NRPA's Online Grant Opportunities Portal

Current NRPA Grant Opportunites: 

2025 Workforce Development Community of Practice

The National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) seeks a future where the full power of parks and recreation is widely recognized for creating a better life for everyone by building strong, healthy, and resilient communities. Careers in parks and recreation can be a pathway to strengthen communities. Access to parks and recreation spaces, programs, and services is essential to community vitality and key to improving individual and community resilience.

The Workforce Development Community of Practice (CoP) is a funded opportunity for rural (population less than 50,000) agencies that currently provide workforce development programming through their out-of-school time (OST) services to youth (ages 14-21). The CoP will allow agencies to connect and learn from peers, problem-solve challenges, and receive assistance from cohort peers and industry experts. From May 2025 – May 2026, the CoP will guide a small cohort through community engagement and workforce development expansion journeys, while centering dignity within strategies and approaches to ensure programming benefits a broad network of rural youth. Upon selection, NRPA will work with CoP participants to incorporate discussion topics and structures that reflect the cohort's needs. The CoP will explore the best practices, lessons learned, and shared challenges around securing local and community support, access to funding resources, authentic relationship building, and marketing and promotion strategies for OST workforce programs. This will include the soon-to-be-published NRPA Workforce Development Framework. 

Click Here to Apply or email resilience@nrpa.org for questions. 

Parks and Recreation: A Social Driver for Healthy Aging

National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) with the support of the RRF Foundation for Aging is pleased to announce the availability of a grant opportunity to support up to four parks and recreation agencies. This opportunity will provide funding, training, and technical assistance to four agencies to develop and advance strategies to increase social and intergenerational connectedness and improve healthy aging. The goal of this grant is to build upon research and findings in NRPA’s Healthy Aging Framework to elevate and demonstrate the essential role of parks and recreation in supporting people as they age in place in their communities.

Awarded agencies will receive $17,500 coupled with training and technical assistance to implement one or more eligible strategies in the Healthy Aging Framework and participate in an evaluation throughout a six-month project period. NRPA will facilitate a “grantee cohort” including an orientation/kick-off meeting, ongoing training and learning opportunities, and supported peer networking and exchange to enable agencies to learn from one another and support continuous improvement throughout the process.

This grant is intended for agencies or organizations that offer programming for older adults and youth but have not incorporated any regular, structured programming focusing on intergenerational connection or have a plan for adding and/or strengthening an intergenerational focus to existing programming for older adults and youth.

Click here to learn more and apply. 

If you have any questions please contact us at healthyaginginparks@nrpa.org