OVW Grants 2026: FY2026 Status, Match and Award Sizes

If you want every funding source for a domestic violence nonprofit side by side (OVW, the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, Victims of Crime Act money and foundations), read grants for domestic violence programs instead. Shelters comparing shelter funding should start with grants for domestic violence shelters, and rape crisis centers with grants for sexual assault centers. This page stays on OVW: its status, its rules and its own award records.

OVW source review, Grantsights, November 6, 2026: Grantsights checked OVW's funding opportunities page (opens in a new tab) (updated November 5, 2026) and its FY2026 notice release plan (opens in a new tab) (updated November 6, 2026) against the FY2026 notices of funding opportunity (NOFOs), their Grants.gov listings, OVW's awards-by-program pages for FY2023 through FY2026, the STOP statute at 34 U.S.C. 10446 (opens in a new tab), and USASpending.gov award records. Where official sources stop: OVW's pages don't give dates for the 8 FY2026 competitions still unreleased, don't explain why some FY2025 notices have no awards listed, and don't tell a nonprofit whether to compete directly or ask its state for a STOP or SASP subgrant. Your state administrator and the notice itself answer those.

OVW Grants Status on November 6, 2026

Only 1 of OVW's notices was accepting applications on November 6, 2026. OVW's funding opportunities page says, under discretionary programs, that none is accepting applications "at this time." Under formula programs, it lists the FY2026 Tribal Coalitions Program as open. According to Grants.gov, whose Tribal Coalitions listing (opens in a new tab) shows the notice as posted, it went up November 5, 2026, with about $6.5 million for 20 awards of $300,516 to $342,358, and only recognized tribal coalitions can apply.

The rest of the FY2026 round has closed. This table shows the main programs a nonprofit, tribe or local government would look for, with dates from each notice's federal listing and OVW's closed-notice list.

OVW's FY2026 awards-by-program page (opens in a new tab), updated October 26, 2026, lists FY2026 awards for STOP, SASP and the State Coalitions Program, plus FY2025-round awards made after October 1, 2025. It doesn't list FY2026 Transitional Housing, LAV, Rural or ICJR awards, even though the Transitional Housing notice gave an anticipated notification date of September 30, 2026. That's a gap in the published list, not proof the awards weren't made. USASpending.gov lags too: as of November 6, 2026, it showed no Transitional Housing, LAV, Rural, STOP or SASP award signed after September 2025, even though OVW's own page lists 56 FY2026 STOP awards.

The release plan matters more than usual this year. It says OVW "expects FY 2026 NOFOs to be open during FY 2027," so the 8 competitions in the last row may post during FY2027, which runs through September 30, 2027. All 8 are marked for competition, with blank release and due dates.

How OVW Money Moves: Direct Grants Versus State Subgrants

OVW runs 2 kinds of money, and they reach a nonprofit by different roads. OVW's funding page says its 4 formula programs (STOP, SASP, State Coalitions and Tribal Coalitions) go to the 50 states, the District of Columbia, 5 territories and the coalitions by a formula set in law. Everything else is discretionary: OVW posts a NOFO, peer reviewers score applications, and OVW picks recipients.

Direct, competitive grants. Transitional Housing, LAV, Rural, Justice for Families, Disability, Abuse in Later Life, ICJR and the culturally specific programs take applications straight from eligible organizations. A shelter in Ohio applies to OVW itself through JustGrants, the Department of Justice (DOJ) grants system, and competes nationally.

STOP formula subgrants. The Services, Training, Officers, and Prosecutors (STOP) Violence Against Women Formula Grant goes only to states and territories. According to DOJ's FY2026 STOP notice, only the designated state office may apply. The state then subgrants it under the split in 34 U.S.C. 10446 (opens in a new tab): not less than 25% for law enforcement, 25% for prosecutors, 30% for victim services (of which at least 10% goes to culturally specific community-based organizations) and 5% for courts. OVW's page adds that the state decides how to use the remaining 15%.

SASP formula subgrants. The Sexual Assault Services Program (SASP) formula grant also goes to states, and OVW describes it as helping them support rape crisis centers and other nonprofit or tribal programs that serve sexual assault victims.

