Grants for Skate Parks 2026: Skatepark Funders

Park money source review, Grantsights, October 31, 2026: Grantsights checked the National Park Service page on LWCF state and local grant funding (opens in a new tab), its Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership page (opens in a new tab) and the ORLP program changes for 2026 (opens in a new tab), HUD's Community Development Block Grant program page (opens in a new tab) and the CDBG eligible activities rule at 24 CFR 570.201 (opens in a new tab), then compared them against foundation filings. Where official sources stop: none of them says whether your city council will put a skatepark ahead of a ball field, because that's a local call.

How Grants for Skate Parks Fit a Build Budget

Of the 225 skatepark grants in the October 31, 2026 pull, the median was $9,000, the middle half ran from $2,000 to $25,000, and 96 were under $5,000. A poured concrete park costs far more than that, so no single foundation check carries a build. The money that actually closes a skatepark budget usually comes in layers:

Grantsights' honest view: a skatepark is a public works project dressed up as a youth program. The committees that finish fastest get the city to own the site and promise upkeep before they ask a single foundation for money.

Who Gave to Skate Parks: What 990-PF Filings Show

Grantsights analysis of 990-PF filings pulled October 31, 2026 found 149 foundations that made 225 grants to 138 skatepark recipients, totaling $8,046,861, or about $35,800 per grant on average. The average sits far above the $9,000 median because a handful of six-figure construction gifts pull it up. According to IRS guidance about Form 990-PF (opens in a new tab), private foundations use that return to report their charitable distributions, so every gift below traces to a public filing.

For example, Friends of Newport Skatepark in Rhode Island stacked gifts from at least 7 foundations across 2023 and 2024. The Van Beuren Charitable Foundation gave a $130,000 design grant and a $10,000 unrestricted gift, the Benzak Foundation gave $30,000 and then $20,000, and the Gruben Charitable Foundation gave $25,000, while the Prince Foundation, the Hawks Family Foundation and the Egan Family Charitable Foundation each sent $10,000. That's what a skatepark campaign in a small city looks like on paper: one anchor gift and a long tail of local checks.

Skate park funders by state

Each recipient is counted in the state on its filing, across every cause tag in the October 31, 2026 pull. Iowa, Colorado, Massachusetts, Maine and Idaho also had 3 or 4 funders each, for 15 states with 3 or more.

Reading the state table

California's lead is mostly one national group. The Skatepark Project in Vista, which filings also list under its old name, the Tony Hawk Foundation, drew 22 of the state's 40 largest grants, worth $727,827. That includes $250,000 from the VF Foundation in 2023 for the Brooklyn Banks, $150,000 from the Paul Marciano Foundation in 2024 for a relief program and $50,000 a year from the Luluma Charitable Trust in 2023 and 2024. Local California groups worked with smaller checks: the La Centra-Sumerlin Foundation gave Carpinteria Skate Park $45,000 and $35,000 in 2023, and the Joseph Keith Burgess Foundation gave Fresno Skateboard Salvage $10,000 in both 2023 and 2024 to get kids into skateboarding.

Washington's total leans on a single payment. The $692,108 Albertson grant went to Grindline, the Seattle company building the Molenaar Skate Park, not to a local nonprofit. Strip that out and Washington's other 17 funders gave far less, including the INMAAT Foundation's $75,000 to Skateistan USA in 2024 and the Vatheuer Family Foundation's $10,000 to Skate Like a Girl in Seattle that year for inclusive skate programs.

Why a City or Park Foundation Often Holds the Money

Montana's $1,339,850 shows the pattern best. In 2024 the Montana Pool Service Foundation gave $242,100 to the City of Pablo, $200,000 each to the Cities of Ronan and Arlee, $100,000 to the City of Clinton, $63,750 to the City of Glasgow and $50,000 to the City of Columbia Falls, each filed as a grant to the community to build a skatepark. In 2023 it gave $232,850 to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in Fort Yates, North Dakota for the same purpose. That's $1,088,700 across 7 grants, all to governments, none to a skater nonprofit.

Grantsights checked those filings against the federal pages and found the same logic on both sides: the owner of the land holds the money. According to the National Park Service, LWCF state and local grants are matching grants to state and local governments, and the CDBG rule lists public facilities carried out by the recipient or other public or private nonprofit entities. A volunteer committee can't own a public park, so it usually does one of 3 things:

1. Raise money for the city. The committee fundraises and the city accepts the gifts into a restricted skatepark fund. The Ruth St John & John Dunham West Foundation's $100,000 grant went to the City of Manitowoc on behalf of the Friends of the Manitowoc Skatepark in 2025.
2. Use a park or community foundation. The Danner Foundation gave the Community Foundation of Greater Huntsville $80,000 in 2021 for its John Hunt Skatepark Fund, and the BA & Esther Greenheck Foundation gave the Wausau and Marathon County Parks and Recreation Foundation $25,000 in 2025 for City of Wausau skate park construction.
3. Find a fiscal sponsor. In Oregon, the Rotary Club of Lakeview Oregon Foundation took in $100,000 from the Collins Companies Foundation and $25,000 from the Ford Family Foundation in 2024 for the Wheels in Motion Skatepark Project. What is a fiscal sponsor explains how that arrangement works.

