About Yoga Alliance Community Impact Grants
Introducing the Yoga Alliance Community Impact Grants: Yoga Alliance’s latest investment in expanding yoga access around the world. These Community Impact Grants are designed to impact communities through:
- Supporting communities experiencing marginalization,
- Expanding access to yoga and wellness, and
- Reducing the financial, geographic, cultural, and institutional barriers that keep people from teaching, training, and practicing yoga.
Through these grants, Yoga Alliance supports nonprofit organizations and initiatives that focus on communities experiencing marginalization by:
- Expanding access to yoga,
- Promoting equity and inclusion,
- Growing representation in yoga teaching and training,
- Serving communities with specialized needs, and
- Advancing community wellness
These Community Impact Grants are provided as general operating support, flexible funding that grantees can direct to where it is needed most. Please, carefully review the full details below before starting the application process.
Please note: An organization’s funding request cannot exceed one-third (⅓) of its annual operating budget.
Grant Options
Community-Based Grants of $5,000- $25,000
For community-based nonprofit organizations that are already expanding access, representation, and wellness through yoga in a single community or geographic area, doing grassroots work. These organizations have the potential to replicate or grow their impact.
Minimum annual operating budget: $15,000
Submit by January 31, 2027, to be considered for grants awarded by March/Spring 2027.
Scale & Multi-Site Grants of $25,001–$50,000
For nonprofit organizations already working at scale or positioned to multiply their impact through yoga programs. These organizations are positioned to reach new communities, launch in new locations, scale across multiple sites or partner programs, or otherwise extend yoga’s reach.
Minimum annual operating budget: $75,000
Submit early bird applications by October 15, 2026, to be considered for grants awarded by December 2026.
Submit by January 31, 2027, to be considered for grants awarded by March/Spring 2027.
Disclaimer:
*Grants are provided as general operating support, flexible funding that grantees can direct to where it’s needed most.
**Both grant windows share the same organizational eligibility requirements. Please carefully review the “Who Can Apply” Section for full details before preparing your application.
Who Can Apply
Minimum Organizational Criteria
All qualified applicants will fit the following criteria:
- Fall under one of the three following organization types:
- 501(c)(3) organizations
- Fiscally sponsored organizations
- International, non-US nonprofits, with the exception of organizations based in Cuba, Iran, and North Korea.
- Demonstrated at least 2 years of experience supporting community-level yoga teaching or training
- Program alignment with:
- Grant program goals of expanding access to yoga, promoting equity and inclusion, growing representation in yoga teaching and training, serving communities with specialized needs, and advancing community wellness, with a focus on communities experiencing marginalization.
- Yoga Alliance Purpose, Mission, and Vision. Read more here.
- Demonstrated community impact
Ineligible applicants
- Organizations whose primary purpose is lobbying and political in nature.
- Individuals
Note: Applicants do not have to be Yoga Alliance members; this grant is open to the public.
These grants will support organizations that already provide the following types of yoga programming:
- Support the expansion of representation in yoga teaching/training
- Expand access to yoga
- Promote accessibility, equity, and inclusion in yoga programming
- Support specialized needs
- Advance community wellness
Activities not currently eligible for funding
Grant funds may not be used for any activities that would jeopardize Yoga Alliance Foundation’s status as a tax-exemption organization under IRC Section 501(c)(3). Prohibited activities include lobbying, and intervening in any election or supporting or opposing any political party or candidate for public office, to the extent such activities would cause your organization or Yoga Alliance Foundation to exceed limitations under IRC Section 501(c)(3).
In addition, we will not be funding the following:
- Multi-year requests
- Loans/other financial investments
- Past operating deficits
How to Apply
Applications are currently open as of September 1, 2026 and follow a two-step process:
Step 1: Registration and Eligibility Check
Closes 1 week prior to the application window closing.
- For Scale and Multi-Site grants only: Submit early bird registration for Application Window 1 by October 8, 2026 at 5PM EST.
- Submit registration for Application Window 2 by January 24, 2027 at 5PM ET.
Step 2: Community Impact Grant Application
- Application Window 1 for Scale and Multi-Site grants only: Submit early bird application by October 15, 2026 at 5PM EST. Grants will be awarded by December 2026.
- Application Window 2: Submit application by January 31, 2027 at 5PM ET. Grants will be awarded by Spring 2027.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can the grant funds be used?
Grants are provided as general operating support, so grantees can direct funding to where they see the greatest need.
Grant funding can also be used to support capacity-building work that helps grow and diversify an organization’s revenue base for long-term sustainability. For example, fundraising strategy support, revenue diversification planning, consultant engagements, development staff training, or courses and certifications that build organizational capacity.
Do you have an offline copy of the full application that I can reference?
Yes! You can download an offline version of the application here. Please be sure to refer to our evaluation rubric found in the FAQ page when developing your application. Note that your organization needs to complete the eligibility check process before submitting a full application.
What is your stance on AI?
We’re still shaping our thinking on AI and what its utility looks like in practice. That said, here’s our general guidance for this application:
AI tools can be helpful for things like editing, tightening language, or organizing your ideas — feel free to use them that way. What we’re hoping to avoid is having AI generate your responses from scratch. The details that matter most to us are the ones only your team can share: your specific experiences, challenges, and the story of your work. That authenticity is what helps reviewers really understand and connect with your application.
Still have questions? Visit our full list of program FAQs.
Since 2020, Yoga Alliance has invested over $1.5 million to help make yoga more widely accessible to the global community.
These investments, made possible by our members, community donations, and other support, directly support teachers, organizations, and community leaders who are expanding yoga’s presence in schools, healthcare settings, shelters, prisons, and more – all over the world. Through programs, sponsorships, and grants, these changemakers ensure that yoga is more accessible to those who need it most.
Learn more about how we grow yoga’s reach.
Impact of Yoga Alliance's Community Investments
