Nationwide, an estimated 3.8 million college students experience basic needs insecurity. In California, the challenge is especially acute with over 40% of postsecondary students facing food insecurity and nearly 3 in 5 California Community College students experiencing housing insecurity. These barriers directly impact student success and completion. 

In response, Michelson 20MM is launching the 2026 Student Basic Needs Spark Grants funding cycle, which will be open for proposals from May 26 to June 9, 2026. 

The Spark Grants Platform is designed as an innovative just-in-time grantmaking process to fund macro-level projects that support systems-level strategies, creating impact at scale and informing public policy. Grants of up to $25,000 will be awarded in support of initiatives that address our focus areas.

Funding Cycle Focus Areas

• Systemic approaches and actionable strategies for higher education systems to address student housing insecurity and housing affordability. We are primarily focused on:
  • Integrating affordable housing into broader student basic needs strategies across higher education systems, for example, rising utility costs and tenant rights
  • Aligning housing plans, policies, and implementation efforts across segments (e.g., community colleges, CSU, UC)
  • Leveraging and streamlining existing housing grant programs and funding mechanisms to maximize impact
  • Innovative approaches that utilize existing housing infrastructure and cross-sector partnerships to address the housing crisis
  • Policy advocacy efforts that systematically address student housing insecurity
• Innovative approaches that strengthen equitable economic mobility and long-term student stability. Areas in which we hope to achieve this include:
  • Expanding workforce development pipelines that promote economic mobility for low-income and first-generation students (including those that strategically leverage work study).
  • Efforts that expand and streamline student access, enrollment, and maintaining of  public benefits at scale, including CalFresh, CalWORKs, and Medi-Cal
  • Models that move basic needs operations from grant-based to sustainable, institutionalized systems with skilled, permanent staff (including innovative approaches that mitigate the impact of recent federal policy shifts).
• Actionable research, data, and strategies that inform policy and advocacy efforts. Priorities include:
  • Research and practice that supports timely policy response to emerging federal and state changes, (e.g., HR1 impacts), such as expanded emergency aid from campuses and government funding
  • Student-centered storytelling, narrative-building, and messaging that strengthen advocacy and policy implementation
  • Data collection and analysis related to student access to healthcare and public benefits (including Medi-Cal enrollment and uninsured student populations)
  • Analysis of funding flows and impact, including federal dollars brought into California through student benefit enrollment
  • Tools and systems that improve tracking, coordination, and responsiveness to both short-term and long-term basic needs challenges

Funding Cycle Details

• We will award grants of up to $25,000 to nonprofits and educational institutions supporting projects aligned with one or more of the focus areas outlined above. Please note that proposals must clearly address at least one of these focus areas to be considered.
• We welcome proposals where Michelson Spark Grant funds are part of a larger overall project with multiple funding streams.
• The Spark Grants Program is available to United States–based nonprofits and educational institutions. For this round, we have decided to focus our impact on organizations that are doing work in California. Organizations whose work does not impact California will be ineligible for this opportunity. 

Join Us to Learn More

On May 19th, members of the grant committee will host an informational webinar, which will provide an in-depth overview of the Spark Grants Platform, highlight past awardees, and provide detailed updates on the funding cycle.

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About the Michelson 20MM Foundation

Michelson 20MM is a private, nonprofit foundation working toward equity for underserved and historically underrepresented communities by expanding access to educational and employment opportunities, increasing affordability of educational programs, and ensuring the necessary supports are in place for individuals to thrive. To do so, we work in the following verticals: Digital Equity, Intellectual Property, Smart Justice, Student Basic Needs, and Open Educational Resources (OER). Co-chaired and funded by Alya and Gary Michelson, Michelson 20MM is part of the Michelson Philanthropies network of foundations.

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