The Culture of Repair Project supports TEACHERS and community advocates who are bringing repair into PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS AND OTHER EDUCATIONAL settings.

About our Grants Program

Repair is a gateway for learning far more than how to solder and sew. While students learning hands-on technologies is celebrated, the Grants Program objective is more fundamental.

The Culture of Repair Project provides funding and other resources for educators and advocates who are advancing a culture of repair among young people. Repair is more than a technical skill; it’s a mindset and a way of engaging with the world. Our grants are designed to support projects that:

• Teach the thinking skills, conceptual frameworks, and mindset that undergird a culture of repair.

• Normalize repair.

• Cultivate students’ agency to take full ownership of their things by daring to repair.

Eligibility

Nonprofit organizations, fiscally sponsored projects, for-profit organizations, and individuals are eligible to apply.

Applicants must hold an Employer Identification Number (EIN) issued by the United States Internal Revenue Service, or be a project fiscally sponsored by an IRS-registered 501(c)-3.

Note: Grants to individuals and to for-profit organizations are taxable income. Individual and for-profit applicants must submit completed W-9s. Individual and for-profit grantees will receive 1099s at year-end.

Grant Amounts

Up to $25,000 USD is available to support the 2026 Spring Grants Cycle.

Standard Grants: $1,000 to $5,000. Examples of grants on the lower end of this range might be for work focused on speaking, publishing existing materials, or some other mode of disseminating existing resources and ideas. Grants on the upper end might be used to develop new initiatives and publish resources
Exceptional Grants: Proposals up to $10,000 will be considered for stellar projects that address ALL focus areas, are integrated into a school’s existing programming or curriculum, and publish materials. Proposals for this level of funding that do not address ALL focus areas will not be considered.

Proposal Criteria

Grants are not intended to be ongoing, but to support developing, refining, and proving effective approaches to teaching repair and making the accompanying teaching resources, guides, curricula, and/or pedagogy widely available.

Priority will be given to projects that

• Highlight the environmental impact of repair.

• Leverage Makerspace curricula and technologies.

• Create materials for educator professional development.

• Develop publishable resources, guides, curricula, and/or pedagogy.

• Align with public school curriculum standards.

Proposals must include:

• Repairing physical objects

• Learning beyond technical skills

• Multiplier effects, enabling other educators and advocates to replicate and adapt the work

We Do Not Fund

• Ongoing general operations

• Applicants seeking only a small portion of their project’s total funding

Publishing Resources

Most entries in our Educator Resource Library link to external websites. It is not required, but we suggest new grant-funded resources be:

• Published on the grantee’s own website

• Copyrighted by the grantee, preferably released under a Creative Commons License so they can be freely used by others. Information on Creative Commons Licenses is available here.

Submissions should include the following:

1. Type of Applicant: Individual, 501(c)-3 non-profit organization, fiscally sponsored non-profit project, or for-profit organization

2. Applicant information, per type:

   1. Individual: name, email, phone, website (if applicable), completed W-9

   2. Non-profit organization: organization name; contact name, email, and phone; organization website; Tax ID Number and IRS letter of 501(c)-3 determination

   3. Fiscally sponsored project: project name; contact name, email and phone; project website; fiscal sponsor name; fiscal sponsor contact name, email and phone; fiscal sponsor website; fiscal sponsor Tax ID Number and IRS letter of 501(c)-3 determination, letter of agreement / contract with fiscal sponsor

   4. For-profit organization: organization name; contact name, email, and phone; organization website; completed W-9

3. Proposal Narrative (max 5,000 characters including spaces; excludes budget, IRS documentation, and supplementary materials).

1. Guiding Question: How will this project advance a culture of repair?

2. Begin with a 300-character summary

3. Describe the program, being sure to include: objectives, intended outcomes, logistics, timing, ongoing impact

4. Describe how you will share your work, e.g., publish resource, conduct workshops, activate network/communications

5. Address the following core elements:

1. Alignment with The Culture of Repair Project’s mission, approach and focus on K-12 educational settings

2. Repair of physical objects

3. Learning beyond technical skills

4. Multiplier effects, enabling other educators and advocates to replicate and adapt the work, e.g., development of resources for the Educator Resource Library

4. Project Budget

5. Payment information:

   1. Payee name and mailing address

   2. Payment method preferred: check or ACH

   3. If ACH, banking details: name on account, routing number, account number, bank name, bank address

6. Optional supplementary materials: letters of recommendation, media coverage, etc., in PDF format only

7. How you heard about this opportunity

Reporting & Sharing

Reporting is designed to be meaningful and not burdensome. We’re always interested in hearing about anything grantees want to share along the way. Knowing about people’s experiences implementing programs, and the solutions they find, helps us design programs that are most supportive of educators and advocates in their real-life contexts.

• Required: A post-project interview

• Optional: Written materials that support the interview

• Grantees may apply for an additional $500 after project completion to support sharing at conferences, at professional development events, or in print.

Sharing and Amplification: The Culture of Repair Project prioritizes making grantees’ work visible through our newsletter, social media platforms, and overall advocacy of our Educator Resource Library and Notes From The Field, where your work will be published.

• Grantees are expected to make their project visible in their network, alongside promoting the larger vision of bringing repair into educational settings.

• Grantees may be invited to participate in an online discussion among current and past grantees, and/or interested educators and repair advocates. The purpose of the gathering would be to network and share ideas, information and resources.