For STOP and SASP, a nonprofit's door is the state administrator, not OVW. OVW publishes a STOP and SASP administrators contact list (opens in a new tab) with each state's agency; in Alabama, for example, it's the Department of Economic and Community Affairs for both. Each state sets its own subgrant calendar, so ask the agency when its next STOP and SASP requests for proposals open.

How VOCA differs. Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) victim assistance is a separate DOJ stream run by the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), not OVW. According to OVC's Crime Victims Fund page (opens in a new tab), the fund is financed by fines and penalties from federal convictions rather than tax dollars, and its obligation cap was $1.95 billion for FY2026. VOCA reaches local programs as state subgrants for victims of all crimes, while OVW funds only work on domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. The DOJ crime victim assistance grants guide covers VOCA and OVC; many programs hold both kinds of money.

Who Can Apply for OVW Grants, Match and What the Application Contains

Eligibility changes by program, and 3 FY2026 notices show the range. According to the FY2026 Transitional Housing NOFO, eligible applicants are states, federally recognized tribes, units of local government and organizations with a documented history of effective work on domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault or stalking, with or without 501(c)(3) status. States and local governments must partner with a victim service provider. The LAV listing limits applicants to private nonprofits, tribal governments and organizations, territorial organizations, and publicly funded groups not acting as a government, such as law schools. Rural accepts states, tribes, territories, local governments and nonprofits.

Match. OVW's How to Apply page (opens in a new tab) tells applicants that for all programs except STOP Formula, the program doesn't require a match, so line 18b of the SF-424 should be zero. STOP is the exception. The FY2026 STOP notice cites 34 U.S.C. 10446(f) and says recipients must match 25% of what they're awarded, in cash or in-kind. It then excludes subgrants to tribes and to victim service providers for victim services. The regulation is firmer still: 28 CFR 90.18 (opens in a new tab) says states "may not require match" in subgrants to Indian tribes or victim service providers. The broader VAWA rule in 34 U.S.C. 12291(b)(1) (opens in a new tab) says no match is required for any tribe, territory or victim service provider.

Registration and the 2-step submission. Every OVW application goes in twice:

1. Register or renew in the System for Award Management (SAM) to get a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI). The FY2026 notices say to start at least 30 days before the deadline; the SAM.gov registration guide walks through it.
2. Submit the SF-424 in Grants.gov by the first deadline, 11:59 p.m. Eastern. OVW's How to Apply page warns that missing it prevents you from submitting in JustGrants.
3. Finish the full application in JustGrants by the second deadline, 4:59 p.m. Eastern, usually 2 to 5 days later.

What goes in. The FY2026 Transitional Housing NOFO is typical. It required a proposal narrative of no more than 10 single-spaced pages on OVW's template, a budget, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) where partners are required, a summary data sheet, a confidentiality notice form and a certification regarding out-of-scope activities. Reviewers weighted the narrative's purpose section at 30%, the activities section at 35%, the staffing and partners section at 20%, and the budget at 15%. The notice also warned that a recipient with a grant ending by September 30, 2026 could apply but was unlikely to be funded if its money would carry the project through September 30, 2027.

FY2026 Priorities and the Out-of-Scope Certification

The FY2026 notices carry 2 agency priorities and an out-of-scope certification that's now partly blocked in court. The Transitional Housing, STOP and Tribal Coalitions notices all list the same 2 priorities: combating human trafficking and transnational crime, "particularly crimes linked to illegal immigration," cartels and criminal organizations; and direct victim services or criminal justice responses in small towns and rural, remote and tribal communities. The STOP notice adds a third for units of local government and public agencies that certify they comply with federal immigration law, including 8 U.S.C. 1373. The notices say addressing a priority is one factor among many and doesn't guarantee funding.

The certification matters more. OVW's Application Companion Guide (opens in a new tab), updated October 26, 2026, lists 10 out-of-scope activities and tells applicants to attach a letter to OVW's Director certifying grant money won't pay for them. The list includes items on federal immigration law, "gender ideology" under Executive Order 14168, DEI programs under Executive Order 14173, framing domestic violence as a systemic social justice issue, programs that discourage collaboration with law enforcement, and awareness campaigns without tangible results.

