Minnesota Housing opens $2 million in grants for nonprofits building their capacity to solve housing problems
Awards of up to $100,000 over two years pay for planning, partnerships, training and pilot projects, not for building housing or helping with rent. Nonprofits and tribal governments apply by Dec. 10, and an information session is set for Oct. 26.
St. Paul. Minnesota Housing, the state's housing finance agency, is taking applications until Dec. 10 for up to $2 million in grants that pay nonprofits and tribal governments to strengthen their own ability to take on housing problems, rather than to build housing or pay rent.
The agency posted its 2026 Capacity Building Program request for proposals on Oct. 16. Each grantee can receive up to $100,000 for a two-year grant period, and the agency says it may, but is not obligated to, award the full $2 million. An online information session is set for Oct. 26 from 11 a.m. to noon Central time.
What the money pays for
Applicants choose one of two uses. Under organizational capacity building, a group builds its own capacity to lead work on a housing goal, problem or gap: pilot projects that test creative solutions, partnerships, community engagement and leadership development, or information on housing rights and responsibilities. Under intermediary capacity building, an organization builds the skills of others through technical assistance, training or subgrants, for instance to hire consultants, or by convening a community to identify its housing needs and write a housing plan.
Staff salaries, training, consultants, stipends for community participation and meeting costs are eligible, and up to 15 percent of a grant may go to administration. Housing development and predevelopment costs, rental or down payment assistance to individuals, direct client services, building operations such as property management and security, shelter and transitional housing work, and scholarships are not.
Grants are paid mostly in advance. Later payments require spending at least half of the current funds and filing a financial report every three months and a narrative report every six.
Who can apply and when
Section 501(c)(3) nonprofits registered and in good standing with the Minnesota Secretary of State can apply, as can tribal governments and tribal business entities. Each must have operated for at least one calendar year by the deadline. Other government bodies, businesses and educational institutions can take part only as subgrantees or consultants. An organization may submit one application, or up to three as a fiscal agent, and the agency will give priority to organizational applicants it did not fund in its 2024 round.
Phase one applications are due at noon Central time on Dec. 10. One passage of the instructions gives Dec. 8, but the program page and the published timeline both say Dec. 10. Finalists are to be invited around Jan. 6, 2027, to submit a second phase by March 8. Staff plan to recommend grantees to the agency's board on June 24, 2027, and contracts are to run from Aug. 2, 2027, to Oct. 31, 2029. All dates may change, the agency says.
About this story
501c3.help wrote this story from the sources listed with it, not from material an organization sent. Our editors approved it on Oct. 23, 2026. Stories in The Nonprofit Herald are free, and nothing is asked in return. Editorial rules.
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