Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation

In filing year 2026, the foundation reported 98 itemized grants totaling $3,721,441. Grants ranged from $5,113 to $312,750, with a median of $15,000. The largest reported awards included $312,750 to Freshwater Future for water affordability planning and other water-related work; $299,114 to the Manna Food Project for general support, its Food 4 Kids Backpack Program, and winter storm relief; and $238,525 to Northwest Michigan Habitat for Humanity for land purchase, affordable homeownership, predevelopment, housing stability, and storm recovery.

Other large awards included $188,500 to NCMC Foundation for career and technical education, child care, scholarships, and stormwater wetland restoration; $169,705 to Little Traverse Conservancy for trail recovery, education-fund retirement, and farmland conservation; and $146,275 to McLaren Northern Michigan Foundation for general support, capital and medical equipment needs, health programs, and emergency communications. All itemized 2026 grant dollars went to recipients in Michigan.

The foundation’s website describes Community and Youth Grants as offered twice a year. It also lists other opportunities that may have their own timelines. Among the named programs, the Emmet Housing Solutions Fund provides grants and loans to eligible nonprofits and local government agencies working on housing in Emmet County, including for costs such as land acquisition, design, legal and engineering work, and infrastructure. The Essential Needs Fund supports health and human service organizations that provide assistance to people and families facing financial hardship; it distributes support through partner organizations, not as direct grants to individuals. The Little Traverse Bay Protection and Restoration Fund awards annual grants of $10,000–$30,000 to tax-exempt organizations and public agencies working on watershed-management objectives.

The foundation says applicants should begin by emailing an inquiry to its grants team; eligible organizations are then invited to submit an application. Its Spring 2026 cycle is past: inquiries were accepted through February 23, applications were due March 2, and decisions were expected in late April. The website says that cycle had no maximum request amount and that awards in the previous cycle averaged around $7,800. A separate application guide describes a process involving a pre-application discussion, a project budget, the organization’s current operating budget and prior-year final budget, and a board-of-directors list. The website says the foundation generally does not fund annual giving campaigns, direct support to individuals, certain religious programs, services commonly considered government or school obligations, endowments, or deficit funding and debt retirement.