Humanity AI Open Call 2026: $1M Grants & Deadline

Humanity AI Grant Overview

The Humanity AI Open Call is a $10 million grant opportunity for U.S.-based nonprofits, collaborations, and individuals working on community-led projects that shape how artificial intelligence is built, governed, and used. Applications are due October 21, 2026, and funding is organized into three tiers ranging from $75,000 to $1,000,000, focused on education, labor and the economy, and the humanities, arts, and culture.

This guide covers everything you need to know about Humanity AI Open Call 2026:

Humanity AI Open Call 2026: Key Details

Key Detail	Information
Program	Humanity AI Open Call 2026
Administered By	Humanity AI collaborative funding initiative
Who It Helps	U.S.-based community-led organizations, collaborations, and individuals
Main Purpose	Support community-led work shaping AI development, governance, and use
Focus Areas	Education; labor and economy; humanities, arts, and culture
Total Funding Pool	$10 million
Grant Amount	$75,000–$1,000,000
Funding Duration	Up to 3 years
Key Eligibility	U.S.-based projects with eligible 501(c)(3) lead organizations or fiscal sponsors
Individuals	Eligible through a fiscal sponsor or 501(c)(3) intermediary
Application Opens	September 10, 2026
Application Deadline	October 21, 2026
Finalists Notified	December 2026
Awards Announced	Early spring 2027
Selection Criteria	Vision, community leadership, feasibility, impact, credibility, and experience
Official Source	humanityai.ai

What Is the Humanity AI Open Call?

Humanity AI is a five-year, $500 million collaborative funding initiative focused on ensuring that communities have a meaningful voice in how AI is developed, governed, and used. The initiative brings together 10 philanthropic partners to support AI work as a public-interest issue.
The Open Call is its first broad, application-based funding opportunity, designed to reach organizations and individuals with direct experience of AI’s impact.
Key points:

Supports community-led approaches to AI.
Brings together 10 philanthropic partners.
Welcomes nonprofits, workers, artists, educators, and community groups.
You do not need to be an established AI policy organization to apply.
Focuses on communities directly affected by AI and its growing use.

Visit the Official Page

What Is the Humanity AI Open Call 2026?

The 2026 Humanity AI Open Call offers a $10 million funding pool for U.S.-based, community-led projects. It is not a single $10 million grant; the funding will be distributed across successful applicants.

Grants range from $75,000 to $1 million, with projects able to request funding for up to three years. The number of grants is not predetermined, and applicants should check the latest official guidelines before applying.

What Does the Humanity AI Open Call Fund?

The Open Call supports community-led projects in three issue areas:

Education: Work that shapes AI around the interests of students, educators, and communities, with particular interest in proposals led by students, educators, and the organizations that represent them.
Labor and economy: Work that ensures AI enhances rather than replaces workers, with priority interest in projects led by workers and worker-focused organizations.
Humanities, arts, and culture: Work that protects the interests of artists and creators while deepening human creativity and understanding of the lived experience, with interest in proposals led by artists, writers, scholars, and cultural heritage workers.

Within these three areas, funded work must also fit one of three eligible approaches: shaping how AI is governed and used, building AI on community terms, or challenging AI deployments that don’t serve communities. Projects that are primarily AI literacy training, primarily about promoting AI adoption, or research-only are explicitly out of scope.

AI for the Public Good and Why Community Leadership Matters

Community AI focuses on community-led AI work, where the people most affected by AI help define goals, shape solutions, and make key decisions, not simply provide feedback.

This approach values the firsthand knowledge of communities experiencing AI in schools, workplaces, and cultural institutions.

Eligible projects can include:

as long as communities have a meaningful role in leading the work.

Who Is Eligible for the Humanity AI Open Call?

Humanity AI eligibility is open to U.S.-based organizations, collaborations, and individuals proposing work focused on U.S.-based communities. Lead organizations must hold 501(c)(3) status. For-profit organizations may participate as partners within a collaboration but cannot serve as the lead applicant. Tribal governments treated as States under IRC Section 7871 are also eligible.

A few additional rules are worth flagging: organizations that already received a 2026 Humanity AI grant cannot apply as a sole applicant in this round, though they may join a collaboration. Regranting cannot be the sole purpose of a proposal, an intermediary organization needs a programmatic component beyond redistributing funds.

Can Individuals or Informal Groups Apply?

Individuals are eligible to apply, but only with a fiscal sponsor or another 501(c)(3) intermediary serving as the lead applicant. This is a standard fiscal sponsorship arrangement common in nonprofit grantmaking: the fiscal sponsor holds legal and financial responsibility for the grant, while the individual carries out the proposed work. Informal groups without their own nonprofit status would need to apply the same way, through a fiscal sponsor or as part of a collaboration led by an eligible 501(c)(3).

Humanity AI Grant Amounts and Funding Tiers

Tier	Funding Range	Example Fit
Tier 1	$75,000–$150,000	A fiscally sponsored individual practitioner with a focused proposal, an exploratory two-partner collaboration, an emerging organization's early initiative, or a contained pilot from an established organization
Tier 2	$150,000–$500,000	A fiscally sponsored practitioner whose work needs sustained time or production resources, a collaboration with real coordination costs, or an established organization dedicating staff to a new initiative
Tier 3	$500,000–$1,000,000	A coalition requiring substantial coordination, a multi-year initiative with significant technical or infrastructure costs, or an ambitious, resource-intensive pilot

Funding is not pre-allocated across tiers, so applicants are encouraged to apply at the funding level their proposal actually requires rather than defaulting to a smaller ask.

