Lilly Endowment Grants 2026: What's Open, Who Can Apply

Lilly Endowment grants open now: 3 initiatives and the routes around them

Grantsights checked 9 Lilly routes on November 6, 2026. Three initiatives take applications now, preliminary letters are accepted by mail at any time, one congregational program opens its portal in January, and the rest are closed or invitational.

Recently closed: the Summer Youth Program Fund's 2027 cycle (October 16, 2026, 4 p.m.).

Two programs on the Endowment's site are for people, not organizations: the Teacher Creativity Fellowship for Indiana K-12 teachers and school staff, and the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program for Indiana high school students, run through county community foundations. This guide covers organizations only.

Can your organization apply? 5 rules that decide it

According to the Endowment's grantmaking guidelines (opens in a new tab), it considers proposals in 3 areas: community development, education and youth, and religion. Where you're located and what you want matter more than how good the project is. These 5 rules, taken from the guidelines and the FAQ (opens in a new tab), sort most applicants in under a minute.

1. Outside Indianapolis, most local requests get declined. The guidelines say requests from organizations outside Indianapolis for building campaigns, K-12 education, arts and culture, human services, general operations or neighborhood development usually are declined, except as part of special initiatives.
2. Religion is the national exception. Religion grantmaking is national in scope and aims at the religious lives of Christians in the United States, mostly through congregational vitality and pastoral leadership. Grants to cultural institutions and 501(c)(3) news organizations on public understanding of religion cover all faiths.
3. Higher education outside Indiana is invitation only. The FAQ says the Endowment's college interest reaches nationwide to historically Black colleges and universities, Native American colleges and programs that widen college access for Latino students, but grants to colleges outside Indiana are limited to programs the Endowment offers on an invitational basis.
4. Some categories are off the table. It generally doesn't fund loans or cash grants to individuals, debts, healthcare projects, mass media projects, or endowments and endowed chairs (with rare exceptions for longstanding grantees or special initiatives). It regularly declines public libraries outside Marion County, except through special initiatives.
5. You need to be a charity, and for initiatives, a public charity. All 3 open initiatives ask for 501(c)(3) public charity status and a copy of the IRS determination letter. The IRS public charities page (opens in a new tab) explains the split between public charities and private foundations; churches, schools, colleges and broadly supported charities generally fall on the public charity side.

Strong fit: an Indianapolis youth or neighborhood nonprofit, an Indiana college or community foundation, or a regional church network or seminary that already works with dozens of congregations. Weak fit: a single church in Ohio, a hospital, a film project, or a library in Fort Wayne.

How much Lilly Endowment gives, and who actually gets it

According to the Endowment's 2025 annual report (opens in a new tab), Lilly paid $3.85 billion in grants in 2025 and approved 1,739 grants worth $3.58 billion to 1,129 grantees, 302 of them new to the Endowment. The same report puts assets at nearly $106 billion at the end of 2025. Of 2025 approvals, 58% went to Indiana: $720 million for Marion County (Indianapolis) and $1.34 billion for the rest of the state.

Grantsights analysis of the Endowment's calendar 2025 Form 990-PF, read from the e-filed return on November 6, 2026, shows the same year grant by grant. After removing 461 employee matching gifts, the return lists 1,824 grants totaling $3,847,408,131, which lines up with the $3.85 billion the annual report says was paid.

The median grant was $200,000, and grants went to 1,144 recipient names in 42 states. That name count includes individual Indiana teachers paid through the Teacher Creativity Fellowship, so the number of organizations is a little lower. Indiana received 1,242 grants worth $2,308,872,368, or 60% of dollars, close to the 59% the annual report gives for 2025 payments. Next came Washington, D.C. (49 grants, $189.8 million), Illinois (50, $170.4 million), California (61, $169.0 million) and New York (39, $119.3 million). D.C. ranks high because national groups based there, such as the National Geographic Society and the Aspen Institute, received some of the year's larger grants.

Where the 2025 money went by initiative

The return labels most grants with an initiative or purpose. The biggest lines in 2025:

Those 10 lines carried about $2.6 billion, two-thirds of the year, and nearly every one was a competitive or invitational initiative with a fixed eligibility list. That's the real pattern: Lilly moves most of its money through initiatives, not through open letters.

