Grant Guidelines
PeopleForBikes’ Bike Industry Community Grant Program supports bicycle infrastructure projects and targeted initiatives that make it easier and safer for people of all ages and abilities to bike. Grant amounts range from $5,000 to $10,000. Please review the following information before submitting a Letter of Interest. Requests that are incomplete or do not fall within our funding priority areas will not be considered.
As part of our strategic focus to improve bicycling in specific U.S. communities, PeopleForBikes’ Industry Community Grant Program is accepting applications by invitation only for 2024. Please check back in 2025 for more information.
Who Can Apply
The following entities are eligible for grants from PeopleForBikes’ Industry Community Grant Program. All organizations must be based in the United States.
- Non-profit organizations, including organizations relying upon a fiscal sponsor for their nonprofit status.
- Local or state government agencies or federal agencies working locally.
- Small businesses, such as bicycle retailers and community-oriented businesses serving disadvantaged communities.
Projects that qualify for funding:
Our top priority is funding infrastructure projects that improve a community’s City Ratings score by building connections in a low-stress bikeway network or improving access to recreational amenities. Grants should support the material costs of infrastructure construction or non-material costs directly related and necessary to getting infrastructure built. Our grants range from $5,000 to $10,000. Our priority is supporting efforts where grants make a difference, especially in support of communities impacted by historic disinvestment.
- Costs related to the development of permanent bike infrastructure, including trails, shared-use paths, bike parks, pump tracks, bicycle playgrounds, neighborhood greenways/bike boulevards, and protected bike lanes
- Costs related to “quick-build” or “demonstration projects,” provided that any temporary infrastructure is part of a strategy to subsequently develop permanent infrastructure
- Land or easement acquisition costs for bike infrastructure
- Events or programs that support cultural acceptance and support of specific planned or recently constructed bike infrastructure projects, like “bike buses” or “community bike rides.” Such events or programs must show a connection between the event and organizing for permanent infrastructural improvements and must show a likelihood of permanence beyond the term of the grant.
What we don’t fund
- Planning or engineering studies
- Maintenance or operating costs, except for one-time costs of operating an event designed to bring attention to an infrastructure project
- Cycling education programs, unless education is an element of an event designed to bring attention to an infrastructure project
- Bike giveaway programs
- Enforcement programs
- Races, clinics, or classes
- Bike recycling, repair, or earn-a-bike programs
- Start-up costs for businesses
- Projects outside the United States
Priority will be given to the following types of projects
- Funding that closes a financial gap that allows a project to move forward
- Funding that leverages additional funds
- Projects that address historical inequities in low-income communities and communities of color
- Projects that are part of a larger strategy to build a network of bikeways and bike facilities that enable people of all ages and abilities to access bicycling as transportation or recreation
2024 Industry Community Grant Schedule
September 1: Application Process Opens
October 11: Letters of Interest Due
Late October: Applicants Invited to Submit Full Applications
November 29: Applications Due
Early January 2025: Grants Awarded
Get Started
Please submit a Letter of Interest. Letters of Interest will be accepted starting September 1 , 2024, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Select applicants will then be invited to submit a full application. Final applications will be due November 29, 2024, and grants will be awarded in early January 2025.
Questions?
If you have any questions about the grant process, please email infrastructure@peopleforbikes.org.