Family grants Coming soon
Grants pay for the help a child needs during the special education process, such as an advocate, an attorney or meeting transcription. We pay the provider directly.
Sponsors and family grants
Sponsor IEPNotes and help families pay for IEP help.
Sponsors pay for family grants and IEPNotes accounts for families who couldn’t afford them otherwise. Anyone who works with children with disabilities can sponsor, from attorneys and therapists to hospitals and credit unions.
IEPNotes is a program of the National Fair Learning Initiative, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. EIN 33-5030435.
Our first sponsor year
Join the Founding Circle
The 2026–27 school year is the first year of IEPNotes sponsorships. Everyone who sponsors this year, at any level, is listed permanently as a Founding Sponsor. A $500 Neighbor is honored the same way as a $15,000 Champion.
Who can sponsor
If your work touches the lives of children with disabilities, you can sponsor. Here are some of the people and organizations we have in mind.
Legal and advocacy
Special education attorneys, advocates, disability rights groups, and special needs trust and estate attorneys
Health care
Children’s hospitals, pediatric practices, clinics, developmental pediatricians, dentists who serve children with disabilities, and health plans
Therapy and learning
Speech, occupational, physical and behavioral therapists, evaluators, tutoring and learning centers, and reading specialists
Banking and finance
Credit unions, community banks, special needs financial planners and ABLE account providers
Equipment and everyday life
Assistive technology and medical equipment companies, adaptive sports leagues, camps, recreation programs and accessible transportation
Community
Community foundations, disability nonprofits, special education PTAs and parent groups, faith communities, libraries, universities, employers and local businesses
What your sponsorship pays for
Family Plus accounts Coming soon
IEPNotes is free for up to 2 children. Sponsors will also pay for Family Plus accounts for families who can’t afford them, for a full year.
Choose who your support helps
Support any family who qualifies, or choose a group. You can combine a community with a disability, a cause or a type of grant.
- A community, such as a state, a county, a city or town, a school district, or every state
- A disability, such as autism, dyslexia, ADHD, hearing impairment, speech or language, intellectual disability, or emotional or behavioral
- A cause, such as communication and AAC, military families, rural families, Spanish-speaking families or life after high school
- A type of grant, such as an advocate, an attorney, transcription, therapy or assistive technology
You choose the group your support goes to, never a family. We follow your choice whenever we can. Grant reviewers who don’t work for any sponsor still decide which families receive each grant, and sponsors never learn who received one.
Sponsor levels
Every level is split the same way: about 55% to family accounts, 30% to family grants and 15% to security, support and administration. Each Family Plus account is $59 a year. Sponsors never see a child’s records. Everyone who sponsors in 2026–27 becomes a Founding Sponsor.
Neighbor
$500 / year
Funds 5 family accounts and $150 in family grants
For solo practices, tutors and small local businesses.
- Your name on the Sponsors page in IEPNotes for 12 months
- Your name in NFLI’s annual report
- Founding Sponsor recognition, for good
- Flyers to share with your clients, patients or members. Families apply like everyone else.
Community
$1,000 / year
Funds 9 family accounts and $300 in family grants
- Everything in Neighbor
- Your logo, link and a factual profile on the Sponsors page in IEPNotes for 12 months
- Your name in the list of supporters every family sees in IEPNotes
Partner
$5,000 / year
Funds 47 family accounts and $1,500 in family grants
- Everything in Community
- Choose a focus: an area, a state or a disability
- A yearly impact report for your focus, with totals only
Champion
$15,000 / year
Funds 140 family accounts and $4,500 in family grants
- Everything in Partner
- Your name on a program you choose for the year, such as family workshops in Spanish, alongside other Champions
Who gets the accounts
Families who apply and qualify by need, in order from the waiting list. Sponsors don’t choose families.
Unused accounts
Accounts not given out within 60 days go to the next families on the waiting list. Nothing expires unused, and nothing goes back to the sponsor.
Nonprofit discount
Disability nonprofits and special education PTAs get $500 off the Partner and Champion levels.
What sponsorships pay for
IEPNotes is free for up to 2 children. Sponsorships pay only for Family Plus accounts and family grants, never for professional plans.
More ways to sponsor
Sponsor together as a community circle
Small businesses in one town can pool their gifts. Ten $500 Neighbors fund 47 family accounts and $1,500 in grants, choose their town as the focus, get a yearly impact report and are listed together on the Sponsors page in IEPNotes.
Fund a match
Pledge to match gifts from your community, staff, members or clients, up to an amount you choose. Several sponsors can share one match. Matches help families and individual donors give more.
How sponsorship works
Tell us you’d like to sponsor
Fill out the short sponsor form, and we’ll send you the sponsor kit.
