Grant Information
The FFW accepts applications from nonprofit, tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organizations for programs that address the needs and enhance the worth and potential of women and girls in Delaware by helping them to lead productive, self-sufficient lives. The FFW's one-year grant offers organizations an opportunity to obtain seed money for innovative, creative programming or funding to continue or expand programs where effectiveness has been demonstrated. Grants will not be awarded to individuals.
Questions regarding 2026 Grant Applications can be directed to grants@defundforwomen.com
Grant Application Workshops
Review this document to prepare your answers in advance and streamline the online Grant Application.
Review the slides from the Grant Workshop.
Grant Application Information
The grant application link follows. It will be active January 1 – January 31 annually.
Only online applications will be accepted. Completed applications must be submitted no later than 11:59 PM, January 31.
Serve on the Grants Committee
If you are a Fund for Women Founder who is interested in serving on the 2026 Grants Committee, let us know by sending the Grant Committee an email. Grants@defundforwomen.com.
2025 Grant Awards
The Fund for Women (FFW) at the Delaware Community Foundation is pleased to announce the nonprofit recipients for the 2025 grant cycle. Since 1994, the FFW has awarded 457 grants totaling over $4 million dollars to nonprofits serving women and girls in Delaware. The FFW’s one-year grant offers organizations an opportunity to obtain seed money for innovative, creative programming or funding to continue or expand programs where effectiveness has been demonstrated. For the 2025 grant cycle, the FFW has awarded $227,323 to 18 nonprofits. The agencies listed below will utilize the grant funding for critical projects related to housing, healthcare, career training, education, and recovery programs.
THIS YEAR'S GRANT RECIPIENTS ARE LISTED BELOW:
| ORGANIZATION | COUNTY | GRANT AMOUNT | GRANT PURPOSE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware | Statewide | $15,000 | This programming will address the social, psychological, and physical needs of girls in Delaware, ensuring that all girls attending BGCDE programming, no matter their ability to pay, can participate in this fun, physical activity-based youth development program designed to help them achieve their potential. |
| Central Delaware Housing Collaborative | Kent County | $15,000 | The Central Delaware Housing Collaborative's House of Hope is the only women-only emergency shelter in Kent County. The House of Hope provides shelter and wrap-around services to the women and provides them with an opportunity for a successful future. |
| Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition | Statewide | $15,000 | DBCC’s expansion of Women’s Health Screening & Survivorship Support aims to reduce health disparities statewide, among underserved communities, including women of color with a higher propensity for Triple Negative or late-stage breast cancers. |
| Delaware Institute of the Arts in Education | New Castle County | $10,500 | This Grant will bring professional teaching artists into New Castle County Head Start early childhood classrooms to collaborate with educators, using performing arts strategies to support early learning, literacy, development, and joyful, creative engagement for young children. |
| Delaware Shakespeare | New Castle County | $4,000 | This Grant will help provide programming that equips students with the tools for confident public speaking and authentic interpersonal communication. The activities in the course foster opportunities for students to develop a deeper understanding of themselves and to witness their own capabilities. |
| Fostering Wishes Foundation | Statewide | $15,000 | This Grant will double the size of the "Little Free Store of Wishes" in Dover, creating a boutique of girls and women's school, work and everyday apparel, accessories, hygiene and more empowering them with the option to choose their items - a rare opportunity for foster youth/ |
| La Esperanza | Statewide | $10,000 | This Grant will assist in offering a 6-week class centered on growing Latina women's digital and financial literacy through learning how to leverage digital tools, banking basics, increasing financial awareness, and accessing financial tools for every day use. |
| Literacy Delaware | Statewide | $15,000 | This Grant will focus not only on foundational literacy skills but on multiple literacies needed today such as financial health and digital literacy. |
| National Coalition 100 Black Women | Statewide | $10,000 | This Grant will assist in providing a series of statewide policy forums focused on leadership development, gender equity, health, education, and economic empowerment. The Roundtable agenda seeks to address mounting disparate conditions and attitudes affecting the well-being of Black women and girls. |
