A wide range of public food garden projects are welcome — including school gardens, community gardens, food pantry gardens, shelter gardens, job-training gardens, tribal gardens, senior gardens, library gardens, college gardens, healing and therapeutic gardens, and projects that combine several of these. Whatever the form, every project shares three things: it must be a food garden, it must be a public garden, and it must be run by a nonprofit or community cause that can document its nonprofit or public-service status.

No. “Nonprofit cause” covers a broad range of groups — past participants have included schools, churches, shelters, food pantries, and many community groups that are not formally incorporated as 501(c)(3) organizations. What matters is that your project is nonprofit in purpose and that you can document your status (for example, with a nonprofit registration number, a school identification, a letter from a school official, or a description of your group where no formal registration applies). If you are unsure whether your project qualifies, just ask us.

A public garden is one that serves a community rather than a household. We are not able to fund an individual's private garden, even a generous one where the produce is donated — our funding is restricted to nonprofit, community-serving projects.

No — projects anywhere in the world may apply. A few things are worth knowing: a larger share of grants goes to U.S.-based projects, because that is where SeedMoney and its funders are based, and all fundraising and disbursement is handled in U.S. dollars. Projects outside the U.S. must be able to receive funds by bank transfer to an account in the organization's name. SeedMoney cannot send funds to individuals.

Yes. Historically, about a quarter of SeedMoney grants have gone to brand-new projects. For your campaign photo, you can either show the site where the garden will be located — which lets you share before-and-after images later — or show some of the people the garden will serve.

Yes. Projects that received grants in past years are welcome to apply again.

No. The SeedMoney Challenge is running on a new platform, so everyone needs to create a new account, including returning campaign leaders. Your past participation does not carry over a login.

Please create only one campaign per garden project. If your organization or school wants to run campaigns for two separate projects, ask a second person from your group to register and create the second campaign.

No — you can save your application and return to edit it as many times as you need before submitting it.

Campaign leaders can edit their campaign freely before submitting it. Once a campaign is live, it can no longer be edited directly — but if you need a change, you can request one through the help section of your campaign leader dashboard, and we will assist you.

Funds may be used for the nonprofit food garden project described in your application — for many groups that means operating costs like seeds, supplies, tools, and compost; for others it means a specific need such as an irrigation system or a greenhouse. You know your project best. To keep your campaign clear and trustworthy for donors, describe your project's needs as specifically as you can.

Your campaign page includes social media sharing tools, and you can also share your campaign link directly. Word of mouth matters as much as anything — mentions in newsletters, local newspapers, community groups, and personal outreach to people who know your project all make a real difference. SeedMoney also provides outreach resources to help.

Yes — and it is common. A project can receive a Challenge Grant and a Strong Start Grant, for example. Projects located in Maine or in the Global South can also qualify for a Geographic Interest Grant on top of any other grants. No separate application is needed; entering the Challenge considers you for every grant you qualify for. See How It Works for the full grant breakdown.

Yes. You may contribute to your own campaign — but for the purpose of grant eligibility, only the first $100 of a campaign leader's own contributions counts toward your totals. This keeps the Challenge fair: SeedMoney's crowdgranting approach is meant to help projects broaden their base of support rather than rely on a few large donors.

Challenge Grant winners are announced shortly after the Challenge closes, once final project rankings are verified. Geographic Interest Grant winners are announced by the end of the following January.

Funds are disbursed after the Challenge concludes. Projects in the U.S. receive a paper check, mailed during the second week of January. Projects outside the U.S. receive funds by bank transfer through Wise, beginning the third week of January.

Your project keeps every dollar donated to it, whether or not it reaches its goal. There is no minimum to keep what you raise — so it is always worth donating to a project, even one that seems unlikely to hit its target. One exception applies to international projects: see the note on the minimum for international disbursement on the How It Works page.

Each campaign page has a donate button. Donations are processed by GiveButter, SeedMoney's payment platform, which handles your payment securely. After donating, you will receive a confirmation email.

Donations are tax-deductible under U.S. tax law. The legal recipient of your donation is SeedMoney, a Maine-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which then directs your contribution to the garden project you chose to support. Deductibility for residents of other countries depends on local law.

Donations are generally final. If you believe a donation was made in error — for example, a duplicate gift or an incorrect amount — please contact us as soon as possible at challenge@seedmoney.org and we will do our best to help.