Named recipients from the 2025 return

The 2 largest grants were $400 million each, filed to recipients named "Indiana Community Development Projects" (Statewide Community Parks Initiative) and "Indiana Lifelong Learning Projects" (Indiana K-12 Schools Initiative). Feeding America received $75 million for capacity building across its national network, and the National Geographic Society received $57,036,726 for archives preservation. The University of Notre Dame received $50,868,725 for an AI project called the Delta Network, and the Indiana Youth Institute received $48 million to strengthen youth programs in Indiana. Inside Marion County, Perry Township Schools received $40 million and KIPP Indianapolis $25 million under the Marion County K-12 Education Initiative.

Some 2025 grants fund the intermediaries that run open programs for smaller groups: Calvin University received $20 million for the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship program, and the Indianapolis Center for Congregations received $17.5 million for regional centers serving Indiana congregations. The return also lists 2 grants totaling $28.2 million for clergy renewal programs support.

The small end looks very different. A youth program in Indianapolis is the typical small grantee: Brightwood Community Center received $18,000, Brooke's Place for Grieving Young People $20,000 and Big Car Media $8,000 for summer youth programs in 2025, while Barnes United Methodist Church received $20,000 from the Holiday Assistance Fund. In Grantsights' 40-row sample of small 2025 grants, 38 went to Indiana recipients, and the 2 others included a summer youth program grant.

2024 for comparison. The calendar 2024 return, also read on November 6, 2026, itemizes 1,808 grants and $2,260,591,222 as filed. After removing 521 employee matching gifts ($16,708,088), it lists 1,287 grants totaling $2,243,883,134, with a median of $122,000, 926 recipient names and 45 states; Indiana received 812 grants and $1,088,463,894 (49%). Its largest grant was $138 million to the Indiana University Foundation for the IU Launch Accelerator for Bioscience, and the Indiana Economic Development Corp. received $100 million for "strategic enhancements to READI 2.0." For example, UNCF received $50 million toward its capital campaign in 2024, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation received $40 million for its Preserving Black Churches project. Between the 2 years the median rose from $122,000 to $200,000 and itemized giving rose by about $1.6 billion, most of it to Indiana.

How to apply for a Lilly Endowment grant, step by step

There are 2 routes in: an open initiative with a deadline, or a preliminary letter by mail. Pick the one that matches what's open, not the one that's easier to write.

Route 1: an open initiative (January 2027 deadlines)

1. Read the Request for Concept Papers on the initiative's page. Each one sets eligibility, objectives and selection criteria. The Campus Ministry document was updated November 2, 2026, so download it fresh.
2. Check eligibility against the exclusions. Serving Neighbors wants organizations that work with groups of congregations and local charities. Campus Ministry wants organizations serving ministries at several campuses, and it rules out single-campus ministries, congregations serving one campus, and Christian study centers at one university. Chaplaincy is limited to accredited four-year colleges and universities with a chaplaincy or office of religious life.
3. Join an information session if one has room. On November 6, 2026, all 4 Serving Neighbors sessions were full; its page says an FAQ built from those sessions will be posted in late November. Campus Ministry and Chaplaincy each listed a session on November 16, 2026.
4. Build one PDF. The submission forms ask for a one-page request letter, an information form, a concept paper narrative (5 pages for Serving Neighbors, 7 for the other two), a planning budget where required, up to 3 optional support letters, audited financial statements, the Endowment's exempt status form and a copy of your IRS determination letter.
5. Upload it through the form on the initiative page by the deadline: January 11, 2027 (Chaplaincy), January 19, 2027 (Serving Neighbors) or January 25, 2027 (Campus Ministry).
6. Plan for a 2-stage process. Planning grant or second-stage decisions are expected in March 2027. Implementation proposals are due June 1, 2027 (Chaplaincy), June 7, 2027 (Campus Ministry) or July 19, 2027 (Serving Neighbors), with awards expected in fall 2027.

Route 2: a preliminary letter (no deadline)

1. Confirm the fit against the 5 rules above. If you're outside Indianapolis and your request is a building, general operating or K-12 project, stop here.
2. Write no more than 2 pages covering your organization, the project, the need it addresses and the amount you'd ask for.
3. Mail it, by regular or overnight mail only, to Program Office, Lilly Endowment Inc., 2801 N. Meridian St., P.O. Box 88068, Indianapolis, IN 46208-0068. The FAQ says emailed or faxed requests won't be considered, and the guidelines say the Contact Us form isn't for requests.
4. Wait for the written reply. The Endowment says it answers every preliminary inquiry in writing and asks for a full proposal only when a request warrants it.
5. Expect a long review if invited. A program director, then a division, the officers and the Board review proposals. The Board considers grants in March, June, September, November and December, and the process generally takes three to six months.

