Iowa 4-H Foundation Scholarships

Iowa 4-H members are eligible to apply for 4-H scholarships if they meet individual scholarship requirements. Applicants must enroll as a full-time student (minimum of 12 credit hours) to receive scholarship awards. Only ONE application form is needed for all Iowa 4-H scholarships. Eligible Iowa 4-H youth may apply for more than one scholarship, however, only one scholarship per individual will be awarded per academic year. Applications open up December 1, 2025 and close on February 1, 2026.

Grant Cycles & Awards

The Iowa 4-H Foundation will review and award grant funds twice a year.

Spring: The Spring Grant Cycle applications will be due March 15. These applications should be for projects and programs which will take place in the upcoming fiscal year (July 1 or after). They will be reviewed by the Iowa 4-H Foundation Program Committee with funding recommendations made at the June meeting of the Iowa 4-H Foundation. Award notification will be made by May 15 and funding will be received by the State 4-H Office by June 1.

Fall: The Fall Grant Cycle applications will be due October 1. These applications should be for projects and programs which will take place in the current fiscal year (prior to June 30). They will be reviewed by the Iowa 4-H Foundation Program Committee with funding recommendations made at the October meeting of the Iowa 4-H Foundation. Award notification will be made by November 15 and funding will be received by the State 4-H Office by December 31.

Eligibility

All 4-H staff are eligible to submit grant requests. County 4-H staff must have their application approved by the Youth Program Specialist serving their county. State and Field staff must have requests approved by their supervisor. Requests may be for state, regional or county programming; for ongoing needs, event or camp support. Local projects are encouraged to also seek support from their local county endowments.

Requirements

Each submission must include an application form and a project budget outlining total costs for the program and which portion of those costs Foundation funding would cover. Proposals that have been funded previously must complete and include the grant report form with their application.

Funding

The Foundation has identified three funding priorities: proposals that grow capacity, support retention and enrollment and reaching new audiences. If funding is limited, priority will be given to requests that achieve those goals.

Reporting

All applications receiving funding will be required to complete a Grant Evaluation Form. This evaluation is due one year from the grant award: Spring applicants should submit their evaluation by the grant deadline the following spring, Fall applicants should submit their evaluation by the grant deadline the following fall. Renewal applications will not be considered unless the evaluation has been submitted.