Adoption Grants Can Break Through Financial Barriers

Choosing to create your family by adoption is equal parts exciting and overwhelming, especially when you sit down and ask the all-important question, “How will we afford this adoption?” While many may tout adoption from foster care as the best route for lessening your financial burden, we understand and encourage hopeful parents to consider all their adoption options. When international or domestic infant adoption is your chosen path, the question of affording adoption becomes a significant issue to consider.

We are grateful for this guest article from Sarah D., a member of our online community. Sarah, a mom of five, shares her family’s experiences with adoption grants during two domestic infant adoptions. These experiences are hers and do not reflect everyone’s grant-seeking process.

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Tips for Exploring Adoption Grants

We began our adoption journey in 2017. While we were confident in our choice to adopt, how we would pay for the adoption felt less specific. Adoption is expensive! Few people have an extra five-digit pile of cash lying around. We certainly didn’t! My husband is a physical therapist. I am a stay-at-home mom. We live modestly and have made it a priority to live debt-free. We knew we had work to do, but we could complete two adoptions (in 2019 and 2022) completely debt-free!

Adoption grants made the most significant financial difference for our family. We jumped in with both feet, determined to find every grant we could apply to. The worst that could happen was receiving a “no.” We’re so glad we put in the time and effort (and it does take much time and effort!).

We paid for about half of our first adoption with grant money. To our surprise, and with so much gratitude, we paid for a more expensive second adoption with more than double the amount in grants than we received for the first. There is no magic wand. There was a lot of prayers and a whole lot of work. Here are our best tips.

1. Apply as soon as your home study is complete.

Most grant organizations require that you be approved for a home study. I did most of my research into grants while we were doing our home study so that I could send off the applications as soon as our home study was complete! Applying early also means you’re at your highest financial need—you haven’t been awarded any grants yet and likely haven’t done much fundraising.

Applying as soon as possible allowed us to take advantage of matching grants. There are two main types of grants. Direct grants are straightforward: the grantors send funds directly to your agency or attorney for the gifted amount. Matching grants allow you to fundraise, and donors can make tax-deductible donations. The granting organization then matches dollar-for-dollar up to the specified grant amount. We did some fundraising, and when people asked if they could donate directly to us, we directed them to our matching grant and doubled their gift!

2. Apply for any grants you qualify for.

Where do you even start looking?!

Search online. We started our search at Fund Your Adoption. I read through every list and every description, scouring them for ones we fit.
Some adoption professionals provide a list. Please don’t assume it’s comprehensive. There are SO many grants out there that even the professionals may not be aware of!
Adoption-focused social media groups provided some great leads.
Adoption podcasts (like the Infant Adoption Guide Podcast or Fund Your Adoption Podcast.)
We also loved Julie Gumm’s book, You Can Adopt Without Debt.* She’s got a list of grants on her site as well.
Talk to others who have adopted. Word of mouth is powerful! Some grants are state-specific or tied with a church/denomination, so word of mouth may help you find those. For example, a providential connection with a friend at Costco led us to a grant for both adoptions (that also provided seed money for two fundraisers)!

For each adoption, we applied for over twenty grants. Not all grants are created equal, and not all have similar requirements. Read the details. Don’t waste your time applying for ones you can’t get or missing ones you’d have a good chance of receiving!

Some grants are specific to international adoption, and some to domestic infant adoption. Some have an income cap. Others focus on couples journeying through infertility. Some are specifically for older child adoptions or special needs adoptions. Many are faith-based. Some require that the agency be non-profit. Some have almost no restrictions and welcome everyone to apply.

Here’s an additional tip: Consider grants when choosing your adoption professional. Some grants will only be given to a non-profit agency. If you have questions about your agency, clarify whether it holds 501c3 status. (This is the federal non-profit status, which differs from your state’s recognition.)

Don’t forget to factor in the Adoption Tax Credit.

3. Stay organized.

Many grants request documents such as tax forms, references (contact information and/or letters), a copy of your home study, a letter from your adoption professional, etc. Keep hard copies and electronic copies easily accessible. We also kept electronic copies of everything we sent in for our records/reference. When grants ask similar questions or have identical essay requirements, why recreate the wheel each time?)

Keep a record of the grants you have applied for or will apply for and any pertinent notes. I used a comprehensive spreadsheet to track our grant information.

