Funding & Grant Resources For Mental Health Nonprofits (2025)

According to The World Health Organization, of the 1 billion people around the world currently experiencing a mental disorder, more than 80% are without any form of quality, affordable care. Additionally, millions die every year from alcohol abuse and one person dies every 40 seconds by suicide. And with the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on mental health, there has never been a more important time than now to address mental health conditions.

The grantmakers and funders on this list seek to remedy this healthcare crisis in their communities and beyond. If your organization serves individuals dealing with mental health issues and if any of these funders serve your community, visit their website and discover if there’s a funding opportunity for you.

For organizations with other funding priorities, check out these specific areas: Education, Arts & Culture, Environmental Conservation, and Youth Programs.

Grant Research Tip: If a deadline has passed for a funder’s grant opportunity, don’t despair. Once you’ve determined that your organization and the funder would make a good partnership, go ahead and create a Funder Profile form for them and add them to your list of potential funders. Wait until after their grant consideration window has passed and then reach out to start an introduction. It’s important to build up your list of potential funders not only with candidates who have current grant opportunities, but also with those who can be viable funding prospects in the future.

Visit Grantli to learn more tips on how to do the best grant research and how your organization can find even more funding opportunities.

Funding Priority: Mental Health

  • Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
  • Hanley Family Foundation
  • American Legion Child Welfare Foundation
  • Cigna Foundation
  • RBC Foundation – USA
  • Autism Speaks
  • Autism Science Foundation
  • Anthem Foundation
  • Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism
  • O’Neill Foundation
  • Daniel’s Fund
  • The Colorado Health Foundation
  • Caring For Colorado Foundation
  • Connecticut Health Foundation
  • Endowment For Health
  • Maine Health Access Foundation
  • California Healthcare Foundation
  • The New York Community Trust
  • The Meadows Foundation
  • Hogg Foundation For Mental Health

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Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funds a wide array of programs to help build a national culture of health.

Areas served: US

Hanley Family Foundation

The Hanley Family Foundation supports charitable organizations engaged in the diagnosis and treatment of alcoholism, drug addiction, and other forms of substance use disorder (SUD). They support organizations whose primary focus is to help individuals to recover from SUD.

Areas served: US

American Legion Child Welfare Foundation

The American Legion Child Welfare Foundation was developed as a repository of funds from individuals who wished to contribute to the betterment of children in the United States. Their foremost philanthropic priority is to contribute to the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual welfare of children and youth by aiding progress in the field of child welfare through dissemination of knowledge about research, studies, surveys, projects, or by supporting programs and activities benefiting the welfare of children and youth.

Areas served: US

Cigna Foundation

Cigna Foundation’s charitable giving philosophy is part of their mission to improve the health, well-being, and peace of mind of those they serve. Their “Healthier Kids For Our Future” grants focus on food insecurity and mental health. Their “Health and Well-being” grants will provide an opportunity for the applicant to choose from five different topics, one of which is for programs addressing mental and/or behavioral health conditions.

Areas served: US

RBC Foundation – USA

The mission of RBC Foundation – USA is to improve the quality of life in the communities where they do business by supporting nonprofit organizations that make a positive difference and promote diversity. Health grants are exclusively directed to the RBC Youth Mental Well-being Project, focusing on programs that are helping youth and families access the right care at the right time.

Areas served: US

Autism Speaks

Autism Speaks funds programs that provide people with autism with social and educational experiences through their Norma and Malcolm Baker Recreation Grant programs. It supports programs demonstrating the ability to reach a wide age range of individuals on the spectrum within the following categories of service delivery: adult services, employment, physical fitness and sports, summer camps, and swimming and water safety.

Areas served: US

Autism Science Foundation

The Autism Science Foundation funds research that helps to understand the causes of autism and develop more effective treatments. They also fund projects that improve the dissemination of autism research which provide parents and other stakeholders with the latest developments in autism science.

Areas served: US

The David & Lura Lovell Foundation

The David and Lura Lovell Foundation is a family foundation established in 1994 that funds high-impact initiatives nationwide in four focus areas: mental health, integrative health and wellness, youth access to the arts, and gender parity. See their specific funding opportunity for Toledo, Ohio.

