How we verify funding information
K-12 Funding is a directory, not a funder. This page explains exactly how listings get here, how they are checked, and what you should confirm yourself.
How we discover funding
Our team registers official funder and program pages as monitored sources — foundation grant pages, state agency programs, federal registers and corporate giving pages. Each source is scanned on a schedule (daily, weekly or monthly depending on how often it changes). When a scan finds a new or changed program, it goes into a review queue. Nothing is published automatically: a person reviews every discovery against the official source before it appears in the directory.
How deadlines are verified
Deadlines come from the funder's own published information, never from third-party aggregators. Monitored pages are re-scanned on their schedule, and when a deadline changes the listing is flagged for review. Each listing shows the date it was last verified. When a deadline passes, the listing is marked closed automatically — the record is kept so you can see whether the program runs annually.
How eligibility is checked
Eligibility — who can apply, which states qualify, what school types are covered and what the money can pay for — is taken from the program's official guidelines. Where a program restricts applicants to certain states, we record those states explicitly; national programs are marked as open to all US states. We only associate an opportunity with a state when its published eligibility supports that association.
Funders vs opportunities
A funder is an organization — a foundation, agency or company. An opportunity is a specific program that funder runs. A funder profile can exist with no currently open programs; that does not mean the funder is accepting applications, and our profiles say so explicitly. Opportunities are always linked to the funder that runs them, and where a program is administered by a different organization than its sponsor, we show both.
How statuses are updated
Every opportunity carries one status: Open (accepting applications now), Upcoming (announced, not yet open), Rolling (applications reviewed continuously), Closed (this round has ended), or Needs verification (found but not yet confirmed against an official source). Unverified opportunities never appear in public listings. Statuses change when monitored sources change, always with human review before publication.
How to report an inaccuracy
If you spot something wrong — a date, an amount, an eligibility rule — tell us through the submission page and we will check it against the official source. Corrections are made after verification, and the listing's last-verified date is updated.
Limitations
We rely on third-party funders publishing accurate information, and programs can change between our verification checks. Always confirm deadlines, amounts and eligibility on the funder's official page before applying — every listing links to it. We do not guarantee that any listing is complete or current at the moment you read it, and we are not affiliated with the funders we list.
Spotted an error? Report it through the submission page and we will verify it against the official source.