For congregations: the Clergy Renewal Programs are a separate, joint application by the congregation and pastor through Christian Theological Seminary's portal, which opens January 4, 2027. CTS says its 2026 information session will be posted November 18, 2026.

What Lilly Endowment's grant pages don't tell you

Lilly's guidelines are clear about what it funds. Six things only show up when you compare them with the initiative documents, the annual report and the 990-PF.

Over 93% of the money is in seven- to nine-figure grants. According to our analysis of the 2025 return, 565 grants of $1 million or more carried $3.60 billion. The 385 grants under $25,000 added up to about $4.5 million, roughly 0.1% of the total, and many of those went to individual teachers rather than organizations. If you're hoping for a $15,000 grant from a cold letter, don't underestimate how thin that slice is.

The open initiatives aren't for local churches. It's a common mistake for a pastor to read "Serving Neighbors" and apply for the church's food pantry. The Request for Concept Papers says individual congregations and local charitable organizations seeking resources for their own programs aren't eligible. The money goes to intermediaries, which then work with congregations. A single church's realistic routes are Clergy Renewal, a denominational or network partner that applies, or a Lilly-funded intermediary such as the Indianapolis Center for Congregations.

Your determination letter can be a red flag. According to IRS guidance on its page for churches and religious organizations (opens in a new tab), churches that meet 501(c)(3) rules are automatically tax exempt and don't have to apply for recognition. That's fine for donors, but each of the 3 open initiatives asks for a copy of the IRS determination letter. A church network or ministry that never requested one, or that sits under a denomination's group ruling, should sort out what it can submit well before January.

Small grants are mostly Indianapolis by design. The Summer Youth Program Fund is the clearest example: according to the Endowment's Summer Youth page, it supported 276 Marion County programs with $3,511,007 in 2026, including $1,373,993 in modest capital grants to 44 organizations. That route is real, but it's closed until next summer's cycle, and it's limited to Marion County youth.

Discretionary grants are capped at $7,500 and aren't a program. According to the 2025 annual report, officers authorize discretionary grants of up to $7,500, reported as one line per division. There's no application for them, so don't write asking for one.

The annual report beats the website for fit testing. Its grant lists name every Board-approved grantee by division. If no organization like yours, in a place like yours, appears in the last 2 reports, the letter is a long shot. The Lilly Endowment funder page on Grantsights shows the same funder's public summary from its 990-PF filings.

Lilly Endowment, Eli Lilly and Company, and the Lilly Foundation

These are 3 different things, and the difference matters when you search. The one this guide covers is the Endowment, which held nearly $106 billion in assets at the end of 2025, according to its annual report. According to the Lilly Endowment FAQ (opens in a new tab), the Endowment was created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons, Eli and J.K. Jr., through gifts of Eli Lilly and Company stock. The FAQ says the Endowment is a separate entity from the company, with its own board, staff and location, and that it shouldn't be confused with the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation, a private foundation the company set up in 1968.

In practice: the company and its foundation run their own giving, and nothing on lillyendowment.org covers them. Grantsights didn't review the company foundation's programs for this guide, so check its own pages before you treat it as a route.

The Endowment files Form 990-PF each year, as every private foundation must. The IRS private foundation annual return page (opens in a new tab) explains what that return covers and when it's due; it's where the 2025 and 2024 grant lists in this guide come from.

Better routes if Lilly Endowment isn't a fit

Most readers will land here, and that's fine. Here are 6 kinds of routes that take applications from the organizations Lilly usually turns away.

Indiana nonprofits outside Indianapolis should start with their county's community foundation. Lilly has funded Indiana community foundations through GIFT since 1990, and the GIFT IX page lists 2025 community support grants of $500,000 to $15 million, so much of Lilly's statewide money reaches local groups through these foundations. The community foundation grants guide explains how local cycles work, and the Indiana grants guide lists state and federal programs. Local United Ways are the other channel; see the United Way grants guide.

Indianapolis organizations have the most Lilly-linked doors, from the Summer Youth Program Fund to the Indianapolis Foundation. The Indianapolis grants guide collects them.

