Program

AWS Imagine Grant

A yearly grant for nonprofit tech projects, with two rounds. The 2026 Round One closed on June 5, 2026.

AWS Imagine Grant is for registered nonprofits in the US, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Cash + credits, by category.

Who: Registered nonprofits (501(c) or equivalent)
Countries: US, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, NZ
2026 Round One: March 19 – June 5, 2026
Round Two: By invitation
Categories: Momentum to Modernize, Go Further Faster, Pathfinder
Excluded: Schools, colleges and universities

At a glance

Credits: Up to $100,000
Decision time: Round One result about 5-6 weeks after close (notified Jul 14, 2026). Final results mid-November, public announcement December. About 9 months from opening to award. Source: 2026 US Proposal Guidelines and the program page.
Credits last: 1 year after receipt (AWS Promotional Credit Terms s.10(a) for nonprofits). The grant term is 1 year.
Access: Open application

Official application page

01 · Overview

A good fit if you are

Charities with a clear tech pilot or proof of concept
Nonprofits of any budget size

Not for

Startups and for-profit companies
Education institutions
Organisations outside the listed countries

Timeline and terms

Application window: Once a year. 2026: Round One (open) Mar 19 - Jun 5, 2026, 11:59 PM EST. Round Two (invite-only) Aug 10 - Sep 14, 2026. The Children's Health Innovation Award was invite-only in 2026.
Decision time: Round One result about 5-6 weeks after close (notified Jul 14, 2026). Final results mid-November, public announcement December. About 9 months from opening to award. Source: 2026 US Proposal Guidelines and the program page.
Program length: 1-year grant term (Pathfinder: frontier AI must become a core workload within the 1-year term).
Credit validity: 1 year after receipt (AWS Promotional Credit Terms s.10(a) for nonprofits). The grant term is 1 year.
Cash: Yes. Unrestricted cash of up to USD 200,000 (Pathfinder), USD 150,000 (Go Further, Faster) or USD 50,000 (Momentum to Modernize), paid after admin onboarding (W-9, tax questionnaire, Amazon Payee Central; may be paid against a purchase order).
Where: US (501(c), including US organisations serving people abroad), UK, Canada and Australia/New Zealand, each with its own categories (UK: 2 categories; Canada: Go Further, Faster only; ANZ: 1 category).

US, 2026: Pathfinder: up to USD 200,000 unrestricted cash plus up to USD 100,000 in AWS Promotional Credit. Go Further, Faster: up to USD 150,000 cash plus up to USD 100,000 credit. Momentum to Modernize: up to USD 50,000 cash plus up to USD 20,000 credit. AWS sets the actual amounts at its sole discretion. Separate, smaller packages exist for the UK, Canada and Australia/New Zealand; their current amounts weren't verified.

What changed recently

2026-03-19
2026 cycle opened. Pathfinder reframed from 'Generative AI' to frontier AI as a core workload, with Generative AI Innovation Center support. Children's Health Innovation Award made invite-only. New terms dated Mar 19, 2026 (Washington law). Source
2025-12-02
2025-2026 recipients announced: 39 nonprofits in 6 countries, the first cohort with winners in Canada, Australia and New Zealand; more than USD 21M awarded since 2018. Source
2024-05 to 2025-04 (first seen in snapshot 2025-04-01)
The UK package listed in 2023 (up to USD 50,000 cash plus USD 16,000 credits) no longer appears on the main page. A Children's Health Innovation Award was added. Source
2023-11 to 2024-03 (first seen in snapshot 2024-03-20)
New top tier added: 'Pathfinder - Generative AI', with up to USD 200K cash plus USD 100K credit. In the 2023 cycle the top US tier was Go Further, Faster at USD 150K plus USD 100K. Source

02 · Eligibility

Hard eligibility rules

You must

US: registered 501(c) nonprofit of any budget size (credit unions and public utilities included)
UK, Canada, Australia/NZ: registered charity status in that country (separate editions)
One application, in one award category, per cycle
Winners must build the project on AWS (you don't need to be an AWS customer to apply)
The person who creates the portal account must be the proposal contact
Pathfinder: frontier AI must be a core workload of the project
Winners must complete AWS admin onboarding (W-9, tax questionnaire, Payee Central) and provide case-study details

Excluded

For-profit companies and startups (not eligible at all)
Educational institutions: K-12 schools and higher education
Applications submitted for a nonprofit by an MSP or AWS Partner
Past winners within one year or one cycle, unless the project is clearly different

Have this ready before you apply

Legal name, Tax ID (EIN), website, address
Annual revenue band and IT budget band
Proposal contact (must be the portal account creator)
Project narrative answering the category questions: innovation, mission impact, outcomes and milestones, AWS services, sustainability plan
Current infrastructure status
If awarded: W-9, tax questionnaire, Amazon Payee Central registration, possibly a purchase order; case-study details

03 · How to apply

How to apply

1
Check that you're a registered nonprofit in an eligible country.
2
Pick one award category. You can only apply to one.
3
Submit Round One in the spring window.
4
If invited, submit a full Round Two proposal.

What catches founders out

One application per organisation per year.
Don't put confidential or third-party information in your proposal.

What founders report Show

Summarised from public founder posts. Anecdotal, not official AWS policy.

Gotchas

Applicants mostly mention it in passing as one of several big-tech nonprofit grants; no first-hand applicant experiences were found

04 · Credits & stacking

What the credits cover

Covered

AWS services covered by AWS Promotional Credit (nonprofit credit, Promotional Credit Terms s.10(a))
Plus AWS technical specialist support, Generative AI Innovation Center support (Pathfinder) and AWS marketing support

Not covered

Amazon Mechanical Turk
AWS Managed Services
Ineligible AWS Support (Enterprise, Unified Operations, Enterprise On-Ramp, resold support, Partner-Led Support)
AWS Marketplace
AWS Professional Services
AWS Training
AWS Certification
Amazon Route 53 domain name registration or transfer
Services used for cryptocurrency mining
Upfront fees for Savings Plans and Reserved Instances
Taxes
Credits are applied to an AWS account registered on the nonprofit's own domain (s.10(a))

Stacking with other credits

Can combine with

AWS Nonprofit Credit Program (USD 1K / 2K / 5K a year by organisation size), a separate programme
Credits for Credit Unions / 501(c)(1), (8), (9), (11), (12), (14), (15) organisations: USD 5K credits

Can't combine with

More than one Imagine Grant application or category in the same cycle
Other AWS promotional offers on the same usage, unless AWS authorises it (Promotional Credit Terms s.6)

Lifetime cap: No lifetime cap is published. Past winners are asked to wait one year or one cycle unless the project is clearly different.

Past cohorts Show

202539 startups

Including: American Cancer Society, American Red Cross, Institute for Systems Biology, Jane Goodall Institute, Royal Academy of Dance

United States · United Kingdom · Canada · Australia · New Zealand · (6 countries in total per AWS; the sixth wasn't itemised in the sources read)

Source

05 · Alternatives

If this isn't the right program

AWS Cloud Credit for Research
For academic research projects.

Sources

Checked October 2026. AWS can change amounts and rules at any time.

Facts on this page checked against official sources on 2026-10-04.

Questions

Can a startup apply for the AWS Imagine Grant?

No. It's for registered nonprofits only.

When is the next round?

The 2026 Round One ran from March 19 to June 5, 2026. Expect a similar spring window.

Prices and credit amounts are estimates and may change. Check AWS for current terms.