Are you looking for grants to pay for activities, recreation, dementia engagement, technology, arts, music or wellness programs for nursing-home residents?

If YES, here are some of the most realistic funding sources to investigate in the United States.

One important thing to understand before applying is that not every grant for older adults is available directly to a nursing home.

This is especially important if your facility is operated for profit. Some government programs allow certified nursing facilities to apply directly, while many private foundations limit their grants to:

• 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations;
• Government agencies;
• Universities;
• Community organizations;
• Other charitable entities.

If you operate a for-profit nursing home, this does not necessarily mean you have no options. You may be able to:

• Apply directly for programs that permit nursing facilities;
• Partner with a nonprofit organization;
• Partner with an arts organization;
• Work with a university or research institution;
• Participate in a community-wide funded project.

The most important thing is to match the proposed activity with the purpose of the grant.

Best Grants and Funding Sources for Nursing Home Activities

1. CMS Civil Money Penalty Reinvestment Program

If you operate a Medicare- or Medicaid-certified nursing facility, this should be one of the first funding programs you investigate.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services allows a portion of Civil Money Penalty funds collected from nursing facilities to be reinvested in projects that benefit nursing-home residents.

The program is commonly known as the Civil Money Penalty Reinvestment Program, or CMPRP.

Funding is administered through individual states, so the application process and available funding can vary depending on where your nursing home is located.

What Can the Money Be Used For?

Qualifying projects can include programs designed to improve residents’ quality of care or quality of life. Possible projects may involve:

• Resident engagement;
• Social interaction;
• Mental and behavioral health;
• Dementia-related programming;
• Resident and family councils;
• Technology that directly benefits residents;
• Staff education connected with an approved quality-improvement initiative;
• Other innovative resident-centered projects.

This means a well-designed activity program can potentially qualify if you can demonstrate that it produces a meaningful benefit for residents rather than simply paying for ordinary entertainment.

Who Can Apply?

Eligible applicants can include:

• CMS-certified nursing facilities;
• Nursing-facility corporations;
• Consumer organizations;
• Resident and family councils;
• Academic organizations;
• Professional associations;
• Other qualified organizations.

This makes CMPRP particularly important because a nursing facility does not necessarily have to be a nonprofit to participate.

What Will Usually Not Be Funded?

Do not use your proposal simply to replace expenses the facility is already responsible for paying. Examples of expenses that generally present problems include:

• Routine operating expenses;
• Ordinary facility maintenance;
• Regular staff salaries;
• Training already required by regulation;
• Resident or staff gifts;
• Services already paid for through Medicare, Medicaid or another government source.

Your proposal should represent an improvement or innovation rather than an attempt to shift normal operating expenses onto the grant.

How to Apply

The application is handled at state level. Look for your state’s Civil Money Penalty Reinvestment Program or contact the state agency responsible for nursing-home oversight.

You should be prepared to explain:

• The problem you are trying to solve;
• Who will participate;
• What activities will take place;
• How much the project will cost;
• How residents will benefit;
• How you will measure the results.

2. State Creative Aging and Arts Grants

If you want funding for:

• Painting;
• Drawing;
• Music;
• Dance;
• Crafts;
• Creative writing;
• Theatre;
• Other structured arts activities,

your state arts agency may be worth investigating. Creative Aging grant programs are increasingly being used to bring professional teaching artists into settings serving older adults.

For example, programs in different states have funded sequential arts classes in:

• Senior centers;
• Assisted living communities;
• Libraries;
• Residential aging communities;
• Other organizations serving older adults.

The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies has also supported state-level Creative Aging initiatives designed to expand arts participation among older Americans.

Potential Activities

A nursing home could potentially build a project around:

• Eight-week painting classes;
• Resident choir programs;
• Photography workshops;
• Creative writing;
• Dance and movement;
• Pottery;
• Music-making;
• Intergenerational arts projects.

These programs usually favor structured learning and social engagement rather than simply paying an entertainer to perform once.

For-Profit Nursing Homes

Many arts grants require the applicant to be a nonprofit or government entity.

If your nursing home does not qualify directly, consider partnering with:

• A local arts nonprofit;
• A museum;
• A community arts center;
• A nonprofit teaching-artist organization.

3. Local Community Foundation Grants

One of the most overlooked funding sources is the community foundation serving your city, county or region. Community foundations often fund local projects involving:

• Older adults;
• Health;
• Mental health;
• Social isolation;
• Arts;
• Community engagement;
• Technology access;
• Quality of life.

For example, instead of applying for a vague grant to “fund our activity department,” you might propose:

A 12-month resident social-connection program designed to reduce isolation among nursing-home residents through weekly music, arts and intergenerational activities.

That sounds much more like a fundable project.

How to Find Local Foundations

Search for:

• Your city + community foundation;
• Your county + community foundation;
• Your state + aging foundation;
• Your region + health foundation.

Also speak with:

• Local hospitals;
• Area aging organizations;
• United Way organizations;
• Local philanthropists;
• Senior-service nonprofits.

Many small grants are never promoted nationally because they are specifically designed for organizations within one community.

4. RRF Foundation for Aging

RRF Foundation for Aging is a private foundation focused on improving the quality of life of older people. Its current priorities include areas such as:

• Social connection;
• Caregiving;
• Age equity;
• Economic security;
• Housing.

For a nursing-home activity program, social connection is potentially the most relevant area. A strong project might address:

• Loneliness;
• Resident isolation;
• Intergenerational engagement;
• Meaningful relationships;
• Community connection.

However, RRF should not be treated as a general recreation grant for individual for-profit nursing homes.

