The Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program is coming back, and applications could open as soon as December. After a federal court ruled in July that the administration could not simply cancel the program, the Commerce Department committed to reopening it under a new Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).

That is good news for the field. But the application window is likely to be short and badly timed, and the organizations that start preparing now will be best placed to compete. Finding the right partner can make or break a joint application, and the clock is already running. Below, we break down what’s confirmed, what we’re still waiting on, and how Connect Humanity and Human-I-T can help you line up partners and put together a competitive application. Planning to apply jointly? Fill out our short survey and we’ll help you find the right fit.

When will the Digital Equity Competitive Grant NOFO open?

Commerce told the court in an August 3 joint status report that it is targeting a December 2026 opening for applications (Benton Institute). On August 25, NTIA published a Paperwork Reduction Act notice seeking comment on the application forms, the first public sign that the relaunch is moving (Benton Institute). Comments are due October 26.

Assume you are starting from scratch and that the December timeframe could slip. Another 30-day notice and OMB review normally follow the comment period, so early 2027 is possible. But we should plan for December. The 2024 window ran for two months, from July 24 to September 23 (NTIA), and I’m hearing it could be shorter this time. A window like that could span the holidays, exactly when board approvals, match letters, and partner sign-offs are hardest to get. NTIA estimates an application takes about 18 hours. That sounds short to us, I have yet to see a coalition application come together in 18 hours. Organizations will want to get started now, before the NOFO is published.

How Connect Humanity and Human-I-T are helping applicants

Connect Humanity and Human-I-T have teamed up to help organizations planning to apply find partners and align early. I’m co-leading this work with Erin Lorandos of Human-I-T, who ran a state digital equity program and knows what a strong application looks like from the reviewer’s side of the table.

More than a dozen organizations and several states have already raised their hands, with interest clustering around workforce development and healthcare. We’re forming subgroups so organizations with shared goals can find each other, agree on roles, and coordinate on data and metrics well before the NOFO lands.

Why we expect larger, regional applications to win

I was at NTIA prior to the first Digital Equity Act application round. Even then, the idea of fewer awards covering larger territories looked attractive, because a small team could not oversee hundreds of small grants. My understanding is that NTIA’s teams are much smaller now, with program officers doubled and tripled up.

An agency stretched that thin will likely favor fewer, larger awards, and I expect regional hub-and-spoke applications to be well placed. The model also fits where the field is. Several organizations that led applications in 2024 have since laid off staff and can no longer play that role. A strong hub can carry administration, compliance, and reporting so smaller partners can focus on delivery.

Expect alignment with BEAD to matter too. NTIA’s recent Native Entities Grant Program NOFO gave extra weight to applications supporting BEAD deployments. It is the best available guide to what the Competitive Grant NOFO may ask for, and worth reading now.

What to do before the NOFO drops

1. Decide your role. Are you a hub that can lead and administer a regional application, or a spoke that delivers programs within one? Be realistic about your capacity after the last year.
2. Line up partners and match. The law caps the federal share of each award at 90 percent, so applicants need a minimum 10 percent match in cash or in-kind. Start those conversations now, not in December.
3. Clear the paperwork. Check that your SAM.gov registration is current, since renewals can take more than three weeks, and find out when your board meets between now and January.
4. Plan for sustainability from day one. Awards must be spent within four years. Bring in partners from sectors that gain when people get connected, such as healthcare, housing, and workforce, and build the outcome data they care about into your work plan. Read our Alt Funding Field Guide for more on this.

Join us

If you’re planning to apply, or want to be part of a joint application, start with our short applicant survey. It tells us who you are, where you work, and the role you want to play, so we can match you with partners and the right subgroup.

To keep the conversation going, join the Alt-Funding Working Group, where we’re working through applications and sustainability planning together.

It has been a hard year for this field. The organizations that start now will be the ones ready when the window opens. Let’s get to work.