Professional Development Grants for Nonprofits: Where to Find Money for Staff Training

Search for professional development grants for nonprofits and much of page one is grant directories and money for teachers and students. A nonprofit that wants to train its staff needs something narrower: small local grants, a training line inside grants it already has, and public funds that allow training costs. Grants rarely come up in CNPC’s own intake either: no coaching application we have received mentions grant funding.

What Counts as a Professional Development Grant?

A professional development grant pays for learning that makes staff or board members better at their jobs: registration for trainings, workshops and conferences, certificate courses, related travel and, at some funders, coaching or consulting. The money arrives as a stand-alone grant, as a training line inside a larger grant, or as a benefit a funder offers its own grantees.

Each funder draws its own lines. The Community Foundation of Jackson Hole covers registration, travel for out-of-town trainings, coaching or consulting fees and educational materials, but not trade association memberships. Read the eligible expenses before you choose the training.

Which Grants Are for Individuals?

Many professional development grants that rank in search are for individuals. The NEA Foundation’s Learning and Leadership Grants pay up to $5,000, but only to current National Education Association members who are educators in public schools or public colleges and universities. Check who can apply before you read anything else on a grant page.

Some programs sit in between. At Indiana Youth Institute a staff member, board member or volunteer applies, and the award is paid to the organization. Orcas Island Community Foundation takes applications from individual employees with the executive director’s endorsement.

Where Do Nonprofits Find These Grants?

Start with funders that already know you, then your community foundation, then programs run for your field or region. The five offers below, each checked on its own website on October 20, 2026, show the range. Amounts and deadlines change, so confirm with the funder before you apply.

Search your community foundation’s site for “professional development” and check its capacity building grants, since many funders file staff training under what capacity building covers. For a wider search, Candid’s partner locations, often public libraries, give free access to its funder database.

Can Federal or Workforce Funds Pay for Training?

Yes, within limits. Federal cost rules state that “the cost of training and education provided for employee development is allowable” on federal awards (2 CFR 200.473). Your award’s budget and terms still apply, so ask your program officer before you charge it.

Public workforce money is the other route. Under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, local workforce areas may set aside up to 20 percent of their adult and dislocated worker funds for incumbent worker training: training for current employees, most of whom need six months or more with the employer. The training must help the employer keep a skilled workforce or avoid layoffs, the employer commits to keeping the trained workers, and it pays a share of the cost. States and local areas set their own policies, so ask your local workforce board whether nonprofit employers qualify.

How Do You Ask a Funder to Pay for Training?

Ask a funder that already knows your work. Tie the training to a result the funder cares about, name the course, the people and the cost, and give it its own line in the budget. A specific, priced request is easier to approve than a general one for “staff development.”

1. Name the gap in program terms. “Our two case managers need [certification] to serve [population].”
2. Price it from the provider’s page. Registration, travel and staff time, with the fee page attached.
3. Give it a budget line. “Staff professional development: [course], [number] staff, [cost per person], total [amount].”
4. Report what changed. What the trained staff now do differently, such as how many more clients the certified case managers can serve.

The easiest professional development grant to win is a line in a grant you already have.

Time the ask to the budget cycle. CNPC’s coaching applications peak in the fourth quarter (27 in late 2024, 24 in late 2025), when organizations set next year’s budgets. Price the training in October and ask in November.

Can a Grant Pay for Coaching?

Sometimes. The Community Foundation of Jackson Hole lists fees for one-to-one or team coaching among the expenses its professional development grants cover. Other funders mean courses and conferences only, so ask the program officer before you name coaching in a request.

Coaching for the executive director is usually funded as leadership development. Our guide to leadership development grants lists funders and sample proposal language.

CNPC’s volunteer coaches donate their time, which is why six sessions of executive coaching cost $300, $400 or $600, depending on operating budget, 85%+ below market rate. A $700 grant would cover any of the three. Coaching is one part of nonprofit leadership development, alongside courses and mentoring.

What If No Grant Fits?

Use the money you already control. In CNPC’s experience, the easiest money to reach is your own professional development budget, because most nonprofits already carry one in the operating budget. General operating support from trust-based funders can pay for training without a separate request, and capacity building grants can fund a larger project.

If the line is thin, the plan for developing emerging leaders stretches it: stretch assignments and one developmental relationship do most of the work, and the line pays for one targeted course a year.

Quick Win: this week, list the three trainings your staff asked for this year, price each one, and email the program officer on your largest current grant to ask whether a training line can go in your next request.

If your executive director needs coaching, CNPC matches nonprofit leaders with volunteer coaches for six-session engagements. We serve leaders of 501(c)(3) nonprofits, government agencies, and analogous non-U.S. entities. When you are ready, start an application.

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