Grants for Social Emotional Learning 2026: Who Gives

SEL source review, Grantsights, November 4, 2026: Grantsights checked the Title IV-A use-of-funds rules in 20 U.S.C. 7118 (opens in a new tab) and 20 U.S.C. 7116 (opens in a new tab), the after-school statute in 20 U.S.C. 7171 (opens in a new tab), and the U.S. Department of Education (ED) FY2025 School-Based Mental Health Services notice (opens in a new tab) against the foundation filings. Where official sources stop: none of them names an SEL curriculum, says what a fair training contract costs, or tells you which local foundation backs SEL. Those answers come from your vendor quotes and from each funder's past grants.

How Grants for Social Emotional Learning Are Funded

Foundation SEL grants in the November 4, 2026 pull had a median of $25,000, so outside grants are usually the smallest of the money streams that pay for SEL in a typical school. The bulk comes from the general school budget and federal formula funds, while foundations pay for starts, pilots, training and evaluation. This table shows where each piece usually comes from.

Grantsights' view: a foundation grant works best as the first 2 or 3 years of a program the district plans to absorb. Funders in the filings paid for training, coaching and new staff roles, and the strongest purposes named a school, a grade band and a model. A request that only says "SEL" with no plan for year 4 reads as a gap the district hasn't solved.

Who Funds SEL: What 990-PF Filings Show

Grantsights analysis of the November 4, 2026 pull found 146 foundations, 245 grants and 196 recipients, with $21,203,732 in total. According to IRS guidance about Form 990-PF (opens in a new tab), the form is how a private foundation figures tax on its investment income and reports its charitable distributions, so each grant below traces to a public return.

The top of the list is national money. CASEL (the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning) drew grants from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Gates Foundation, the Salesforce Foundation and the Allstate Foundation, mostly between $400,000 and $750,000. The 10 largest grants in the pull add up to $7,048,096, about a third of the total. Most schools won't compete for that tier.

The median tells a district or a school foundation more. Half the grants were $25,000 or less, the middle half ran from $10,000 to $75,000, and 46 of the 245 were $5,000 or less. That's the range for a single school's curriculum, a summer of staff training, or a part-time coordinator.

Where SEL Grants Went, State by State

California led with 25 foundations and 44 grants in the November 4, 2026 pull, followed by New York and Pennsylvania at 12 foundations each. In all, 22 states had 3 or more foundations making SEL grants. The table lists the states with 4 or more.

These counts follow the recipient's state, so CASEL's Chicago address inflates Illinois. Some states with few matches still have plenty of education funders who'd consider SEL; they just filed the gift as "general support" or "student wellness" and the search missed it.

California's matches show how local the smaller grants get. For example, the Anderson Children's Foundation gave Westside Elementary School in Thermal $27,185 in 2023 for a multi-purpose SEL learning garden. The John and Marcia Goldman Foundation gave the Redwood City Education Foundation $75,000 in 2024 for mental health and SEL programs, and the Sobrato Family Foundation gave the same school foundation $125,000 that year. All Points North Foundation gave Beyond Differences in Kentfield $20,000 in 2023 to train and coach a cohort of middle school teachers on an SEL curriculum.

9 Kinds of SEL Projects Foundations Paid For

Grantsights checked each of these 9 purposes against the recipient's type of work. Every one traces to a named 990-PF grant in the November 4, 2026 pull.

1. A district SEL office. The Ronda E. Stryker and William D. Johnston Foundation gave Kalamazoo Public Schools $200,000 in both 2023 and 2024 for its SEL center and directors. That's the rare funder willing to pay for district staff.
2. Recovery after a crisis. The NoVo Foundation gave Newtown School District in Connecticut $250,000 in 2022 for SEL and trauma recovery in its public schools.
3. SEL inside a tiered support system. One organization in Pennsylvania, The Watson Institute in Sewickley, got $200,000 from the Hillman Family Foundations in 2024 to put a multi-tiered SEL support system into schools.
4. Charter school SEL services. The Mother Cabrini Health Foundation gave DREAM Charter School in New York $255,000 in 2024 to expand mental health and SEL services. The J.B. Fuqua Foundation gave KIPP Metro Atlanta Schools $50,000 in 2023 for an SEL program, and the Walton Family Foundation gave Mott Haven Academy Charter School in the Bronx $50,000 in 2023 for SEL and mental health programming.
5. A named classroom model. The Curry Family Foundation gave Gordon Parks Elementary School in Kansas City $45,000 in 2025 for Responsive Classroom and supportive services for low-income children.
6. After-school SEL. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation gave Camp Fire in Kansas City $120,000 in 2023 for SEL after-school and summer programs serving 600 students in kindergarten through 8th grade. The Walton Family Foundation gave the Boys & Girls Club of Phillips County in Arkansas $150,000 in 2024 for out-of-school youth programs aimed at academic and social-emotional growth.
7. Play and recess. The Liberty Mutual Foundation gave Playworks $50,000 in both 2023 and 2024 to promote SEL and physical activity through safe play in Boston and Brockton schools.
8. Early childhood teacher training. The William Penn Foundation gave Public Health Management Corporation in Philadelphia $450,000 in 2024 for professional development that helps early childhood teachers use SEL strategies.
9. Measuring results. The Allstate Foundation gave Facing History and Ourselves $500,000 in 2023 and again in 2024 for a multi-year evaluation of its effect on students' academic, social-emotional and civic learning.

