Named Commitments
Grants & Scholarships.
Named commitments awarded to individuals and institutions that translate the endowment's resources into families fed, soil restored, students funded, wells drilled, and neighborhoods rebuilt.
How to Apply
Who May Apply
Benirai grants and scholarships are open to individuals, families, small teams, nonprofits, congregations, coalitions, and institutions. You do not need to be a titled leader or already run a program. What we look for is clarity of cause, capability to execute, and the character to steward resources faithfully.
Most programs require completion of the Benirai Intensive series as a prerequisite. The Fellowship Cohort Grants are the primary entry point for new applicants.
Begin Your ApplicationFY2026 Priorities
Causes We Are Actively Prioritizing
Benirai's endowment spans a broad cause taxonomy, and every cause listed on this page is a legitimate pathway to funding. But in this season, we are especially eager to receive applications from leaders whose work is rooted in the renewal of land, food, water, and community.
The following cause areas align with initiatives we are actively seeding in FY2026. Applicants whose work touches these areas will find a grant category available to them — and a program team prepared to understand the work.
Regenerative Agriculture & Food Sovereignty
Soil food web restoration, composting infrastructure, food forests, perennial polyculture, seed saving and open-pollinated seed libraries, CSA and farm-to-community distribution systems, small-scale food processing, and tribal food sovereignty programs.
Files under: Food security and nutrition
Living Water
Rainwater harvesting, spring development, water quality, watershed restoration — riparian buffers, wetlands, and reforestation — and water literacy and stewardship programs.
Files under: Clean water and sanitation
Earth Stewardship & Ecological Restoration
Biochar production, carbon sequestration, pollinator habitat, native plant restoration, rewilding, forest stewardship, and community- and household-scale renewable energy transitions.
Files under: Environmental stewardship
Sacred Homesteads & Intentional Communities
Land acquisition planning, cooperative governance, permaculture design, off-grid infrastructure, and community gathering spaces for families, faith communities, ecovillages, and land trusts establishing permanent regenerative homesteads.
Files under: Faith-based community development · Shelter and housing
Inclusive Community & Mutual Aid
Community healing, peer support, mutual aid networks, worker-owned cooperatives, community economic development, and programs serving elders, children, youth, and people with disabilities on the margins of conventional systems.
Files under: Family services and human services · Health and community health
Arts, Culture & Sacred Expression
Sacred and contemplative arts, cultural heritage preservation, traditional craft revitalization, community murals, oral history, storytelling, indigenous cultural expression, and arts-based healing programs.
Files under: Arts, culture, and humanities
Nature-Based Education & Living Wisdom
Nature-based early childhood programs, homeschool cooperatives, micro-schools, apprenticeship and mentorship programs, permaculture design courses, and ecological literacy initiatives from early childhood through adult learning.
Files under: Education (K12, higher ed, adult literacy)
If your work lives here, we want to hear from you.
The Benirai Intensive is the entry point for all grant programs. Two days, July 25–26 or August 29–30, 2026. Ninety seats per cohort. Fellows who complete the Intensive and the September Implementation Workshop become eligible for developmental grants up to $250,000 in Year 1 through the Benirai Fellowship Cohort Grants.
You do not need an existing organization. You do not need prior grant experience. You need a cause, a plan, and the will to see it through.
Named Programs Directory
All Programs
Each Benirai grant and scholarship carries a name: of a cause, a cohort, or an honoree. To make plain what the endowment stands for.
| Program | Cause | Award scope | Eligibility | Cycle | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Benirai Fellowship Cohort Grants | All causes | $250,000 Year 1 · $50,000/yr thereafter | Both | July & September 2026 | Open |
| The Benirai Community Development Fund | Community Development | Organizational capacity grants | Institutions | July & September 2026 | Open |
| The Benirai Institutional Partners Grant | All causes | Partnership capacity grants | Institutions | July & September 2026 | Open |
| The Benirai Scholars Program | Education | Scholarship awards for qualifying students | Individuals | FY2026 Cohort | Coming soon |
| The Benirai Emergency Relief Fund | Public safety and disaster relief | Rapid-response awards | Institutions | Rolling | Coming soon |
| The Benirai Named Family Endowment Scholarships | Education | Endowed scholarship awards | Individuals | FY2027 | Coming soon |
About the Endowment
Made possible by the generosity of a private donor whose commitment underwrites this work for the long term.
Grant and scholarship activity is reported inside the cohort's pledged commitments for education and family-services cause areas. See Initiatives and Methodology.