One page included the application information. I recorded things like the grant name, website, contact information, 501c3 requirements, match requirements, how (electronically or by mail) and when we submitted our application, their time frame to notify applicants, application fees, if you can re-apply if denied, and a spot for other notes.
The second sheet I used to track application deadlines. Across the top, I listed “rolling” (for the grants without a deadline, and you could apply anytime) and then each month. I listed each grant on the left side and marked each deadline under the appropriate month to keep track of which grants were coming up. I didn’t want to miss any deadlines.
The last sheet I used to record the information for requesting grant money from the grants we received. Once you’re matched/receive placement, having this in an easy-to-find, central location is helpful. I included the grant name, the amount awarded, who to contact, who the grantor paid (agency or attorney, or directly to us with receipts for expenses), the time frame to receive funds, and any other notes.

4. Work Ahead

After finalizing our home study, we applied for many grants. However, for any grants with future deadlines, we had the applications and additional pieces on hand or easily accessible.

Some grants require a match to apply. Complete as much of the application as possible, even if you haven’t accepted a match yet. Some grants will allow you to send your application and update them when you have a match. Other organizations require a match before you can apply. Be sure to clarify with the grant organization! Adoption has no guaranteed timeline, no matter what type of adoption you choose. For example, matches in domestic infant adoption often occur with very little lead time, including after the baby’s birth. Having all the paperwork ready can relieve stress when your focus, rightly, is on your new baby.

5. Identify References

Many grantors request contact information and letters from your references. Ask your references beforehand if they’d be willing to give their contact information. Also, consider letting them know that some grantors will request letters or reference forms. Think of 2-3 non-relative references who know you well and can write on your behalf. (If they have a connection with adoption, that’s a bonus!) Faith-based grants also often request a character reference from your pastor or a church leader.

Often, references can write a generic letter you can keep on hand. Your references may want to have a letter prepped so they can quickly drop in the specific grant name or specific information when you need it. Give them an advanced warning so you are not waiting for their part to send your application on time.

6. Craft Your Story

No two stories are the same! This part is so important. Your story is how they get to know you more than they can through the words and numbers on an application form. When they ask you to share your story or what led you to adoption, be honest. Share the “why” behind your heart and desire to adopt. Not every grant is based solely on financial need or other eligibility criteria. Please give them a glimpse into your family and explain why you’re an excellent fit for their grant.

Strengthening and Supporting Your Transracial Adoptee

7. Identify Your Financial Need

Don’t assume your need is the greatest or that your need is too insignificant to apply. Be honest. Be clear. If their forms don’t allow you to give a full financial picture, include an attachment where you can give a more detailed picture. Keep grant organizations updated if information changes.

8. Don’t Give Up!

Don’t write your adoption process off before you give yourself a chance! Many families think, “I make too much money.” “There are other families with greater need.” Or, “I already have received grants, I won’t get more.”

Not applying is the only SURE way not to receive a grant. We were nearly fully funded at one point, having saved, fundraised, and received several grants. However, then we found another grant that was a good fit. We doubted we’d get it, but trying didn’t hurt. Instead of denying us, they told us that the very fact that we demonstrated determination to work hard and do everything we could to make our adoption happen was one of the reasons they chose us to award a grant to us. It also was the most significant grant we received!

Some grants allow you to apply again if your application is denied. Do it, especially if your circumstances have changed or your needs have increased for any reason (if fees increase, if you lose money due to a failed match or other unexpected circumstance, if you need to update your home study, etc.). Re-apply — after all, you already know what they require. It hurts nothing to try again!

Granting Organizations to Consider

This list is NOT comprehensive, so please dig deeper to find what fits your situation. (Most of the grants we received were faith-based, and our adoptions were domestic infant adoptions.) With that in mind, here are a few we’d highly recommend looking into:

We’d also recommend checking out a Both Hands project, which combines fundraising with service projects and grant opportunities.

We were approved for a loan but did not use it because we saved, raised money, and received grants to fully fund our adoptions.

It’s worth it!!

It’s not guaranteed, and you must do a lot of work. But the effort can be well worth it. A few of the grants we received have created a community of support, education, encouragement, and financial blessings.

We made no better financial decisions during our adoption processes than applying for grants. Those grants allowed us to adopt twice with no debt! We COULD NOT have done that without adoption grants.

We look forward to paying it forward to other families considering adoption grants to help them afford adoption.

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Thank you, Sarah D., for sharing your family’s exploration of the granting process. We appreciate the depth of information this provides our readers!

Disclaimer: Links to organizations in this article do not imply a relationship with CreatingaFamily.org or endorsement of organizations’ processes or organizational values.

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Image Credits: Pixabay; Marcus Aurelius; Jack Sparrow