Every one of these purposes names who's served and what changes. Copy that pattern in your own request.

What Title IV-A Doesn't Tell You About SEL

Section 7118 of the Title IV-A statute sorts safe and healthy student activities into 9 lettered groups, and none of them uses the phrase "social and emotional learning." Per the statute, 20 U.S.C. 7118 (opens in a new tab), a district that gets a Title IV-A allocation must use a portion of it on safe and healthy student activities, which may include programs that help prevent bullying and harassment, instructional practices for building relationship skills such as effective communication, mentoring and school counseling, training on trauma-informed classroom management and conflict resolution, and schoolwide positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS). The same section says these programs may be run in partnership with a nonprofit or community-based organization.

How much goes there is set in 20 U.S.C. 7116 (opens in a new tab). A district's application must assure it will spend at least 20% of these funds on section 7118 activities. A district whose allocation is under $30,000 has to give only 1 of the 3 spending assurances, so it may put its money elsewhere.

Five gaps matter for anyone planning SEL with this money.

1. Fit is a local call. Because the statute lists activities, not programs, whether a given SEL curriculum qualifies depends on how your district describes it and what your state accepts. Write the plan in the statute's terms: relationship skills, bullying prevention, counseling, behavior supports.
2. Nonprofits don't apply directly. The allocation goes to the local educational agency (LEA), meaning the district. A youth nonprofit gets Title IV-A money only as a district partner or contractor.
3. Amounts are small in many districts. Districts under $30,000 face lighter rules, and a 20% share of a small allocation won't fund a full-time coordinator.
4. SEL is debated in some states. Rules and guidance differ by state, so check what your state education agency says now before you write the plan, and describe the activities in the statute's own words.
5. The money competes inside the district. The same 20% floor also has to cover drug prevention, school counseling and other safety work, so ask your Title IV-A coordinator early.

The Title IV-A grants guide explains allocations and timing in more detail.

After-School SEL and 21st Century Community Learning Centers

Foundations fund after-school SEL too, as the Kauffman Foundation's $120,000 grant to Camp Fire shows, but the main federal source is the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program, which funds before-school, after-school and summer programs. Its statute lists 14 kinds of allowed local activities. According to 20 U.S.C. 7171 (opens in a new tab), the program's purposes include youth development activities, counseling programs, and drug and violence prevention alongside academic enrichment. Eligible entities include an LEA, a community-based organization, an Indian tribe or tribal organization, another public or private entity, or a group of 2 or more.

Under 20 U.S.C. 7174 (opens in a new tab), the state education agency awards these as competitive subgrants, so the application goes to your state, not to Washington. And 20 U.S.C. 7175 (opens in a new tab) lists mentoring programs and counseling programs among the activities the money may pay for. Like Title IV-A, the after-school statute doesn't say "social and emotional learning," so frame SEL as youth development and mentoring tied to academic goals.

Grantsights didn't confirm a current state round for this guide. As of November 4, 2026, check your state education agency's 21st CCLC page for its next competition and the federal year it draws on. The after-school programs guide covers how these competitions usually work.

School Mental Health Grants Are a Different Thing

The FY2025 School-Based Mental Health Services (SBMH) competition carried an estimated $180,000,000, with awards from $1,250,000 to $1,750,000 and 25 to 35 expected grants, according to ED's notice inviting applications (opens in a new tab) published September 29, 2025. Only state educational agencies, LEAs and LEA consortia could apply, the deadline was October 29, 2025, and every priority centered on recruiting and keeping credentialed school psychologists in high-need districts. Grantsights found no newer SBMH notice in the Federal Register as of November 4, 2026.

That's clinical staffing, not SEL instruction. A district can run both, but the requests are separate: SEL teaches skills to every student in class, while school mental health grants pay for licensed providers who treat students who need more. Funders in the filings mixed the two (Mother Cabrini Health Foundation's grants often name both), so read each funder's purpose before you pick which story to tell. For the clinical side, see mental health grants for schools and youth mental health grants.

What CASEL's Framework Means for a Grant Request

CASEL's framework rests on a 5-part set of skill areas, known as the CASEL 5: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making, according to the CASEL framework guide, What Is the CASEL Framework? (opens in a new tab). The same page places those skills in 4 settings, classrooms, schools, families and caregivers, and communities.

