Grants & Finances for Social Impact Founders
Aligning with abundance as an early-stage founder
Grants for early stage entrepreneur are *chefs kiss* and they are the very things that pre-revenue and early-stage companies need to sustain while they figure out product market fit.
Applying for grants and fellowships is a continuous learning and application journey. Entrepreneurs and ambitious individuals out there are learning, weaving, navigating, and pivoting - including me- and I wanted to share some resources along the way.
That I’ve found in these past three years of entrepreneurship.
Finding Grant Applications and Finance Resources
But how did I find these resources?
Email newsletters for foundations, funders, and business organizations - get on them.
Many, many, and MANY applications that have rejected me. Sometimes they’ll recommend alternative resources and it’s advantageous to either re-apply or follow their accounts for opportunities they share.
LOTS of searching using both AI tools as well as Google Alerts to find resources easily, which has encouraged my email inbox to grow abundantly.
People - doing exactly what I’m doing right now - sharing resources with others.
Fellowships and Grant Databases
I’d like to give a special shoutout to a resource for education-based entrepreneurs and founders. This resource was created and released by 4.0 - FlexGrants - and as a 2025 Tiny Fellow I had the opportunity to experience their support and learn of these resources that they’re sharing with the larger community. Highly recommend exploring them, if you’re an education-entrepreneur.
From my Tiny Fellowship experience from January to April 2025, as an edupreneur I was able to connect, explore, and learn in a cohort of over 100 education-based entrepreneurs and receive financial support to launch a mini pilot. Virtual Oasis Tech’s mini-pilot, Garden of Us, launches in partnership with the Art for Climate Resilience program.
I was one of the seven individual or organizational grant awardees for the City’s Initiative, a competitive grant program administered by Houston Arts Alliance (HAA) and funded by a portion of the city’s Hotel Occupancy Tax. The City’s Initiative application period is open three times annually and grant funding falls into three categories: Art + Neighborhood Cultural Destinations, Art + Disaster Resilience Awareness, and Art + Conference Tourism.
Art for Climate Resilience is partly funded by the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance, as an individual artist awardee, and we’re growing community health, resilience, and education starting on Saturday, April 19th in Houston, Texas.
If you’re local to Houston, Texas then join us for an education demo and introduction to an impactful community arts-in-health program launching in a mere 72 hours.
Now, back to grant resources. Here’s an ongoing list of ones I’ve found, explored, or been recommended. May your bookmarks and wallets grow.
Grant Application Providers
Small Business Grants
Environmental Grants
Look out for their grant toolkit
SO many grants, scholarships, fellowships, and opportunities on this site!
Non-Profit Grants
They have an upcoming Introduction to proposal writing that’s free for members.
I’m still digging into this one but so many helpful guides on their site.
Texas Grants
I hope these resources help you on your journey as they have for me. Let me know what resources or organizations have helped you on your grant application journey.
Want more details about Art for Climate Resilience? Say no more.