Congregations should look at Clergy Renewal first, then Lilly-funded intermediaries. The Indianapolis Center for Congregations lists matching Resource Grants of up to $25,000 for qualifying Indiana congregations and Equity Grants of up to $25,000 (90/10 match) for congregations of color or rural congregations with annual income under $100,000. The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship's Vital Worship, Vital Preaching Grants, which it says Lilly Endowment makes possible, take proposals from congregations and other worshiping communities in the United States and Canada; its page didn't show a deadline when checked. Historic Indiana churches can watch for Sacred Places Indiana in January 2027. The Indiana church grants guide, grants for churches, grants for small churches, grants for historic churches and foundations that give grants to churches cover funders that accept church applications.

Youth programs outside Marion County should use the youth program grants guide and the after-school program grants guide. Lilly's national youth grants in 2024 went to organizations such as Boys & Girls Clubs of America ($30 million) and Girl Scouts of the USA ($30 million), so a local club should ask its national office whether any of that money reaches local programs.

Colleges outside Indiana, including HBCUs, can check the HBCU grants guide and the Chaplaincy Initiative above if they have an office of religious life.

Everyone else should search for funders that publish deadlines. Foundation grants for nonprofits gives the big picture, and how to research foundation grants shows how to read a 990-PF before you write. Grantsights' education funder list and youth funder list group foundations by cause and state using the grants they reported on their 990-PF filings, and you can preview your own state for free. You can also search open opportunities in the Grantsights grant database.

How Grantsights checked this guide

Grantsights checked 20 Lilly and partner pages and documents on November 6, 2026: the Endowment's guidelines, FAQ, Open Initiatives page, the 3 open initiative pages and their Requests for Concept Papers, the Summer Youth, GIFT IX, Clergy Renewal, Thriving Congregations and Nurturing Children pages, the 2025 annual report, and the partner pages at CTS, Indy Summer Youth Programs, Indiana Landmarks, the Center for Congregations and the Calvin Institute. Grantsights read the e-filed 2025 and 2024 Forms 990-PF, matched their purpose lines to the Endowment's initiative pages, checked that the 2025 total agrees with the annual report's $3.85 billion paid, and confirmed the EIN against the filer name in ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer record for EIN 35-0868122.

Related Guides

These 5 pages pair well with this one:

• Walton Family Foundation grants, another large family foundation that funds by invitation
• Family foundation grants
• Education nonprofit grants
• How to find foundation grants
• Corporate grants for nonprofits, for the company-side giving that's separate from the Endowment

Sources

• Lilly Endowment: Grantmaking Guidelines (opens in a new tab)
• Lilly Endowment: FAQ (opens in a new tab)
• Lilly Endowment: Open Initiatives (opens in a new tab)
• Lilly Endowment: Serving Neighbors Through Congregational Collaborations Initiative (opens in a new tab)
• Lilly Endowment: Campus Ministry Initiative (opens in a new tab)
• Lilly Endowment: Chaplaincy Initiative (opens in a new tab)
• Lilly Endowment: 2025 Annual Report (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
• Lilly Endowment: Indy Summer Youth Programs (opens in a new tab)
• Lilly Endowment: GIFT IX (opens in a new tab)
• Lilly Endowment: Thriving Congregations Initiative (opens in a new tab)
• Lilly Endowment: Nurturing Children Through Worship and Prayer Initiative (opens in a new tab)
• Christian Theological Seminary: Lilly Endowment Clergy Renewal Programs (opens in a new tab)
• Indy Summer Youth Programs: For Grantees (opens in a new tab)
• Indiana Landmarks: Sacred Places Indiana (opens in a new tab)
• Center for Congregations: Grants (opens in a new tab)
• Calvin Institute of Christian Worship: Vital Worship, Vital Preaching Grants (opens in a new tab)
• ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer: Lilly Endowment Inc. (opens in a new tab)
• ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer: Lilly Endowment 2025 Form 990-PF (e-filed) (opens in a new tab)
• ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer: Lilly Endowment 2024 Form 990-PF (e-filed) (opens in a new tab)
• IRS: Private Foundation Annual Return (opens in a new tab)
• IRS: Public Charities (opens in a new tab)
• IRS: Churches, Integrated Auxiliaries, and Conventions or Associations of Churches (opens in a new tab)