FALL 2025 EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION FUNDING CYCLE

OVERALL PROGRAM GOAL & APPROACH
The Stranahan Foundation’s Early Childhood Education grantmaking program focuses on increasing access to high-quality early care and education for young children (birth to five), especially those from low-income families, by investing in developing and retaining a high-quality, thriving early educator workforce. 

CONTEXT 
In the past few years, our fall funding cycle has supported organizations and projects that advance our Provider strategy. This strategy has directly funded nonprofit operators of early childhood centers, family childcare homes, or public-school preschool classrooms implementing the following three types of projects: 

  • TIER 1 | Internal professional development and learning systems: The Foundation acknowledges that effective professional development and learning systems should be coordinated, inclusive, and designed with input from teachers and families. We believe that high-quality systems should prioritize content, offer collaborative learning opportunities, provide personalized coaching, and ensure ongoing support for educators in the classroom. Our funding has primarily targeted organizations striving to enhance their operations and move from good to great by building or refining systems that meet these objectives.
  • TIER 2 | Workforce retention: The sector is experiencing a workforce crisis marked by low wages, high turnover, and challenges in recruiting and retaining qualified staff that have been made worse by COVID-19 and insufficient funding. Recognizing the high cost of losing skilled employees, the Foundation has prioritized investments in organizations that have established professional development systems but need to create more targeted career ladders, in-house mentoring opportunities, leadership training programs, and nurturing workplace cultures to retain high-quality staff.
  • TIER 3 | Workforce pipeline: In light of the current workforce shortage, we have been committed to making substantial investments in projects that focus on creating a pipeline for aspiring and entry-level educators. We’ve prioritized recruitment initiatives that seek to recruit staff reflective of the linguistic and cultural diversity of the families served and provide on-the-job paid training to encourage program completion. That said, we’ve also learned that for these initiatives to be as effective as possible on the workforce, it’s essential for organizations to establish a solid foundation with the first two tiers before pursuing these types of projects.

We recognize that improving this critical workforce's professional recognition and economic well-being is at the heart of all these efforts. This includes initiatives to improve staff compensation and provide hiring and retention incentives, benefits, and academic scholarships. However, due to our limited funds and the high demand, we have historically opted not to allocate funds directly for these purposes.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY
Given the current operating environment and federal and state funding uncertainty, the Foundation recognizes the critical moment many providers are facing. Informed by our recent conversations, communications, and group listening sessions, the Foundation is focusing its fall 2025 funding opportunity exclusively on supporting workforce retention initiatives for our current and recent Early Childhood Education grantees (awarded a grant in 2020 or later) who are directly operating early childhood centers, family childcare homes, or public-school preschool or kindergarten classrooms.

This funding cycle has up to $500,000 available for these initiatives. Specific areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Substitute teacher pools to provide flexible work hours, planning time, and vacation time.
  • Wellness programs that promote the physical and mental health of educators.
  • Opportunities for educators to attend conferences or retreats.
  • Individualized career coaching and personal development opportunities.
  • Individualized professional development support for teachers.

Additional consideration will be given to proposals that demonstrate any of the following:

  • An established, coordinated, and ongoing professional development and learning system.
  • Solutions or projects that are driven by input from staff.
  • Evidence of successful retention strategies or strategies informed by best practices.
  • A clear rationale explaining how this time-limited funding will help the organization achieve its long-term goals around high-quality learning environments.

Please note that given our established relationships with potential applicants and the current environment, we aim to implement a more streamlined and accessible application process.

BUDGET & AWARDS
Applicants may request funding up to $100,000 over two years. 

The Foundation anticipates awarding up to five grants as part of this funding cycle.

ELIGIBILITY & RESTRICTIONS
Eligibility
This call is open to ONLY current and recent Stranahan Foundation Early Childhood Education grantees (awarded a grant in 2020 or later) who directly operate early childhood centers, family childcare homes, or public-school preschool or kindergarten classrooms.

Restrictions
We will not consider proposals that primarily request funding for any of the following:

  • General operating support
  • Higher education scholarships or tuition assistance (though this can be part of the larger project)
  • Increased staff compensation or one-time cash bonuses

APPLICATION PROCESS
The two-phase application process will include an initial abbreviated narrative application and then supplemental information (as needed) for finalists. 

PLEASE NOTE: We will only review applications containing the required documentation. Additionally, please check the timeline carefully. Applicants should plan to submit materials well before each deadline, as we will only accept applications submitted through our online portal.

CYCLE TIMELINE

  • July 29, 2025: Grant application submissions are due via the online portal by noon Eastern​.
  • August 15, 2025: Applicants will be notified whether their proposal is being advanced to the next round.
  • Mid-August to late September: Supplemental information (as needed) collected.
  • November 2025: Award notifications.

HOW TO APPLY
To start the application process, click here.

If you wish to see a copy of the application questions before starting the process, click here.

PROSPECTIVE APPLICANT SUPPORT 
Question Period from June 16 through July 18: Our team will answer questions about this funding opportunity and the application process at grants@stranahanfoundation.org. 

Please note that our staff is in the Eastern Time Zone, and our offices will be closed July 3-4.

REVIEW PROCESS
The application materials will be thoroughly reviewed by our staff, an early childhood consultant, and the Early Childhood Committee. Reviewers will critically evaluate all proposals based on several key criteria, including:

  • The clarity and thoughtfulness of the organization’s workforce retention approach and strategies.
  • The existence of a coordinated and ongoing professional development and learning system within the organization.
  • The extent of staff engagement and input in shaping proposed solutions or projects.
  • The clarity and alignment of the project's goals, activities, and expected timelines.
  • Concrete evidence demonstrating how the proposed project serves as a successful retention strategy or is informed by best practices.
  • A compelling rationale that clearly shows how this time-limited funding will help the organization advance its long-term goals of creating high-quality learning environments.

EVALUATION + REPORTING EXPECTATIONS OF GRANTEES
Evaluation: All proposals must include clear outputs and outcomes designed to support learning. However, there will be less emphasis on project evaluation and standardized assessment tools in this RFP compared to previous cycles. Considering the focus of this RFP, we expect the metrics to be more closely related to:

  • Program or project utilization
  • Teacher and staff retention rates
  • Staff reporting lower levels of burnout or stress
  • Reductions in absenteeism
  • Staff satisfaction rates
  • Net promoter score (willingness to recommend the organization as a place to work)

Finalists will be expected to collaborate with their assigned program officer to develop a set of no more than five grant metrics to streamline the reporting process.

Reporting: The Stranahan Foundation typically requests one narrative grant report each year. For this opportunity, we’re excited to offer a 30-to-45-minute verbal check-in halfway through the grant period and a shorter final narrative report at the end.