Announcing a New Feature to Our Colorado State Grant Database for Nonprofits
October 29, 2026

As of our latest update on October 28, our Colorado State Grant Database for Nonprofits now makes it easier to find state grants for nonprofits that have an advance payment option. Database users can now filter opportunities to see grants where the awarding agency has indicated advance payments are available, so organizations can receive funds before the work begins rather than after.

Until recently, advance payments to nonprofits awarded grants from the State of Colorado were primarily awarded on a reimbursement basis, meaning the state would pay nonprofits after expenses were already incurred and an invoice was submitted for reimbursement. For a small organization without cash reserves, that can mean a grant it won is a grant it can’t afford to accept.

In May 2026, the legislature passed House Bill 26-1274, which CLCT championed and led advocacy efforts for, expanding permissive legislative authority to advance payments to nonprofit grantees to all state agencies. The bill gives state agencies the option, though not the requirement, to advance payments to nonprofit grantees. It addresses a barrier coalition members raised with us for years: reimbursement-based grantmaking that shuts out organizations without cash on hand.

The law went into effect on August 12, 2026, and in addition to the permissive authority to advance payment to nonprofit grantees, state agencies are also required to provide notice of the advance payment option. 

How to find grants with advance payments

To find grants with an advance payment option in our database, simply log in to the grant database and navigate to the “All Grants” page, open the “Advance Payment Option” drop-down menu on the left side of the page, and select the “Advance Payment Available” option. The list will narrow to grants where the agency has indicated advance payments are available.

Because advance payments are optional, they won’t be available for every grant. Each agency decides whether to offer them. To learn how to prepare a strong request, read our guide, Advance Payments: What to Know.

From a community idea to a statewide resource

CLCT launched the one-of-a-kind database in June 2025 as a response to what we kept hearing from small, community-rooted nonprofit leaders serving historically excluded communities: finding state grants meant searching dozens of agency websites, each with its own format and deadlines. With no centralized state system, and no funds available for the State to build its own, we built the database from scratch. 

The demand was immediate, and it has kept growing. In the last year and a half, more than 1,500 unique visitors have visited the database over 10,000 times, demonstrating the critical importance of making state grant information accessible. 

What comes next

A database can make a fragmented system easier to navigate, but it can’t fix the system on its own. Through our Funding the Frontlines Policy Agenda, CLCT will keep pushing for state agencies to share grant information through a standardized process and to simplify how nonprofits apply for state funding.

HB 26-1274 shows what’s possible when communities name a problem and organize to solve it. The new advance payment filter puts that win directly in nonprofits’ hands.

Here’s how you can help:

• Nonprofits: If your organization has found or received funding through the database, tell us at cograntsdatabase@coclct.org.
• State agencies: Let us know when your grants offer advance payments, and send new opportunities directly to the same address so we can keep the database accurate.