Nonprofits
IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area has announced the 20 Grant Finalists for 2026, and 13 of them will each receive a $101,000 grant at the organization’s Annual Meeting on Oct. 11.
- IMPACT 100 membership hit an all-time high this year at 1,313 women, and each member’s $1,000 donation goes straight into the grant pool. That math produces a grand total of $1,313,000 in grants headed to local nonprofits this fall.
Since its founding, IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area has awarded 177 grants totaling $18,700,000 to nonprofits serving Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties.
This is the organization’s 23rd year awarding grants, and IMPACT 100’s Focus Area Committees narrowed the finalists to five categories: Arts, Culture & History; Education; Environment & Recreation; Family; and Health & Wellness.
Here’s the full list of 2026 finalists, by focus area:
Arts, Culture & History
- Ballet Pensacola, Inc.—A Holiday Classic Restored: Updating The Nutcracker Costumes and Lighting. New costumes, scenery and LED lighting to refresh the company’s signature holiday production.
- Pensacola Children’s Chorus, Inc.—Driven to Sing: Connecting Choir & Community with Transport & Performance. A 15-person van and portable risers to bring free concerts to underserved neighborhoods.
- Pensacola Museum of Art Guild, Inc.—Best in Show: Projecting the PMA into the Future. Funding to bring the William Wegman retrospective to Pensacola and upgrade gallery technology and seating.
- University of West Florida Foundation, Inc.—WUWF Mobile Live Events Access and Preservation Project. Equipment and a dedicated vehicle to expand WUWF’s mobile live-event production and archival work.
Education
- Naval Aviation Museum Foundation, Inc.—Flight Adventure Deck: Elevating the Future. Upgraded flight simulators and classroom furniture to strengthen middle school STEM programming.
- Santa Rosa Education Foundation, Inc.—Little Red School House: Expanding Access, Increasing IMPACT. A retrofitted utility trailer and facility upgrades for the teacher supply depot serving Santa Rosa County.
- The Pensacola MESS Hall, Inc.—Moving Science After School. Transportation, staffing and equipment to expand hands-on STEM programming to 200 elementary students.
- Umbrella Learning Academy Corporation—Regulation Station: A Secure Sensory & Social-Emotional Learning Center. A custom sensory-regulation space and ADA-rated flooring for neurodivergent students.
Environment & Recreation
- Friends of Pensacola State Parks—Rebuilding Long Pond Boardwalk. Rebuilding 750 feet of damaged boardwalk at Big Lagoon State Park.
- Keep Pensacola Beautiful, Inc.—Moving Beyond Trash: Reforestation and Invasive Species Removal. Two heavy-duty trucks to expand tree-canopy restoration in high-need neighborhoods.
- Pensacola and Perdido Bays Estuary Program, Inc.—Stories from the Bay: Inspiring Stewardship through Estuary Encounters. A new outreach vehicle and two short films supporting oyster and creek restoration work.
- Winterfest of Pensacola, Inc. (dba Five Flags Trolley)—IMPACT 100 All Access Express. A 28-passenger, ADA-accessible trolley with wheelchair lifts for residents with disabilities and seniors.
Family
- A HOPE, Inc. (dba Snip Happens)—Safer Surgeries for Family Pets. Advanced surgical and monitoring equipment for the organization’s high-volume spay/neuter clinic.
- Pensacola Habitat for Humanity, Inc.—Building Promise: A Habitat–Family Promise Partnership. Construction of a 4-bedroom, 2-bath home to house two homeless families at once.
- Pregnancy Resource Center, Inc. (dba Life Options Clinic)—Parenting Education and Resource Building. A new 2,500-square-foot building dedicated to parenting classes and resource services.
- South Santa Rosa Interfaith Ministries, Inc.—Driving Hope for Families. An 18-foot box truck to grow thrift store donations that fund financial and emergency assistance programs.
Health & Wellness
- 4EVR DEZ—Beyond the Dress: A Resource Hub for Teen Girls. Furnishings for a new wellness center for teen girls and a van for mobile outreach.
- Health and Hope Clinic, Inc.—Expanding Access to Dental Care. A 400-square-foot addition with two new dental suites to cut the backlog for uninsured adults.
- Sacred Heart Foundation—The Willow Boutique, An Impactful Space. Northwest Florida’s first dedicated oncology boutique, offering wigs, head coverings and support for women in cancer treatment.
- The Seven Project, Inc.—Pedaling Beyond Limits. Two Functional Electrical Stimulation cycles for adaptive fitness serving people with paralysis and spinal cord injuries.
By the numbers
20 finalists • 13 will be funded • $101,000 per grant • $1,313,000 total • 1,313 members • Annual Meeting: October 11, 2026
Grants are announced live at the Annual Meeting, where members vote, and the 13 winning nonprofits are revealed on the spot.
- IMPACT 100 membership is open to any woman 18 or older who makes an annual $1,000 tax-deductible donation by March 1, with the full contribution flowing directly into the grant pool.
More information is available at impact100pensacola.org.