A red flag for funders is a committee with no written agreement about who owns the park, carries the insurance and pays for repairs. Get that letter from the city first. Park support groups that outlast the build should read grants for park foundations.

Why the Youth List, Not the Community List

Youth led the tagged gifts: in the October 31, 2026 pull, 19 foundations put a youth tag on their skatepark grants (30 grants, $361,690), against 7 with an education tag and 6 with a community tag. Most gifts, from 120 foundations, carried no cause tag at all, so the youth list is the closest fit rather than a perfect one. According to our review of the purposes, the youth-tagged ones paid for lessons and access: the Rudolph J & Daphne A Munzer Foundation gave the Boys & Girls Clubs of Long Beach $10,000 a year from 2022 through 2024 for youth skateboard classes, and the Carol Ann and Ralph V Haile Jr Foundation gave Groundwork Ohio River Valley $50,000 in 2024 for the Camp Washington community skatepark in Cincinnati.

The 6 rows above count every youth grant on 990-PF returns in Grantsights analysis of filings pulled October 29, 2026, not just skatepark grants. The free preview on the Grantsights youth funder list shows youth funders across your state, not ones chosen for skateparks, so read each funder's past gifts before you write to it. One state's list costs $29, a year with every cause costs $99, and you can get your money back on either within 30 days. Skate programs that run after school should also see grants for after-school programs, which covers funders that pay for staff and supervision.

What the National Park Service Doesn't Tell You About ORLP

According to the National Park Service ORLP program page, the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership has put more than $385 million into projects since 2014, and it reimburses up to 50% of project costs, leaving the applicant to find the other 50% from non-federal sources. Its page lists sports fields, playgrounds, trails and community gardens as examples. Skateparks aren't named, but the program covers site development and renovation of outdoor recreation spaces, which is where a skatepark sits.

Here's what the 2026 program change page says that most summaries skip:

1. The population floor dropped. Projects must now be in an urban area of 25,000 or more people, or 2 or more adjacent urban areas that add up to 25,000, or an area run by a federally recognized tribe, Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian community organization. The Park Service says that makes about 800 communities eligible.
2. Cities are subrecipients. State lead agencies and tribes apply directly. Local governments, special purpose districts and urban Indian organizations come in as subrecipients, so a city works through its state's lead agency.
3. There's a yearly deadline. One notice of funding opportunity runs for 5 years, with applications reviewed once a year after a November 1 deadline. The current ORLP notice on Grants.gov (opens in a new tab), posted June 8, 2026, lists awards from $300,000 to $15 million and runs through November 1, 2030.
4. The park is forever. ORLP projects must stay open for public outdoor recreation in perpetuity, which is a promise your city makes, not your committee.
5. Admin money is capped at 7%. No more than 7% of an ORLP grant can go to administrative costs.

What the page doesn't say is that a stand-alone skatepark is often too small for ORLP. With a $300,000 minimum award and a federal share capped at half the cost, a project needs to run about $600,000 or more, so a modest skate plaza usually fits better as one part of a larger park renovation. The same holds for LWCF state and local grants, which, per the NPS page, have helped fund more than 46,000 projects since 1965. Each state runs its own LWCF selection against its outdoor recreation plan, so ask your state LWCF liaison whether skateparks score well there before your city writes an application.

Community Development Block Grants: The City Budget Route

HUD's CDBG page says the program gives annual formula grants to states, cities and counties, principally for low- and moderate-income people, and that eligible city grantees include principal cities and other metropolitan cities of at least 50,000 people. Smaller towns get CDBG through their state, which awards it only to non-entitlement units of local government. A skatepark committee never applies to HUD.

Under 24 CFR 570.201(c), CDBG may pay to acquire, build, rebuild, rehabilitate or install public facilities and improvements, carried out by the recipient or by public or private nonprofit entities. A skatepark in a lower-income neighborhood can fit that. According to HUD, at least 70% of CDBG funds over a 1, 2 or 3-year period must go to activities that benefit low- and moderate-income people, HUD doesn't give CDBG directly to nonprofits, and the local government decides which local projects get funded. Ask your city's community development office 3 questions: is the proposed site in an eligible area, when does the next annual action plan open for public comment, and could CDBG cover the accessible paths and lighting around the park. The community development block grant guide walks through how cities set those priorities.

Costing a Skatepark for a Grant Request

Committees often underestimate the 3 costs that come before concrete: design, site study and drainage. The Van Beuren Charitable Foundation's $130,000 to Friends of Newport Skatepark in 2024 paid for a stormwater assessment and design plan, and the Yarg Foundation gave the City of Cottage Grove's skate park fund $10,000 in 2023 for design work alone. This table is illustrative, not data: costs vary with size, soil and local labor.

