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Eligible: Businesses, Local Government, Nonprofits, State Agencies, Tribes

Apply by Mar 31, 2026

Closed

$100,000 - $7,000,000

2026 National Coastal Resilience Fund

From National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

NFWF will make investments in planning, design, and implementation of nature-based solutions to enhance protection for coastal communities from the impacts of storms, floods, and other natural hazards while improving habitats for fish and wildlife. Habitats such as coastal marshes and forests, floodplains, rivers and lakes, dune and beach systems, and oyster and coral reefs can provide communities with enhanced protection and buffering from the growing impacts of coastal hazards, including coastal inundation, changing flood patterns, increased frequency and intensity of storms, and other environmental stressors. Projects must be located within the coastal areas of U.S. coastal states, including the Great Lakes states, and U.S. territories and Tribal lands.

  • Overview

    • Type

      Grant

    • Title

      2026 National Coastal Resilience Fund

    • Source

      National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

    • Federal or State

      Federal

    • Number of Awards

      68

    • Award Range

      $100,000 - $7,000,000

    • Cost Share

      No

    • Status

      Active

  • Topics

    Climate

  • Eligibility

    • Audience

      Businesses, Local Government, Nonprofits, State Agencies, Tribes

    • Sector

      Climate

    • Eligibility

      Eligible Entities

      • Eligible applicants include non-profit 501(c) organizations, state and territorial government agencies, local governments, municipal governments, Tribal governments and organizations, educational institutions, or commercial (for-profit) organizations.
      • Tribal governments include all Native American Tribal governments (both federally recognized tribes and those tribes that are not federally recognized).
      • Ineligible applicants include federal agencies or employees of federal agencies, foreign organizations, foreign public entities, and unincorporated individuals

      Eligible Activities

      NFWF funds activities in four categories designed to advance a project through NFWF’s “project pipeline” from planning to implementation:

      1) Community Capacity Building and Planning: Building local expertise; hiring/ supporting personnel necessary to implement the project activities and functions to ensure project success and transferability; providing training; engaging community members; and/or supporting planning or broader environmental or economic data collection, etc.
      2) Site Assessment and Preliminary Design: The evaluation of potential project sites and project alternatives, continued and expanded stakeholder engagement efforts, assessing potential risk reduction benefits of project alternatives, gathering baseline data, conducting cost-benefit analyses, preliminary engagement with permitting agencies, and preparing preliminary project designs.
      3) Final Design and Permitting:  Advance projects from conceptual or preliminary designs into final designs and engineering plans, continue/expand stakeholder engagement efforts, prepare detailed cost estimates, and engage permitting officials at various levels of government, and other tasks to position projects for implementation. Proposals can include some preliminary design, site assessment, and baseline monitoring provided that the project can be completed within 3 years and result in a 90-100% design for the project.
      4) Restoration Implementation:  Eligible projects include ecosystem restoration projects and the adaptation or construction of nature-based solutions, where tangible community coastal hazard risk reduction and conservation outcomes can be measured.

    • Location

      National

  • Application Process

    • Pre-Application?

      Yes

    • Requirements

      There is no maximum limit on the award amounts that can be requested for individual grants. Award amounts will vary based on the scope of the project, the work proposed, and regional variation. Average NCRF awards for projects involving Community Capacity Building and Planning, Site Assessment and Preliminary Design, and Final Design and Permitting will be in the range of $100,000 to $1,500,000. For Restoration Implementation projects, average NCRF awards will be in the range of $1,000,000 to $7,000,000.

      Applicants must apply under the ONE project category that best describes the purpose and activities that will be carried out during the project. NFWF will NOT fund projects across combined categories.

      The pre-proposal due date is March 31; only applicants who have been invited to submit a full proposal may do so (June 24, 2026).

      Non-federal match is not required but is encouraged to demonstrate broad support for the project, especially for larger scale projects. Match can be any combination of in cash and/or in-kind goods and services and there is no priority given to higher cash percentages.

    • Disbursement Method

      Unspecified

  • Important Dates

    • Application Close Date

      Mar 31, 2026

  • Resources & Contacts

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