That list is now partly blocked. According to a notice on OVW's funding opportunities page, a federal district court order in R.I. Coalition Against Domestic Violence v. Blanche (D.R.I. September 29, 2026) vacated items 1 to 4, 6 to 8 and 10. OVW says those items "are not enforceable" for any FY2025, FY2026 or FY2027 award unless the order is stayed or overturned on appeal, and applicants may certify with an exception for the vacated items using OVW's revised sample letter. By the Companion Guide's numbering, the 2 items still in force are generic community engagement or economic development without a clear link to violence prevention, victim safety or offender accountability, and excessive spending on consulting fees, training or administrative costs. The guide also notes the certification doesn't stop recipients from serving all eligible victims as the law requires.

Grantsights' view: rural and tribal direct-service projects line up with the stated priorities and with every version of the certification. A coalition or prevention program whose core work is awareness, community engagement or policy should reread the 2 surviving items and the program's own out-of-scope list before it writes, and should expect the rules to move again if the court's order is appealed.

What OVW's Pages Don't Tell You

OVW's 3 main grant pages list programs, closing dates and award totals, but they leave 4 gaps that cost applicants time.

1. Why the FY2025 round looks smaller. Grantsights totaled OVW's own award pages by the fiscal year in each program's title. Programs labeled FY2024 made 907 awards worth $692,292,754 across the FY2024 and FY2025 award pages. Programs labeled FY2025 had made 800 awards worth $607,088,039 by the FY2026 page's October 26, 2026 update. The difference sits mostly in 5 programs that made 91 FY2024-round awards worth $66,559,677 and show no FY2025-round awards: Campus (31), the Strengthening Culturally Specific Campus initiative (19), Underserved Populations (18), Restorative Practices sites, evaluation and technical assistance (15), and Research and Evaluation (8). OVW posted FY2025 notices for Campus (closed July 10, 2025), a campus initiative for Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Tribal Colleges (closed September 11, 2025), Research and Evaluation (closed September 25, 2025) and Restorative Practices sites (closed October 16, 2025), but no awards from them appear on the FY2025 or FY2026 award pages. The newest Underserved notice on OVW's closed list is from FY2024. OVW doesn't say whether those rounds were cancelled, delayed or folded into FY2026, so don't assume either way.
2. Some programs got smaller even when they ran. The Community-Based Services program for culturally specific organizations went from 52 awards ($22,975,000) in FY2024 to 38 ($16,968,997) in FY2025, and the investigation and prosecution initiative went from 32 awards to 9.
3. The calendar slid later. Most FY2024 notices closed between February and August 2024. Most FY2026 notices didn't post until June 2026, and 8 still have no date.
4. Awards can trail the deadline by 10 months or more. FY2025 Disability Grant Program applications closed September 25, 2025, and USASpending shows those 27 awards signed July 23, 2026. Budget the gap.

Transitional Housing, the direct competition with the most nonprofit recipients, shows the pattern. Grantsights pulled each row from the notice's federal listing and OVW's award pages on November 6, 2026.

The window shrank from 62 days to 36 and 43 as the posting date moved from February to May and June. A shelter that waits for the notice to start its MOU, budget and narrative will underestimate how much of a 36-day window SAM renewal and partner signatures eat. The FY2026 notice raised the ceiling to $600,000 and the pool to $48.5 million, so the money didn't shrink in this program even as the calendar did.

OVW Grants by the Numbers: The FY2025 Round

The FY2025 round is the clearest recent picture of who wins. Grantsights analysis of OVW award records on USASpending.gov (opens in a new tab), pulled November 6, 2026, found 698 awards with FY2025-round IDs, worth $554,223,752, signed between August 18, 2025 and July 23, 2026. The median award was $598,301, and the middle half ran from about $499,000 to $769,000. Recipients sat in 56 states and territories. California had the most awards (51, worth $47,893,537), then Alaska (46), New York (26), Oklahoma (25) and Texas (20). Tribal Governments Program awards make up 18 of Alaska's 46. The FY2024 round had 881 awards worth $648,050,428 in the same data.

According to USASpending data, OVW awards cluster in a narrow band:

State STOP and SASP grants make up 57 of the 91 awards of $1 million or more. The largest was California's Office of Emergency Services, which received $16,675,442 in FY2025 STOP money. This table splits the round by program, using the program code at the end of each award ID.