Humanity AI Deadline and Important Dates

Date	Milestone
September 10, 2026	Initial applications open
September 14, 2026	Applicant webinar (informational session for prospective applicants)
October 21, 2026, 7:59 p.m. ET / 4:59 p.m. PT	Initial application deadline
December 2026	Finalists notified
Early spring 2027	Grantee awards announced

Humanity AI notes that dates beyond the initial application deadline are estimates for planning purposes and may shift. Applicants should confirm the current timeline on the official Humanity AI website before finalizing their plans.

How to Apply for the Humanity AI Grant

Step 1: Check Eligibility

Use the organizational readiness tool and confirm that your proposed work focuses on a U.S.-based community. Grant matching services can help compare your organization’s profile and project focus with relevant funding opportunities that align with the program’s eligibility requirements.

Step 2: Choose Your Focus Area

Select the issue area that best fits your proposal: education, labor and economy, or humanities, arts and culture.

Step 3: Select an Eligible Approach

Choose the approach that matches your project, such as shaping AI governance, building AI on community terms, or challenging harmful AI deployment.

Step 4: Choose a Funding Tier

Select the funding level that matches your project’s scope and expected costs.

Step 5: Submit Your Application

Complete the initial application and submit it before the stated deadline.

Step 6: Prepare for the Finalist Round

If selected, provide additional materials such as a budget and measurement plan, and be prepared for a possible interview. Grant community support can offer practical feedback and shared insights to help you refine these materials and prepare for finalist discussions.

Attend community events, message other members, participate in platform activity, and earn points. Points translate into votes, and votes translate into funding.

Humanity AI Application Requirements

For the initial application, applicants complete the published set of application questions.

If selected as a finalist, Humanity AI may request additional application materials, which can include:

Beyond these confirmed requirements, general proposal preparation is also good practice, such as:

However, these additional preparation items are not stated official requirements for the application.

What Makes a Strong Humanity AI Grant Proposal?

From a grant-writing standpoint, the strongest proposals for this kind of community-led funding tend to make a few things clear: the specific problem the project addresses, who is affected and how, why the issue matters in that community’s own context, what the proposed work will actually do, and what outcomes would signal that the work succeeded. Proposals that also speak to longer-term relevance, whether the work could inform policy, strengthen community infrastructure, or build a model others can learn from, tend to read as more complete. This is general proposal guidance, not a checklist drawn from Humanity AI’s own materials.

Humanity AI Evaluation Criteria

Reviewers at Lever for Change, supporting this Open Call, complete an initial screening for eligibility, after which Humanity AI and participating philanthropies evaluate proposals against five published criteria:

Humanity AI has not published a numeric scoring rubric or weighting for these criteria, so applicants should treat this list as the full extent of what has been officially disclosed.

Community-Led AI Projects That Could Fit the Opportunity

The following are illustrative examples only, not confirmed or funded projects:

A worker organization studying how AI is being introduced in a specific industry and organizing around workplace standards for its use.
An education-focused nonprofit helping educators and students develop shared guidelines for AI use in schools.
An arts organization developing a community-centered approach to how AI tools intersect with creative work.
A cultural organization documenting how AI is affecting a specific creative industry or cultural practice.
A community coalition building an audit process to evaluate whether a local AI system is working as intended.

Common Mistakes Applicants Should Avoid

Applying without first checking eligibility and issue-area fit.
Framing the project as general AI education, adoption support, or research alone, all three are out of scope on their own.
Describing a technology or tool without explaining the human or community impact.
Failing to clearly identify the community the work is meant to serve.
Choosing a funding tier that doesn't match the actual scope of the work.
Treating the finalist round as a guarantee of an award.
Waiting until close to the October 21 deadline to begin preparing the application.

Avoiding these issues can help applicants prepare a clearer and more focused application. For broader guidance on identifying and preventing common grant-related errors, see our guide on Common Grant Mistakes and How to Avoid Them.

Final Takeaway

The Humanity AI Open Call is a specific, time-limited funding opportunity: a $10 million pool, three funding tiers between $75,000 and $1,000,000, and a focus on U.S.-based, community-led work in education, labor and the economy, or the humanities, arts, and culture. Eligibility depends on 501(c)(3) status, a qualifying collaboration, or fiscal sponsorship for individuals.

Before applying, confirm your organization’s eligibility, identify the issue area and approach that fits your work, select an appropriate funding tier, and prepare your initial application well ahead of the October 21, 2026 deadline. Because program details can be updated, applicants should verify the latest official guidance on the Humanity AI website before submitting.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Humanity AI Open Call?

It’s a $10 million grant opportunity from the Humanity AI collaborative funding U.S.-based, community-led work that shapes how AI is built, governed, and used.

What is the Humanity AI Open Call 2026?

It’s the current round of the Open Call, open for initial applications from September 10 through October 21, 2026.

How much funding does the Humanity AI Open Call provide?

The total pool is $10 million, with individual grants ranging from $75,000 to $1,000,000 depending on tier.

Is the Humanity AI Open Call a $10 million grant?

No. The $10 million figure represents the total funding pool across all grants in this round, not a single award.

Funding pitches typically take 2–4 days to go live after submission. Funding rounds run approximately one month, so the full cycle can range from one to several months depending on community vote accumulation.

Who is eligible?

U.S.-based 501(c)(3) organizations, collaborations with a 501(c)(3) lead, individuals applying through fiscal sponsorship, and Tribal governments treated as States under IRC Section 7871.

Can individuals apply?

Yes, but only with a fiscal sponsor or another 501(c)(3) intermediary as the lead applicant.

Note: This guide is for informational purposes only. Grant details, eligibility requirements, deadlines, and funding availability may change at any time. Always verify the most current program information through official sources before making any business or funding decisions.

Humanity AI Open Call 2026: Eligibility, Grant Amounts, Deadlines, and How to Apply