Monday is tech & innovation day on The Grant Brief.

Three funders backing technology as a tool for social impact, at very different scales: a national science-and-technology foundation, a corporate accessibility program, and a place-based arts-and-tech challenge. All three take applications now.

What we know: Sloan is one of the country's most established funders of science, technology, and economics, and its Digital Technology program backs work on open-source software, data infrastructure, digital privacy, and the public-interest technology field. Grants in this exploratory line commonly run from roughly $50,000 to $400,000. Intake is a short Letter of Inquiry year-round; promising ones are invited to a full proposal. This is project funding for a specific, well-scoped idea, not general operating support.

Realistic fit: universities, research institutes, and nonprofits with a concrete public-interest technology project, ideally one that produces an open, reusable tool or evidence base. A crisp, technically credible LOI matters more than a polished narrative.

What we know: AI for Accessibility funds projects that use AI to improve outcomes for people with disabilities, across employment, daily life, and communication. Awards combine cash (commonly up to about $100,000), Azure compute credits, and access to Microsoft engineers. Microsoft's charitable arm funds technology at scale (its recent giving includes a $2.5 million grant to Code.org), and this program is squarely for applied, deployable tools.

Realistic fit: nonprofits, research teams, or social enterprises with a working or near-working AI prototype that measurably helps people with disabilities. You need a technical team and a clear accessibility outcome, not just an idea.

What we know: The Knight Foundation made 513 grants totaling $147.7 million in its latest year, at an $85,000 median, with top recipients including The Miami Foundation, The Associated Press, and Georgetown University. This fund supports organizations using technology to expand how people experience and participate in the arts, but it is limited to three Knight communities: Akron, Detroit, and Miami. Outside those cities, this one isn't for you.

Realistic fit: arts and culture organizations in Akron, Detroit, or Miami using technology (digital platforms, immersive media, data) to reach and engage audiences.

The thread: each rewards a working model over a concept. Sloan wants a technically credible LOI, Microsoft wants a deployable prototype, and Knight wants a live arts-tech project in one of three cities. If you can't point to something already built or building, none of these is the right ask yet.