NFWF Invites Full Proposals for Multimillion-Dollar Coastal Resilience Fund
April 1, 2026 · 2 min read
Jared Klein
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation has closed pre-proposals for its 2026 National Coastal Resilience Fund and is now moving selected applicants into the full proposal phase, with final submissions due June 24, 2026. The NOAA-backed program funds nature-based solutions that protect coastal communities from storms, flooding, and erosion while restoring fish and wildlife habitat.
Implementation awards typically range from $1 million to $7 million.
What the Fund Supports
The National Coastal Resilience Fund (NCRF) supports four categories of work, each with different award ranges:
- Community Capacity Building and Planning: $100,000 to $1.5 million for communities developing coastal resilience strategies
- Site Assessment and Preliminary Design: $100,000 to $1.5 million for engineering and feasibility studies
- Final Design and Permitting: $100,000 to $1.5 million for construction-ready design work
- Restoration Implementation: $1 million to $7 million for building nature-based infrastructure such as marshes, living shorelines, floodplain reconnections, and dune restorations
There is no maximum award cap — amounts scale with project scope and regional needs. Notably, non-federal match is encouraged but not required, lowering the barrier for under-resourced coastal communities.
Who Can Apply
Eligible applicants include 501(c) nonprofits, state and local governments, tribal governments and organizations, educational institutions, and commercial entities. Projects must be located in coastal areas of U.S. states (including Great Lakes states), territories, or tribal lands, defined as coastal HUC-8 watersheds that drain to the sea.
The program is primarily funded by NOAA, with additional support from Shell USA.
Next Steps for Invited Applicants
Organizations that submitted pre-proposals by the March 31 deadline should watch for invitation notifications from NFWF. Invited applicants must submit full proposals through NFWF's Easygrants portal by June 24 at 11:59 PM ET. Award announcements are expected in late November or early December 2026.
Coastal communities exploring federal and foundation resilience funding can compare programs on grantedai.com.
For a detailed look at how NCRF fits into the broader coastal resilience funding landscape, visit the Granted blog.