USASpending counts run a little behind OVW's own pages. OVW reports 56 STOP awards worth $175,851,395 for FY2025, for example, and some states' STOP awards carry a multi-program code in USASpending instead. OVW's FY2026 page also lists FY2025-round awards USASpending hadn't caught up with on November 6, 2026: it showed none of the 22 Sexual Assault Services community-based awards or the 12 Financial Assistance for Victims awards, and only 1 award under the Tribal Coalitions listing against OVW's 21.

What nonprofits won. Filtering the FY2025 round to recipients USASpending tags as nonprofits leaves 398 awards worth $206,451,718, with a median of exactly $500,000 and a middle half of $400,000 to $600,000. That's 57% of the awards but only 37% of the dollars, because the big formula grants go to state agencies. State coalitions held 74 of them under the State Coalitions listing, then Transitional Housing 70, LAV 53, Rural 48, Community-Based Services 36, Justice for Families 23 and Disability 21. Only 12 nonprofit awards were $1 million or more.

Real recipients show what fits each program:

• One organization in Mississippi, Care Lodge Domestic Violence Shelter, won 2 FY2025 awards: $371,848 for transitional housing and $396,807 from the Rural Program.
• Kodiak Area Native Association in Alaska received $950,000 from the Rural Program, the top of FY2026's listed range.
• La Center for Law & Justice in California received $900,000 for legal assistance and $600,000 from Justice for Families.
• Unity House of Troy in New York and Barren River Area Safe Space in Kentucky each received $500,000 for transitional housing.
• Disability Rights Maine received $600,000 and YWCA Lancaster in Pennsylvania $600,000 from the Disability Grant Program, signed July 23, 2026.
• Ministerios Fuente de Vida in California received $500,000 from the Community-Based Services program, signed July 23, 2026.
• In the FY2024 round, Tabernacle Church Southaven in Mississippi received $499,725 for transitional housing, so a congregation that runs a survivor program can win; the FY2026 notice says eligible faith-based organizations may apply.

Foundation Money Alongside OVW Grants

OVW grants rarely cover everything, and a $500,000 Transitional Housing award spread over 48 months leaves most programs raising local money for the rest. Domestic violence and sexual assault nonprofits are a strong fit for private foundations: they're 501(c)(3) direct-service groups with a local board, the kind of local charity many family and community foundations support. A county prosecutor's office or police department fits poorly; foundations rarely give to government agencies.

The Grantsights human services funder list shows private foundations that gave to human services causes, grouped by state, drawn from the grants they reported on their 990-PF tax filings. You can preview your own state free, and if the list doesn't fit your organization you can ask for a refund within 30 days. It's foundation money, not federal grants, and it covers human services broadly rather than domestic violence alone, so check each funder's past grants with how to read a 990-PF before you ask.

Each row is a statewide count of all human services giving in Grantsights analysis of 990-PF filings pulled October 29, 2026, not limited to domestic violence. The median gifts of $5,000 to $8,000 are about 1% of a median OVW award, so foundation money fills gaps; it doesn't replace a federal grant. The Grantsights grant search tracks open federal and state notices, so a new OVW notice shows up there once it's posted.

Common Mistakes in OVW Grant Applications

These 7 mistakes come straight from OVW's notices and pages, and each one can sink an application or an award.

• Skipping the first deadline. OVW's process has 2 deadlines. A common mistake is treating the JustGrants date as the only one; miss the first-step SF-424 deadline and JustGrants won't take the application.
• Applying to OVW for STOP or SASP money. Only the designated state office applies for those. A nonprofit that wants STOP victim services money applies to its state administrator.
• Paying a match you don't owe. Victim service providers and tribes aren't subject to STOP match on victim services subgrants. If a state asks for one, point to 28 CFR 90.18(c).
• Using last year's certification letter. The out-of-scope certification changed after the September 29, 2026 court order. Use OVW's revised sample letter, not an FY2025 copy.
• Writing past the page limit. The FY2026 Transitional Housing notice capped the narrative at 10 pages and said OVW may reduce the score of an application that ignores the format.
• Editing the grant terms in the application. OVW's How to Apply page says content that comments on or changes the terms and conditions won't be reviewed. It's a red flag to reviewers and changes nothing.
• Putting survivor details in the file. Applications are subject to the Freedom of Information Act, and OVW says not to include unnecessary personally identifying information. Abstracts of funded projects are public.

