Thursday is education & youth day on The Grant Brief.

Three funders, three different points on the education pipeline: early childhood, college-and-career readiness, and regional systems work. Two take applications year-round; one has a hard August deadline.

What we know: Kellogg is one of the country's largest and best-known funders of early-childhood work, focused on improving the quality of children's experiences, learning, and life outcomes from birth through age 8. It accepts Letters of Inquiry year-round through an open portal rather than fixed rounds. Be realistic about the odds: most of Kellogg's grantmaking is proactively sourced around its priority places and racial-equity strategy, so a cold LOI is a long shot. What moves the needle is a clear fit with early-childhood systems change and demonstrated community trust, not just strong programming.

Realistic fit: established organizations doing early-childhood systems, family-engagement, or education-equity work, ideally with roots in Kellogg's priority communities and a track record of measurable outcomes.

What we know: The Bailey Trust funds through a Letter of Inquiry pathway across several program initiatives, with Eager to Learn supporting college and trade-career readiness, including SAT/ACT prep and trade-school mentoring. The foundation reports a median grant of $25,000 (2025) and caps program grants at that level, so this is operating-scale support, not transformational capital. The process starts with an eligibility quiz; strong candidates are invited to submit a full proposal.

Realistic fit: nonprofits running concrete college-access, test-prep, or career-and-technical pathways for students, with clear outcomes and a defined population served.

What we know: Every one of BDFF's 257 lifetime grants went to Georgia organizations, totaling $3.3 million. The most recent year (2025) showed 52 grants at a $15,000 median. Top recipients include Chris 180 ($120,000 over two grants), Richmont Graduate University ($110,000 over three), and Ser Familia ($75,000). Grantmaking skews toward human services, higher education, and systems-level work: workforce pipelines, policy, and coordination.

Realistic fit: established Georgia nonprofits doing education or mental-health systems work, especially those rooted in Metro Atlanta's equity-focused coalitions.

The thread across all three: each rewards specificity about the point in the pipeline you move, early learning, college-and-career access, or regional systems, not just how many young people you reach. If you can't name where you fit, none of these is the right ask.