How to Find Grants for Child Care Centers

Whether you are employed by a child care center or starting your own, financing the organization can prove to be one of the most difficult obstacles to encounter. Since governments and private foundations tend to shine benevolently upon the well-being of young children, grants are definitely an option to consider. However, it is extremely difficult to find or obtain grant funding to assist for-profit child care businesses, since grants are generally given to non-profit organizations with activities that benefit the community or the public at large. Nevertheless, the following steps will assist you in the quest for grant funding opportunities for your child care center.

Instructions

    • 1

      Start with your own state government. Search the main state website for information and administrative contacts regarding child care within the state, or child-care grant funding in general.

    • 2

      Seek out additional information regarding any sort of child care fund (i.e. Washington and Oregon states have Cascadia Child Care Fund). Explore your state’s special loan programs, where available, as they are developed to help child care programs obtain funds at affordable interest rates.

    • 3

      Contact your local licensing office, economic development department, or similar department that works with small businesses. Inquire at the federal level as well; this is the Small Business Administration. Obtain information about financing a child care center as either a for-profit small business or non-profit, if applicable.

    • 4

      Explore the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) database in search for all federal grant programs available to your child care center (whether it be state or local government, public, private profit or non-profit center). Utilize the CFDA website to search for federal grants, find grant information and requirements, grant application procedures and eligibility, and other federal grant resources.

    • 5

      Contact the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Ask about the USDA nutrition programs that utilize federal money to fund meals and snacks served to eligible children in both public care centers and private family-run child care centers (like those run out of the home).

    • 6

      Contact private foundations for specialized grant opportunities. Look for those foundations providing educational opportunities for young children, or those focusing their efforts on the care and well-being of low-income and/or disadvantaged children.

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