Related Guides for OVW Applicants

These 9 guides cover the money and rules OVW doesn't. The best grants for domestic violence nonprofits ranks federal options by fit, and grants for victim services programs covers advocates serving victims of all crimes. Housing programs can compare OVW's 48-month transitional housing grants with grants for transitional housing programs and the HUD Continuum of Care guide.

Legal services providers weighing LAV should read best grants for legal aid nonprofits, tribes should see grants for Native American tribes, and rural applicants can compare the Rural Program with best grants for rural nonprofits. Any organization taking a first OVW award should check the Single Audit requirements guide, since federal spending of $1,000,000 or more in a year triggers a Single Audit, and how to calculate an indirect cost rate before building the budget.

FAQ: Common Questions

Are OVW grants open right now? Only the FY2026 Tribal Coalitions notice, due December 9, 2026. OVW lists no discretionary program open as of November 6, 2026.

When is the next OVW deadline for nonprofits? Not announced. 8 FY2026 competitions have no release date, and OVW expects some FY2026 notices to open during FY2027.

How much do OVW grants pay? The FY2025-round median was $598,301 overall and $500,000 for nonprofits; FY2026 Transitional Housing offered up to $600,000.

Can a nonprofit apply for OVW grants directly? Yes, for most discretionary programs. STOP and SASP money reaches nonprofits as state subgrants.

Do OVW grants require a match? Only STOP, at 25% for states, and not on victim services subgrants to nonprofits or tribes.

How do you apply for an OVW grant? SAM registration, the SF-424 by the first deadline, then the full application in JustGrants by the second.

Sources

These 20 sources, checked November 6, 2026, back the status, rules and award figures above.

• OVW: Funding Opportunities (updated November 5, 2026), including closed notices for FY2023 to FY2026 and the out-of-scope certification notice (opens in a new tab)
• OVW: Notices of Funding Opportunity Release Plan (updated November 6, 2026) (opens in a new tab)
• OVW: FY2026 Grant Awards by Program (updated October 26, 2026) (opens in a new tab)
• OVW: FY2025 Grant Awards by Program (opens in a new tab)
• OVW: FY2024 Grant Awards by Program (opens in a new tab)
• OVW: FY2023 Grant Awards by Program (opens in a new tab)
• OVW: How to Apply for OVW Funding (opens in a new tab)
• OVW: Application Companion Guide (updated October 26, 2026) (opens in a new tab)
• OVW: STOP and SASP Administrators Contact List (opens in a new tab)
• OVW: Resources for Victims and Survivors (opens in a new tab)
• OVW: FY2026 Transitional Housing Assistance Grants NOFO (opens in a new tab)
• OVW: FY2026 STOP Formula Grant Program NOFO (opens in a new tab)
• OVW: FY2026 Tribal Coalitions Program NOFO (opens in a new tab)
• Grants.gov: FY2026 Tribal Coalitions Program (O-OVW-2026-172811) (opens in a new tab)
• Grants.gov: FY2026 Transitional Housing Assistance Grants (O-OVW-2026-172624) (opens in a new tab)
• govinfo.gov: 34 U.S.C. 10446, STOP state grants, allocation and federal share (opens in a new tab)
• govinfo.gov: 34 U.S.C. 12291, VAWA definitions and grant conditions, including match (opens in a new tab)
• eCFR: 28 CFR 90.18, STOP matching funds (opens in a new tab)
• Office for Victims of Crime: Crime Victims Fund (opens in a new tab)
• Grantsights pull of USASpending.gov prime awards (15JOVW24 and 15JOVW25 award IDs), November 6, 2026, with Grants.gov listings for the FY2023 to FY2026 Transitional Housing, FY2026 STOP, SASP, LAV, Rural, ICJR, Tribal Governments, Justice for Families, Disability and Abuse in Later Life notices checked the same day; human services statewide 990-PF pull, October 29, 2026