Direct-service grants have geographic and organizational eligibility restrictions, while nationally focused funding tends to support broader research, advocacy and knowledge-sharing efforts.

This opportunity is therefore more realistic for an eligible nonprofit organization or a facility working through an appropriate nonprofit partner.

5. AARP Community Challenge

AARP operates an annual Community Challenge grant program designed to make communities more livable for people of all ages, particularly adults aged 50 and older.

These are usually quick-action community improvement grants rather than grants for a nursing home’s ordinary recreation budget. Potentially relevant projects can involve:

• Digital connections;
• Accessible community spaces;
• Public places;
• Transportation;
• Disaster preparedness;
• Community engagement.

For example, a nonprofit nursing facility or community partner might develop an accessible outdoor engagement area that also connects residents with the surrounding community.

Another possibility could be a technology initiative that helps older adults participate more fully in digital community life.

The 2026 application cycle has already closed, so facilities interested in this program should monitor future annual funding rounds rather than submitting an outdated 2026 application.

6. Brookdale National Group Respite Program

The Brookdale Foundation Group offers a more specialized opportunity.

Its National Group Respite Program supports community-based social-model respite and early-memory-loss programs for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

Supported activities are designed to provide:

• Meaningful social interaction;
• Recreational activities;
• Cognitive engagement;
• Support for caregivers;
• Respite.

This is not a general-purpose nursing-home activity grant. It is better suited to an organization developing a qualifying dementia or early-memory-loss program.

Applicant organizations must generally have appropriate nonprofit tax-exempt status.

For-profit nursing homes interested in the concept may therefore need to explore a partnership with a qualified nonprofit organization.

7. Administration for Community Living Grant Partnerships

The Administration for Community Living funds a wide range of programs supporting older adults and people with disabilities.

However, it would be misleading to tell a nursing home that ACL routinely hands out recreation grants directly to individual facilities. ACL funding is commonly awarded to organizations such as:

• State governments;
• Local governments;
• Nonprofit organizations;
• Universities;
• Other eligible organizations.

Programs can involve issues such as:

• Falls prevention;
• Nutrition;
• Caregiver support;
• Long-term-care advocacy;
• Community services;
• Health promotion.

A nursing home can therefore benefit by watching ACL-funded initiatives in its state and looking for opportunities to participate as a:

• Project site;
• Community partner;
• Pilot location;
• Referral partner.

This is a partnership strategy rather than a source of money for ordinary bingo, parties or entertainment.

8. National Institute on Aging Research and Innovation Partnerships

The National Institute on Aging funds substantial research into aging, dementia and the health and wellbeing of older adults.

However, NIA is not an ordinary nursing-home activity grant program. Its funding is primarily intended for:

• Research institutions;
• Universities;
• Investigators;
• Clinical studies;
• Eligible small businesses developing aging-related innovations.

A nursing facility may nevertheless become involved as a research or implementation site. For example, a university may obtain funding to study:

• Dementia communication;
• Social engagement;
• Falls prevention;
• Resident wellbeing;
• New technologies;
• Care interventions.

The nursing home could then participate in the funded project.

If you have an innovative product or technology business rather than simply a nursing-home activity department, NIA’s small-business research programs can also be worth investigating.

Which Grants Are Best for Different Nursing Home Activities?

Can a For-Profit Nursing Home Get a Grant?

Yes, but your options are narrower. Do not assume that because your residents are older adults you automatically qualify for every grant focused on seniors.

Many private foundations will only make grants to charitable organizations.

A for-profit nursing home should therefore focus first on programs where facility participation is specifically allowed, particularly the CMS Civil Money Penalty Reinvestment Program.

For other grants, consider partnering with:

• A nonprofit arts organization;
• A community foundation;
• A university;
• A charitable senior-services organization;
• A local government agency.

How to Make a Nursing Home Activity Grant More Competitive

Do not submit a proposal that simply says: “We need $10,000 for resident activities.” Instead, identify the resident problem you are trying to solve.

Example

You might explain that:

• Many residents have limited family contact;
• Resident surveys show social isolation is a concern;
• Your facility will introduce a 12-month creative engagement program;
• Residents will participate in two structured sessions each week;
• The program will include music, art and intergenerational activities;
• You will measure participation and resident satisfaction.

That gives the funder a clear:

• Problem;
• Solution;
• Budget;
• Outcome.

Activities You Could Seek Grant Funding For

Depending on the particular funding program, possible projects could include:

• Resident gardening programs;
• Painting and drawing classes;
• Music participation programs;
• Intergenerational programs;
• Technology for resident communication;
• Virtual family engagement;
• Dementia activity programs;
• Resident storytelling projects;
• Exercise and movement programs;
• Outdoor engagement projects;
• Resident and family councils;
• Creative writing;
• Photography;
• Social-connection initiatives.

The key is to match the activity to the funder’s purpose rather than selecting the activity first and then trying to force it into an unrelated grant.

Programs From Older Grant Lists You Should Approach Carefully

Some organizations commonly appear in online lists of “nursing home grants,” but they should not be presented as though an administrator can simply submit an application for resident activities.

AARP Foundation

AARP Foundation currently focuses heavily on improving economic opportunities and financial security for lower-income older adults.

That is different from funding ordinary nursing-home recreational programming.

MetLife Foundation

MetLife Foundation’s grantmaking focuses on areas such as financial health, economic inclusion and resilient communities.

It also does not generally review unsolicited grant proposals in the way a conventional open application program would.

It should therefore not be presented as a routine nursing-home activity grant.

May & Stanley Smith Charitable Trust

The Trust has supported work involving older adults, but it is not currently accepting unsolicited funding requests.

Listing it as though a nursing home can simply submit a grant application would therefore be misleading.