Areas served: US, Arizona, Ohio

Anthem Foundation

The Anthem Foundation funds specific public health-related initiatives that address disparities and social determinants that can positively affect conditions identified through their signature Healthy Generations program, including behavioral health. They’re focused on a holistic, preventive approach to issues of suicide, domestic violence/child abuse, and substance abuse—supporting programs designed to increase access to resources for behavioral health conditions and provide education about the importance of whole-person health.

Areas served: US (26 states)

Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism

The mission of the Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism is to help people and families affected by autism live life to the fullest. Support will be provided for new initiatives and model projects that have the potential to improve the quality of everyday life for people and families affected by autism and that can be replicated by other organizations in order to have a greater impact on the autism community at large.

Areas served: Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Central Florida

O’Neill Foundation

The O’Neill Foundation strives to improve the health and well-being of the families in the communities they call home. They support organizations that address behavioral health, addiction, primary and preventative health, healthy lifestyles, and special needs populations.

Areas served: Hawaii, Florida, Texas, Vermont (specific counties in each)

Peter & Elizabeth Tower Foundation

The Tower Foundation is a family foundation that supports and collaborates with nonprofit organizations and community partners that share their mission of helping children, adolescents, and young people affected by intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities, mental health issues, and substance use disorders.

Areas served: New York (western), Massachusetts (eastern)

Daniel’s Fund

The Daniels Fund focuses on supporting highly effective and ethical nonprofit organizations that achieve significant results in the community. They support programs for people struggling with drug and alcohol addiction, particularly prevention amongst youth and treatment and recovery.

Areas served: Colorado, Wyoming

The Colorado Health Foundation

The Colorado Health Foundation addresses the behavioral health needs of their state by fostering the social-emotional development of children, equipping youth and young adults with resiliency skills, and giving adults—with mental health disorders and substance abuse challenges—continued support on their recovery journey.

Areas served: Colorado

Caring For Colorado Foundation

Caring for Colorado works with communities to catalyze and accelerate change to improve the lives and health of Colorado’s children, youth, and families. They emphasize the integration of infant, child, and maternal mental health into programs serving families because it can profoundly affect child development.

Areas served: Colorado

Connecticut Health Foundation

The Connecticut Health Foundation envisions a Connecticut where everyone—regardless of race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status—can achieve optimal health. To make this a reality, they focus on four areas (coverage and access, improve care delivery, linking care to community, and advocacy and leadership) that are critical to ensuring that the next generation will not face the same persistent racial and ethnic health disparities as their parents.

Areas served: Connecticut

Endowment For Health

The Endowment for Health works to improve health and reduce the burden of illness for the people of New Hampshire. Their investments have helped to chart a new course for the NH children’s behavioral health system. They continue to proactively invest in leadership and advocacy, and public policy change within our children’s behavioral health systems.

Areas served: New Hampshire

Maine Health Access Foundation

The Maine Health Access Foundation is the state’s largest private nonprofit health care foundation dedicated to promoting access to quality health care and improving health. They offer responsive grant opportunities, a discretionary grants program for small, discrete projects, and meeting support grants for local and statewide meetings.

Areas served: Maine

California Healthcare Foundation

The California Health Care Foundation is dedicated to advancing meaningful, measurable improvements in the way the health care delivery system provides care to the people of California. CHCF works to improve systems of behavioral health care and to focus on integrating mental health, substance use, and physical health services to achieve the best outcomes for Californians with low incomes.

Areas served: California

The New York Community Trust

The New York Community Trust connects past, present, and future generous New Yorkers with vital nonprofits working to make a healthy, equitable, and thriving community for all. One of their funding priorities focuses on improving healthcare, addressing mental health and substance abuse, and supporting biomedical research.

