinded, E-Rate's rules leave student devices to schools and their funders. That gap is why foundation gifts for Chromebooks, smart boards and labs keep showing up in 990-PF filings.

What the FCC pages won't say is how much this shifts onto local funders. Laptops bought with ECF money in 2021 are 5 years old now, and their replacements have to come from a budget, a bond or a donor.

Title IV-A and the 15% Device Cap

Title IV-A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as rewritten by the Every Student Succeeds Act, sends formula money to districts for 3 purposes, and one of them is technology. Per the text of 20 U.S.C. 7116 (opens in a new tab), a district must spend at least 20% on well-rounded education, at least 20% on safe and healthy students, and "a portion" on effective use of technology. A district getting less than $30,000 skips the needs assessment and only has to give 1 of those 3 spending assurances.

The device limit is in 20 U.S.C. 7119. Subsection (a)(2)(B) allows "purchasing devices, equipment, and software applications in order to address readiness shortfalls," and subsection (b) says a district "shall not use more than 15 percent of funds" for that technology infrastructure, including hardware bought for blended learning projects. In plain arithmetic, a district with $100,000 in Title IV-A can put no more than $15,000 into devices. Training teachers to use those devices isn't under the cap.

Title IV-A isn't a grant a school applies for. The district writes the plan with its state, and the statute requires districts to follow the equitable participation rules for private school children and teachers. A school leader who wants a share for devices should talk to the district's federal programs office before the plan is set, then use foundation gifts to cover what the cap leaves out. The Title IV-A grants guide walks through the 3 pillars in detail.

Budgeting a Classroom Technology Request

Most schools underestimate what a device costs after the box is opened: cases, charging carts, licenses, repairs and the refresh 4 or 5 years later. A $7,500 grant covers far fewer devices than the sticker price suggests. This table is illustrative, not data: prices vary by vendor, contract and state.

The Booker Foundation's $31,471 gift to Medora Community School Corporation in Indiana in 2024 paid for 30 Chromebooks plus 16 charging carts, licenses and firewall software, not devices alone. After the grant, report students served and how the devices get used. Repeat funders like the Dienstberger Foundation want to see last year's devices still working.

Common Mistakes in School Technology Grant Requests

These 6 mistakes cost schools gifts that fit easily under the $7,500 median.

• Asking E-Rate for laptops. A common mistake is building a device plan around E-Rate. It discounts connectivity and the network inside your buildings, nothing more.
• A vague "technology" ask. A red flag for a family foundation is a request for "technology upgrades" with no count, no model and no classroom. Name the grade, the room and the number of devices.
• Asking the biggest funder first. A $400,000 ask to a funder whose usual school gift is $10,000 rarely works. Check its giving history first; how to read a 990-PF shows where the grant list sits.
• No refresh plan. Funders worry about paying for devices that sit broken in a closet. Say who will repair them and how you'll replace them.
• Mixing up devices and programs. If the request is really for a coding club or a robotics team, grants for coding programs for kids fits better. If it's for classes that teach adults or families to use computers, read grants for digital literacy programs.
• Sending it from the wrong entity. Many funders prefer a 501(c)(3). A school foundation or a PTA or PTO can often apply for a named school when a district's rules make direct gifts slow.

A School Technology Funding Calendar

This 12-month plan suits a school that buys devices before fall classes. Shift it to your district's buying cycle.

The Grantsights grant database lists open federal and state education notices, including state programs that pay for classroom equipment.

Related Guides for Schools Buying Technology

The 214 foundations behind the $6,128,651 in this pull also give to schools for other things, and the line between guides matters. For teacher classroom grants, federal teacher programs and school-wide funding beyond devices, read grants for teachers and schools; this guide only covers buying classroom technology. Independent and parish schools will find more funders in grants for private schools, and science and engineering programs that need lab gear should compare notes with grants for STEM education programs.

If the real problem is the connection rather than the device, start with the broadband grants guide, which covers federal infrastructure programs, or grants for rural internet for towns where students can't get service at home. Districts buying tablets or assistive devices for students with disabilities can find program funders in grants for special education programs.

FAQ: Common Questions

Is E-Rate a grant for school technology? No. It's a 20% to 90% discount on connectivity and network gear, not devices.

How many foundations give grants for school technology? 214 in the Grantsights search of 990-PF education grants pulled November 4, 2026.

How big is a typical school technology grant? The median was $7,500, and 177 of the 396 gifts were $5,000 or less.

Can Title IV-A money buy Chromebooks? Yes, but a district can't spend more than 15 percent of its Title IV-A funds on devices, equipment and software.

Can a PTA or school foundation apply on the school's behalf? Often, yes, and many funders prefer a 501(c)(3) recipient over a district office.

Does this guide cover coding clubs or home internet? No. Those have their own guides.

Sources

• eCFR: 47 CFR 54.501, eligible recipients for E-Rate (opens in a new tab)
• eCFR: 47 CFR 54.502, eligible services and Category Two budgets (opens in a new tab)
• eCFR: 47 CFR 54.505, E-Rate discounts (opens in a new tab)
• Federal Register: Addressing the Homework Gap Through the E-Rate Program; Partial Withdrawal (January 21, 2026) (opens in a new tab)
• Federal Register: FCC To Review E-Rate Program To Ensure Congress's Vision (August 14, 2026) (opens in a new tab)
• USAC: E-Rate eligible services overview (opens in a new tab)
• 20 U.S.C. 7116, Title IV-A local applications (U.S. Code, 2024 edition) (opens in a new tab)
• 20 U.S.C. 7119, effective use of technology (U.S. Code, 2024 edition) (opens in a new tab)
• IRS: About Form 990-PF (opens in a new tab)