That structure helps in a proposal even if your school uses a different model. Map your plan onto it: which of the 5 skills you'll teach, in which setting, and how you'll know. A red flag for reviewers is a proposal that names the framework but measures only attendance. The Allstate grant to Facing History shows that funders will pay for an outcome study, so budget for one.

Why the Education List for SEL Programs

Education funders made most of the SEL grants in the November 4, 2026 pull, because nearly every recipient was a school, a district, a school foundation or an education nonprofit. That's why Grantsights points SEL programs to the education list. There's no SEL-specific list, and the free preview on the Grantsights education funder list shows education funders across your state broadly, not funders picked for SEL.

Each row is a statewide count of all education giving in Grantsights analysis of 990-PF filings pulled October 29, 2026, so none of it is limited to SEL. The 6 states are the ones with the most SEL matches. Most SEL funders in the filings also give to schools for other reasons, which is why the wider list is the right place to look: a family foundation that funds your district's reading program may well fund its SEL pilot next. The education funder list includes every state, and if it doesn't suit your school or program, you can ask for a refund within 30 days.

Budgeting an SEL Grant Request

Many districts underestimate the cost of the 2nd and 3rd years. This table is illustrative, not data: costs vary with your size, model and region.

Ask for the start-up years from a foundation and show the district or school budget taking over. Some funders in the filings paid in stages: the Nord Family Foundation's two-year grant for SEL and leadership programs at Effective Leadership Academy in Ohio appears as a $65,000 payment in both 2023 and 2024.

Common Mistakes in SEL Grant Requests

These 6 mistakes cost schools grants near the $25,000 median.

• Writing for a clinical funder. A common mistake is sending a classroom SEL request to a mental health program that funds licensed staff. Match the request to the purpose.
• No partner letter. Youth nonprofits that run SEL in schools need a signed agreement with the principal or district. The Liberty Mutual grants to Playworks and the Hillman grant to The Watson Institute both paid for work already happening inside named schools.
• Applying as a teacher alone. Most foundations here gave to organizations. Route a classroom idea through your school foundation or your PTA or PTO.
• No measure of change. Pick 1 or 2 measures and a baseline before you start.
• Asking at the national tier. A $500,000 ask to a funder whose local gifts are $10,000 wastes both sides' time. How to read a 990-PF shows where past grants are listed.
• Ignoring the local climate. Where SEL is contested, describe the actual activities, such as conflict resolution, attendance, and bullying prevention, and invite families to see the materials.

Related Guides for SEL Programs

The $21,203,732 in SEL-named grants is a thin slice of education giving, and SEL money often arrives under other names, so most schools find it through broader education and youth funders. The grants for teachers and schools guide covers classroom funding routes, and full-service community schools grants explains the federal program for schools that bring family and health services under one roof. For programs that start before kindergarten, read the best grants for early childhood programs, since several large SEL gifts here went to early learning. Schools adding calm-down corners or a full sensory room as part of their SEL plan can see who paid for those spaces in grants for sensory rooms, and arts groups that build school residencies around social-emotional goals should read grants for arts education programs.

Youth nonprofits running SEL through relationships with caring adults should compare grants for mentoring programs. Schools whose SEL plan grows out of safety concerns can look at grants for school safety, and groups working with students after a crisis can read trauma-informed care grants. For federal and state school funding notices that are open now, search the Grantsights grant database.

FAQ: Common Questions

How many foundations give grants for social emotional learning? 146, filing 245 grants worth $21,203,732 in the November 4, 2026 pull.

How big is a typical SEL grant from a foundation? The median was $25,000, and 46 of 245 grants were $5,000 or less.

Can a teacher apply for an SEL grant directly? Usually not; the school, district, PTA or school foundation applies.

Does federal Title IV-A money cover social emotional learning? The statute lists related activities but never names SEL; the district decides fit.

Is the School-Based Mental Health grant an SEL grant? No. Its FY2025 round funded school psychologists in high-need districts.

Why does Grantsights point SEL programs to the education list? Most SEL grants went to schools, districts and education nonprofits.

Sources

These 8 pages, checked November 4, 2026, back the federal, framework and filing claims above.

• govinfo: 20 U.S.C. 7118, activities to support safe and healthy students (opens in a new tab)
• govinfo: 20 U.S.C. 7116, local educational agency applications (20% assurance and the $30,000 rule) (opens in a new tab)
• govinfo: 20 U.S.C. 7171, 21st Century Community Learning Centers purpose and definitions (opens in a new tab)
• govinfo: 20 U.S.C. 7174, local competitive subgrant program (opens in a new tab)
• govinfo: 20 U.S.C. 7175, local activities (opens in a new tab)
• Federal Register (govinfo): FY2025 School-Based Mental Health Services notice inviting applications, September 29, 2025 (opens in a new tab)
• CASEL: What is the CASEL framework? (opens in a new tab)
• IRS: About Form 990-PF (opens in a new tab)
• Grantsights pull of 990-PF education grant records, November 4, 2026, and education statewide pull, October 29, 2026