Some funders skip the middleman and pay the builder. The WSM Foundation's $230,000 went straight to Evergreen Skateparks LLC for design and construction services for the City of Deer Lodge in 2023. If a funder offers that, get the city, the builder and the funder to sign one scope of work so nobody pays twice.

6 Skatepark Projects Foundations Have Paid For

All 6 of these projects trace to a named grant in the Grantsights pull of October 31, 2026.

1. Small-town builds. One city in Kentucky, Scottsville, got 4 capital grants from the Laura G Turner Charitable Foundation in 2023, from $8,000 to $39,916, for construction of a skate park.
2. Renovation. The Jerry H Walton Foundation gave the Anacortes Skate Park Improvement Project in Washington $15,000 in 2023 to demolish and fully replace the old Ben Root Skate Park.
3. Indoor parks with services. The Names Family Foundation gave Alchemy Indoor Skate Park and Education Center in Tacoma $10,000 in 2024 for general operating support.
4. Helmets and safety. The Mitz Family Charitable Foundation gave the 4ShayJ Foundation in Indio, California $35,000 in both 2023 and 2024 for skateboarding helmets for children who can't afford them.
5. School skate programs. The Maybelle Clark Macdonald Fund gave Push Movement in Portland $45,000 in 2024, including $40,000 for its school skateboard program.
6. Tribal and reservation parks. The Kennedy Foundation gave Tree of Life Ministry in Mission, South Dakota $10,000 in 2023 for the Rosebud Skatepark Development Project.

If your group also runs organized teams or competitions, grants for youth sports leagues covers funders that pay for coaching and gear.

Common Mistakes in Skate Park Grant Requests

These 5 mistakes come up when a committee pitches the dream park and skips the dull parts.

• No public owner. A common mistake is asking foundations for construction money before the city has agreed to own and maintain the site. Many funders won't say yes until it has.
• Underestimating upkeep. Concrete lasts, but lights, fences and graffiti cleanup don't pay for themselves. Show who covers them for 10 years.
• Skipping skater input. Funders like to see that local skaters helped design the park. Attach sign-in sheets and drawings from design sessions.
• Missing public money. A budget with no city, LWCF, ORLP or CDBG line looks thin. Show what your city applied for, even if it didn't win.
• Sizing asks blindly. Match your ask to what a funder already gives, which how to read a 990-PF helps you check. A foundation whose median gift is $5,000 won't fund your bowl.

A Skatepark Committee's Funding Calendar

This 12-month plan pairs city and state deadlines with foundation asks. Your city budget cycle and your state's LWCF round set the real dates, so confirm them first.

The Grantsights grant database tracks open federal and state notices, including park and recreation programs your city might apply for.

Related Guides for Skatepark Groups

These 7 guides cover parks, programs and partners that share your funders.

Towns building a skatepark often add other park features in the same campaign, and grants for dog parks walks through how off-leash areas get funded on public land, with the same reliance on a city owner. Indoor skate spaces and drop-in sessions look a lot like teen centers to a funder, so grants for youth centers is worth reading if you run one. Groups that teach kids to ride bikes as well as boards will find related funders in grants for bike programs.

Committees working with a tribal government should read the tribal grants guide, since tribes can apply directly for ORLP. Committees that need a public partner for the federal routes will want how to register on SAM.gov, because their city or tribe needs an active registration before it applies. If you want artists to paint the walls or ledges, grants for public art programs covers mural funders. Skate programs that let teens run a board shop or sell their own designs can borrow ideas from grants for youth entrepreneurship programs.

FAQ: Common Questions

How many foundations give grants for skate parks? 149 in Grantsights' search of 990-PF filings pulled October 31, 2026.

Is there a federal grant just for skateparks? No. Cities use LWCF, ORLP or CDBG park money instead.

Can a volunteer skatepark committee apply for grants on its own? For small gifts, sometimes; for big ones, work through the city or a fiscal sponsor.

How big is a typical skatepark grant? The median was $9,000 in the October 31, 2026 pull.

Why does Grantsights point skatepark groups to the youth list? Youth led the tagged gifts, though most gifts had no tag.

What do foundations pay for at a skatepark? Design, construction, lessons and drop-in programs.

Sources

• NPS LWCF page on grants to states and local governments (opens in a new tab)
• NPS overview of the ORLP grant program (opens in a new tab)
• National Park Service: ORLP Programmatic Changes for 2026 (opens in a new tab)
• National Park Service: LWCF Contact Lists (opens in a new tab)
• Grants.gov: ORLP Recurring Notice 5 Year, P26AS00125 (opens in a new tab)
• HUD: Community Development Block Grant Program (opens in a new tab)
• eCFR: 24 CFR 570.201, Basic eligible activities (opens in a new tab)
• IRS: About Form 990-PF (opens in a new tab)