Buncombe County Early Childhood Grants (North Carolina)

Applications are now being accepted for the Early Childhood Grants.

Donor Name: Buncombe County

State: North Carolina

County: Buncombe County (NC)

Type of Grant: Grant

Deadline: 02/20/2026

Size of the Grant: More than $1 million

Grant Duration: 1 Year

Details:

The overall goal of the fund is to ensure that every child in Buncombe County has an equal opportunity to thrive during their first 2,000 days including access to quality early childhood education. Funding is earmarked to support early care and education for children birth through kindergarten, including infants/toddlers, preschoolers, and pre-kindergarteners. Funding will be allocated for projects working toward: increasing slots for enrollment; increasing quality; developing/diversifying the early childhood workforce; supporting families; and enhancing the effectiveness of the overall system of early care and education.

Priority

Funding is earmarked to support early care and education for children birth through kindergarten. This includes the following categories:

infants/toddlers – ages six (6) weeks to three (3) years old
preschoolers – ages three (3) to five (5) years old
pre-kindergarteners (pre-k) – 4 year old rising kindergarteners (4 years old by August 31st)

Emphasis in the fund is given to preschool and pre-kindergarten. The term pre-kindergarten is broader than “NC Pre-K,” which is a program of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Child Development and Early Education.

Funding Information

Grants may be awarded up to the total amount of $4,054,185, the anticipated budget for the Early Childhood Education and Development Fund for FY2027 (subject to budget adoption). On October 30, 2018, the Board of Commissioners for Buncombe County voted to create the Early Childhood Education and Development fund for the purpose of annually investing $3.6 million beginning in the FY2020 budget with an annual increase of 2% in future years.

Project Period

July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027 Funding year.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for an Early Childhood Grant, an organization and project must meet the following criteria:

Organization
- All organization types are eligible to apply. This includes public/governmental agencies as well as private organizations, including nonprofits and private businesses. Organizations must operate in Buncombe County with service to Buncombe County. If an organization does not meet this criteria, it may partner with another organization to serve as fiscal sponsor for the purposes of administering grant funding.
Public Purpose
- Projects must meet a public purpose and fall within County authority to fund per NC General Statutes, to be affirmed by review by Buncombe County legal department prior to grant award.
Application
- Organizations must submit a grant application before the application deadline. No late applications will be accepted. Projects may not apply for funding from more than one county grant program. Application must be submitted to grant program most closely fitting the proposed project.
Strategies
- Funding will be allocated for projects working toward the following strategies:
  - Develop early childhood workforce
  - Maintain/enhance existing slots
  - Increase slots for enrollment
  - Increase quality
  - Support families
  - Enhance effectiveness of overall system of early care and education
Capital
- Requests for capital projects will be restricted to the public school systems. Capital outlay projects are defined as planning, construction, reconstruction, enlargement, improvement, repair, or renovation of buildings and for the purchase of land for early childhood care and education purposes.