$75,000 to $1,000,000 Community-Led AI Grant

Humanity AI, a $500 million, five-year grantmaking initiative backed by 10 philanthropies including the MacArthur, Ford and Mellon foundations, is giving $10 million through Communities Leading on AI, an open call for U.S. nonprofits. It funds work where the people most affected by AI, such as students, educators, workers and artists, set the agenda for how it is built, governed and used in education, labor and the economy, or the humanities, arts and culture. Individuals and informal groups, students included, can take part through a U.S. 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor or a collaboration led by one.

What you get:

• A grant of $75,000 to $1,000,000, requested in one of three tiers: $75,000 to $150,000, $150,000 to $500,000, or $500,000 to $1,000,000
• Funding for up to three years, paid at the start of the grant period where feasible
• No preset cap on indirect costs, though applicants are asked to use reasonable judgment
• A share of a $10 million pool, with no fixed number of awards and no money set aside in advance for any tier
• A second look even if you are not selected: participating funders may review any proposal for separate funding, and with your consent excerpts can be shared with other interested funders
• Possible non-cash support for applicants, which the call lists as visibility with its funder network, learning opportunities, insight into trends across the applicant pool and event invitations

What you'll do:

• Propose community-led work in at least one of three issue areas: education; labor and economy; or humanities, arts and culture
• Take at least one of three approaches: shaping how AI is governed and used, building AI on community terms, or challenging AI that does not serve communities
• Show how the community you serve will define the goals, shape the approach and drive the work
• Complete a short first-round application on Submittable: eligibility and scope questions, then four written answers capped at 150 or 200 words each
• If you reach the finalist round, send extra materials such as a budget and a measurement plan, and possibly interview with Humanity AI staff and funders
• If funded, send annual updates and a brief report at the end of the grant

Key dates:

• September 10, 2026, 9:00 a.m. PT / 12:00 p.m. ET: applications opened
• September 14, 2026, 10:00 a.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. ET: one-hour applicant webinar on Zoom, recorded for anyone who cannot attend
• October 21, 2026, 4:59 p.m. PT / 7:59 p.m. ET: initial applications due
• December 2026: finalists contacted and invited to submit additional materials
• Early spring 2027: grantee awards announced

More information:

• Check your eligibility first with the Organizational Readiness Tool linked from the call page
• The full list of application questions is published as a PDF on the call page
• A one-hour applicant webinar runs on September 14, 2026 at 1:00 p.m. ET and will be recorded
• Using AI is not required; where AI models are central to the work, open-weight or open-source models get priority over closed ones
• Proposals are scored 0 to 3 on five criteria: vision for the proposal, vision for community leadership, clarity and feasibility, potential for impact, and credibility and experience
• Questions and technical help: humanityaiopencall@submittable.com

• The lead applicant must be a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) organisation, a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor applying for a project, or a U.S. tribal government treated as a State under IRC Section 7871
• Individuals and informal groups (for example artists, students, workers, scholars or technologists) cannot apply alone: they apply through a U.S. 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor or join a collaboration led by a U.S. 501(c)(3) or fiscal sponsor
• Collaborations are welcome; the lead applicant must list every collaborator in the initial application
• Colleges, universities and U.S. private operating foundations with 501(c)(3) status can apply, and separate centres or departments of one parent organisation can each submit distinct proposals
• Organisations or individuals outside the U.S. and U.S. territories, for-profit companies and government bodies may join a collaboration but cannot lead one
• 501(c)(4) organisations cannot apply or partner, though an eligible 501(c)(3) with a 501(c)(4) arm can apply through its 501(c)(3)
• Every proposal must focus on communities in the United States or U.S. territories
• The work must be community-led: members of the community are demonstrably defining the goals, shaping the approach and driving the work
• Out of scope: work that is mainly AI literacy (teaching people to use AI tools), AI adoption (promoting specific AI tools) or research without community leadership and action
• Organisations that received a direct Humanity AI grant in 2026 cannot apply alone but may join a collaboration; grantees of the individual member foundations are fully eligible
• Limit of one individual application and one application as part of a collaboration
• No minimum or maximum organisational budget is stated; the application asks for the lead applicant's annual operating budget in bands from under $250,000 to over $20 million
• Applications must be in English; English skills are not a judging criterion