Agree to the Sponsor Agreement
We’ll send you the Sponsor Agreement before you pay. It explains how funds are used and what sponsors can and can’t do. If you work directly with children, we’ll also ask for your policy on restraint and seclusion.
Pay through PayPal Giving Fund
PayPal Giving Fund is an independent 501(c)(3) charity. It sends your tax receipt and passes the money to NFLI.
Add your profile
Your name, logo, a short description, services, area served and languages.
Each sponsorship lasts one year from the date you sign and renews when you make your next yearly payment. Depending on your situation, a sponsorship may be deductible as a charitable gift or as a business expense. We don’t give tax advice, so please check with your tax advisor.
What sponsors receive
- Your name, and from Community up your logo, on the Sponsors page in IEPNotes.
- Your name in NFLI’s annual report.
- A sponsor profile with facts about your organization, a link to your website and your contact details.
- From Partner up, a yearly report with totals only, such as how many families were helped in your focus area.
What sponsors don’t receive
To keep IEPNotes fair to every family, sponsors never get:
- Ads, discounts or special offers to families
- Endorsements, or “approved provider” status
- Higher placement when families search for help
- Referrals, leads, or any family’s personal information or child’s records
- A say in which individual families get grants or accounts
IEPNotes shows that we don’t review or endorse sponsors, and sponsors are labeled as sponsors everywhere they appear.
If you provide services to families
Therapists, tutors, evaluators, advocates and attorneys can sponsor. A family may still choose you and pay with a family grant. If they do, you’re paid on your invoice like any other provider, and our yearly report shows that the grant paid a sponsor.
You may not use your sponsorship to reach out to families, or suggest it gives you an advantage in grants.
For families
Family grants Coming soon
A family grant pays for help a child needs during the special education process. We pay the provider directly, so families don’t have to pay first and wait to be paid back.
Who can applyParents, guardians and foster parents
WhereEvery state
How to applyComing soon
What grants can pay for
- A special education advocate
- An attorney
- Transcription of IEP meetings or recordings
- Services a child needs, such as therapy, evaluations or tutoring
- Assistive technology a child needs
Families choose their own provider. We pay the provider’s invoice.
Who decides
Grant reviewers who don’t work for any sponsor make each decision, using criteria we’ll publish before applications open. Sponsors have no say in which families get help, and never learn who received a grant.
If funds run short
If more families apply than we can fund, they join a waiting list, and we’ll let them know as funds become available.
Questions about sponsoring and grants
Who can sponsor IEPNotes?
Anyone who works with children with disabilities can sponsor: attorneys and advocates, therapists, hospitals and clinics, credit unions and banks, equipment companies, community foundations, disability nonprofits, parent groups and local businesses.
What does my sponsorship pay for?
Sponsorships pay for family grants and for IEPNotes accounts for families who can’t pay, plus the reasonable costs of running those programs.
Can sponsors choose who their support helps?
Yes. You can choose a community, a disability, a cause or a type of grant, and we follow your choice whenever we can. Reviewers who don’t work for any sponsor still decide which families receive each grant, and sponsors never learn who received one.
Do sponsors get ads, referrals or family information?
No. Sponsors get their name, logo and a factual profile, and Partners and Champions get a yearly report with totals only. Sponsors never get ads, referrals, special placement or anyone’s personal information.
What is a Founding Sponsor?
The 2026–27 school year is the first year of IEPNotes sponsorships. Everyone who sponsors this year, at any level, is listed permanently as a Founding Sponsor.
Can small businesses sponsor together?
Yes. Small businesses in one town can pool their gifts as a community circle. Ten $500 Neighbors fund 47 family accounts and $1,500 in family grants for their town, and are listed together.
How much does it cost to sponsor?
There are four levels: Neighbor at $500 a year, Community at $1,000, Partner at $5,000 and Champion at $15,000. Each level pays for a set number of family accounts and family grants. Disability nonprofits and special education PTAs get $500 off Partner and Champion.
Is my sponsorship tax-deductible?
Sponsorship payments are made to PayPal Giving Fund, which sends your receipt. Depending on your situation, a sponsorship may be deductible as a charitable gift or as a business expense. We don’t give tax advice, so please check with your tax advisor.
How long does a sponsorship last?
One year. It renews when you make your next yearly payment, and either side can end it with 30 days’ notice.
Who can apply for a family grant?
Parents, guardians and foster parents in every state can apply. How to apply is coming soon.
What happens if there isn’t enough money for every family?
Families who can’t be funded right away join a waiting list, and we’ll let them know as funds become available.
Other questions? Email contact@iepnotes.com.