Opportunity Overview
The Kansas Health Foundation 2026 Upward Mobility Mass Action Mini-Grant Program, administered in partnership with the Kansas Leadership Center, supports community-driven Kansas projects that help people facing financial hardship improve economic stability and opportunity. KHF will award grants of up to $10,000 each, including required Strategy Lab travel costs.
Deadline
Applications are due September 29, 2026 at noon Central Time. KHF’s August 18 announcement expressly states noon CT. Funding decisions are expected by the end of October 2026.
Eligibility
Eligible applicants are independent Kansas 501(c)(3) organizations, government entities, and churches that are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3). Supporting organizations described in Section 509(a)(3) and private foundations are not eligible. Fiscal sponsorships are not permitted. Grant-funded activities must take place in Kansas or directly benefit Kansans.
Program Alignment
Projects must meaningfully advance at least one of the 11 strategies in KHF’s Blueprint for Upward Mobility. The strategies span data integration, early childhood education, higher education, workforce skills and pathways, workforce supports, paid leave and flexible scheduling, affordable childcare, entrepreneurship and small business, housing stability, financial products, and reduction or prevention of medical, student-loan, criminal-justice, or municipal debt. Additional consideration may be given to projects that leverage other funding and intentionally benefit populations experiencing significant inequities.
Allowable and Unallowable Uses
KHF describes the funding as flexible for project and activity needs, but it may not be used for grants directly to individuals, capital campaigns or endowments, debt retirement, or duplicate funding for the same activity. Applicants should include anticipated travel costs for up to two project team members to attend the required Strategy Lab.
Selected Grantee Requirements
Selected organizations must designate a primary project contact, attend the required Strategy Lab in Wichita on January 28, 2027, and provide periodic project updates through KLC’s Actioneer tool. At least one team member must attend the Strategy Lab. Funded project activities may not begin until January 29, 2027. Awarded organizations also must timely provide W-9 and EFT documentation when required by KHF.
Application Method
Applications are submitted through the live form on the Kansas Health Foundation opportunity page. The form cannot be saved once started and times out after three hours. Applicants should prepare responses offline, have the IRS determination letter ready for upload, and have contact information for an authorized signatory such as the CEO, president, executive director, or school district superintendent.
Atlas Analysis
Atlas Opportunity Score: 76/100. N9+ Fit: 0/100. QC Healthcare Fit: 0/100. Direct Vendor Fit: 0/100. This is a strong community and economic-mobility opportunity, but its current Blueprint-aligned purpose does not establish a defensible medical-device, remote physical examination, telehealth equipment, or direct healthcare-vendor pathway. Ordinary initial outreach should focus on the verified grant and the applicant’s upward-mobility project, not N9+.
Next Action
Qualify an eligible Kansas organization with a project that clearly advances one Blueprint strategy, verify the authorized signatory and required IRS documentation, confirm that the proposed costs are not prohibited, then complete authoritative CRM Contact, opt-out, bounce, Deal, Atlas_Email_Queue, and prior-send deduplication before ORIGINAL outreach.
Official source: Kansas Health Foundation Upward Mobility Mass Action Mini-Grant Program.