| One Village Alliance | New Castle and Kent Counties | $15,000 | Girls Can Do Anything Clubs foster healthy relationships between youth their peers, and caring adults. This Grant will assist in educating, empowering, and uplifting girls by connecting them to mentors resources, and opportunities that foster healthy lifestyles. |
| STEHM, Inc. | New Castle County | $4,823 | This Grant will help provide financial literacy to unhoused women in long-term residential housing. The focus is on budgeting, savings, and debt reduction with the goal of leading to independent living. |
| Survivor Ventures, Inc. | Statewide | $15.000 | This Grant will help provide housing stability to human trafficking survivors across Delaware by offering safe housing trauma-informed care and employment support to help survivors rebuild their lives and achieve long-term recovery and economic independence. |
| Vision to Learn | Statewide | $8,000 | This Grant will assist 10,000 Delawareans, who lack the glasses they need to read, see the board, and participate in class. The organization also brings vision screenings, eye exams and glasses directly to schools, at no cost to the students or their families. |
| West End Neighborhood House | New Castle County | $15,000 | This Grant will fund training for women from underserved communities for environmental careers through hands-on learning, certifications, and. mentorship. The program builds skills, confidence and access to sustainable, livable-wage jobs. |
| What's Your Voice | Sussex | $15,000 | This Grant will help provide female domestic violence survivors aged 50+ in Sussex holistic support. This includes safe housing, legal advocacy, mental health counseling, and financial empowerment to help them rebuild their lives. |
| Women's Re-entry HOPE Commission | New Castle County | $15,000 | This Grant will help provide community-based services to justice-involved women and their families post-release from incarceration including cognitive behavioral interventions, case management, workforce readiness, and trauma-informed re-entry services. |
| The YMCA of Delaware | Sussex County | $15,000 | This Grant will help provide teens age 15-19 with job training and a 100-hour paid, mentored internship. The funds will serve at least 14 additional young women in 2025 and 2026. |
| The YWCA of Delaware | Statewide | $15,000 | This Grant will help fund critical support for women and families experiencing homelessness, domestic violence, and economic hardship. Through a trauma-informed, holistic model, the program integrates healthcare access, housing stability, and supportive servies to foster long-term empowerment and well-being. |
| 2025 TOTAL | GRANTS AWARDED | $227,323 |
The Annual Grant Process
The Fund for Women is able to award grants to non-profits in Delaware each year through the support of our Founders. Every year in January the Fund for Women begins accepting Grants from non-profits through a formal submission process. A committee of approximately 30 Fund for Women members on the Grant Committee score these applications. The applications are scored by various metrics; however, of utmost importance is that the funds be used to help empower women and girls in Delaware.
Grant News
Email communications sent regarding Grant allocation to COVID-19 Emergency Response Initiative are archived below.
Collaborative Grant Update: $25,000 to Delaware Girls Circles
The Fund for Women recently released the third payment of $25,000 to Delaware Girls Circles (DGC). DGC is a private, not-for-profit collaboration funded by the FFW, whose purpose is to provide assistance and support to high school girls (grades 9-12) and their adult caregivers, resulting in increased and on-time high school graduation rates. Begun in 2018 as a special collaboration in honor of its 25th anniversary, DGC has been awarded $75,000 in grants from the FFW over the past three years. Read the full press release here.
| Year | # of Grants | Total Giving |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 2 | $2,500.00 |
| 1995 | 7 | 15,000.00 |
| 1996 | 11 | 25,000.00 |
| 1997 | 13 | 37,143.08 |
| 1998 | 11 | 49,257.00 |
| 1999 | 18 | 60,000.00 |
| 2000 | 12 | 69,995.00 |
| 2001 | 14 | 79,988.00 |
| 2002 | 11 | 108,765.00 |
| 2003 | 18 | 132,950.00 |
| 2004 | 19 | 143,000.00 |
| 2005 | 20 | 143,000.00 |
| 2006 | 18 | 107,428.00 |
| 2007 | 27 | 119,607.00 |
| 2008 | 14 | 139,486.22 |
| 2009 | 15 | 145,989.00 |
| 2010 | 13 | 130,000.00 |
| 2011 | 13 | 125,000.00 |
| 2012 | 11 | 125,000.00 |
| 2013 | 12 | 128,904.00 |
| 2014 | 17 | 165,162.00 |
| 2015 | 13 | 143,545.00 |
| 2016 | 16 | 178,926.00 |
| 2017 | 18 | 190,046.00 |
| 2018 | 16 | 200,000.00 |
| 2019 | 12 | 168,595.00 |
| 2020 | 2 (COVID-19) | 200,000.00 |
| 2021 | 15 | 209,998.00 |
| 2022 | 15 | 198,600.00 |
| 2023 | 18 | 249,575.00 |
| 2024 | 18 | 243,070.00 |
| 2025 | 18 | 227,343.00 |
| TOTAL | 394 | $4,262,872.00 |