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National Grants Program

Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption

Foundation Grants for Nonprofits Child Welfare Grants Grants for Foster Care

Funding Amount

Not stated

Deadline

Deadline not published

Grant Type

Foundation

Can we apply?

Check your organization against each line. Taken from the listing; confirm with the funder's guidelines.

Other requirements

Important: Grant applications are requested by invitation only.
The Foundation does not review unsolicited proposals.

Overview

Geographic Scope: National (United States)

Mission Focus: The Foundation awards strategic national grants to projects that help advance the mission of increasing adoptions from foster care and nurturing viable practices.

Focus Areas

Grants support projects that:

Support specialized foster care and adoption communities – strengthening relationships, legal permanency, and kinship family engagement
Research and identify emerging best practices – facilitating more effective, streamlined or supportive adoptions, including enhanced post-permanency support
Address critical child welfare policy enhancements – developing standards, toolkits, and policy recommendations
Urgently raise child welfare awareness – elevating media coverage and education around adoption and child welfare issues

Current Focus Areas

The Foundation currently supports grantees in these categories:

Support Specialized Foster Care and Adoption Communities

First Star Kent State Academy
Generations United
National Adoption Association
National Center for Youth with Diverse Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity & Expression (The National SOGIE Center)
Second Nurture

Identify Best Practices & Enhanced Post-Permanency Support

Adoptee Mentoring Society
Alliance for Children's Rights
Center for Adoption Support and Education
Families Rising
Treehouse Foundation
State-Specific Post-Permanency Grantees (Adopt America Network, Adoption and Foster Family Coalition of New York, Adoption Rhode Island, Aid to Adoption of Special Kids, Bethany Christian Services, Caring for Kids, Children's Network of Southwest Florida, Lund Family Services, Lutheran Family Services, Raise the Future, Stanford Sierra Youth and Family Services)

Address Critical Child Welfare Policy Enhancements

ABA Center on Children and the Law
Bolder Horizon
Center for Rights of Abused Children
Child Welfare League of America
Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute
Fostering Change for Children
National Council For Adoption
Voice for Adoption

Urgently Raise Child Welfare Awareness

Family to Family Support Network
Fostering Media Connections

Eligibility & Application Process

Important: Grant applications are requested by invitation only. The Foundation does not review unsolicited proposals.

Contact Information

Address: 4900 Tuttle Crossing Blvd., Dublin, OH 43016
Phone: +1 800.275.3832
Website: davethomasfoundation.org

What Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption actually gave

Source: IRS Form 990, 2025

Grants in 2025: 135
Total given: $31.4M
Median grant: $95K
Range: $7,500–$3.06M

By dollars: Ohio 27%, New York 12%, Indiana 10%. Top recipient cities: Washington, DC; New York, NY; Chicago, IL.
<1% of grants with a stated purpose were for general or operating support.
14% of recipients were new grantees, not repeat recipients.

Example grants

The Villages of Indiana Inc · Bloomington, IN

Wendy's wonderful kids grants

$3.06M
Caring for Kids Inc · Stow, OH

Wendy's wonderful kids & post-permanency grants

$2.12M
Raise the Future · Denver, CO

Wendy's wonderful kids grants

$2.06M
Massachusetts Department of Children and Families · Boston, MA

Wendy's wonderful kids grants

$1.25M
Adopt America Network Inc · Toledo, OH

Wendy's wonderful kids & post-permanency grants

$1.19M