Areas served: New York (NYC, Long Island, Westchester)

The Meadows Foundation

They are a private family foundation on a mission to improve the quality and circumstances of life for the people of Texas. Mental health areas they support include: integration of services into primary care settings, systemwide approaches that identify and treat depression using validated measures that track symptoms and outcomes, and research and advocacy to increase access to effective mental health care

Areas served: Texas

Hogg Foundation For Mental Health

The Hogg Foundation is committed to supporting organizations and individuals making meaningful improvements for the mental health of Texans. They invest in programs, policy analysis, research and education through grants, scholarships, and fellowships to transform how communities promote mental health in everyday life.

Areas served: Texas

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Funding & Grant Resources For Mental Health Nonprofits (2025)

FAQs

What is the largest funding source for mental health services? ›

Medicaid is the single largest payer for mental health services in the United States and is increasingly playing a larger role in the reimbursement of substance use disorder services.

What are the primary sources of funding for mental health and Substance Abuse? ›

Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is one of the primary sources of grant funds in support of chemical dependence prevention and treatment services.

Why is funding important for mental health? ›

Federal funding of mental health research creates opportunities to study causes of, treatments for, and recovery from mental health disorders that might not otherwise be available.

How important are grants to nonprofits? ›

This can bring your nonprofit into a new phase of growth, attracting increased attention and new donors. Grants also build your nonprofit's visibility and credibility. According to the Society for Nonprofits, once you receive one grant, you are more likely to receive others.

Which states have the best mental health funding? ›

This study found the most generous states in mental health spending are Maine, Pennsylvania and Arizona. The stingiest states are Arkansas, West Virginia, Idaho, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Delaware.

How does mental health America get funding? ›

The MHSA was passed by California voters in 2004 and is funded by a one percent income tax on personal income in excess of $1 million per year.

What is the SAMHSA grant? ›

SAMHSA's grant programs and services support efforts for ending and preventing homelessness among people with mental and/or substance use disorders. Stable housing is a critical component of recovery.

What are the three resources for people with mental health conditions? ›

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) helpline and online locator for mental health services. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) online tool for finding Medicare providers. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) online tool for finding VA locations and providers.

Who controls the public funds for mental health? ›

The MHBG program is authorized by sections 1911-1920 of Title XIX, Part B, Subpart I and III of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act. SAMHSA's Center for Mental Health Services' (CMHS) Division of State and Community Systems Development (DSCSD) administers MHBG funds.

Why is mental health so underfunded? ›

A Los Angeles Times review points to several major, overlapping reasons, including chronic and systemic underfunding of other social and mental health programs, unpredictable swings in revenue, bureaucratic infighting between state and county officials and, in the last few years, a severe shortage of mental health ...

Why should mental health resources be free? ›

Being healthy all too often has a paywall, which doesn't give people an equal chance at living a healthy life. By making mental health care unaffordable, our society is saying that only those who have enough money deserve to have good mental health.

Why are mental health resources important? ›

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

How most nonprofits receive their funding? ›

Fundraising events and campaigns are popular methods for nonprofits to raise funds. These can range from charity galas and auctions to fun runs and crowdfunding campaigns. Nonprofits leverage these events to draw public attention, engage with their community, and generate donations.

What is a disadvantage of a grant? ›

There are strings attached to the money you receive. You can't do whatever you want with the funds. Most grants are short term. When they run out, you have to start over.

What is the most important part of a grant? ›

The abstract is a critical portion of the application as it provides a clear and concise summary of your project. It should include your hypothesis, goals and objectives, importance of objectives, methods, and overall implications of your findings.

What is the largest payer of mental health services in the US? ›

Medicaid is the single largest payer in the United States for behavioral health services, including mental health and substance use services.

What is the largest mental health charity in the United States? ›

NAMI is the National Alliance on Mental Illness. We are the nation's largest grassroots mental health organization. We are dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.

What is the largest source of funding for personal health care expenditures? ›

Private health insurance was the largest source of funding for personal health care expenditures.

Who makes the most money in mental health? ›

In addition to being in demand, psychiatrist positions are by far the highest-paying jobs for psychology majors. When you work where a majority of psychiatrists are employed — within an outpatient care center or within a physician's office — the BLS reports 2022 mean salaries of $299,470 or $280,600, respectively.

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