July 11
These grants primarily fund projects that can be completed within 12 months. Small grants award notifications are sent eight weeks after the application deadline. While there is no pre-application process for small grants, Grants Office staff are available to discuss your project as you prepare your application. If not funded, you will receive feedback on your application so that you can strengthen it and re-apply in another cycle. Structured grants, a simplified small grant option, are tailored to specific types of projects, such as developing a disaster plan for a small repository, acquiring microfilm, or conducting a museum self-assessment. All structured grants are small grants, and follow the small grants process listed above; however, the applicant must simply use the appropriate short form structured grant application rather than the standard Minnesota Historical & Cultural Heritage Grants application form. MNHS small grants are awarded quarterly, and applications are due on the second Friday of January, April, July, and October.July 14
Through its Public Libraries Program, the Yiddish Book Center provides grants, resources and training to public libraries across the country to host reading groups. This program brings Yiddish literature in translation to public libraries across the United States to deepen their engagement with Yiddish literature and Jewish life, religion, and culture, and to foster vibrant cross-cultural dialogue and discussion in their communities. Each year, the Center works with 40 libraries in communities across the United States. The current theme is Between Two Worlds: Exploring Jewish Culture and Religion through Yiddish Literature.July 16
HCRR advances scholarship, education, and public engagement in the humanities by helping libraries, archives, museums, and historical organizations across the country steward important collections of books and manuscripts, photographs, sound recordings and moving images, archaeological and ethnographic artifacts, art and material culture, and digital objects. The program strengthens efforts to make the content of such materials accessible through digitization and description. Awards also support the creation of reference resources that facilitate the use of cultural materials, from works that provide basic information quickly to tools that synthesize and codify knowledge of a subject for in-depth investigation.July 18
The Minnesota Historical and Cultural Heritage Grants program —also known as Legacy Grants — is a competitive process created to provide financial support for projects focused on preserving Minnesota’s history and culture. Eligible projects fall into three project categories: community history projects, historic preservation projects, and structured grants. Keep in mind that these are guidelines, not a catalog of all possible projects. In addition, some projects might appear to fit under more than one category. If your planned project does not appear to fit into one of these categories, or if you are unsure which category should be applied to your project, call 651-259-3497 or e-mail the Grants Office before submitting an application.Letter of Intent Opens: July 22
Letter of Intent Due: August 12
Better Communities Grants are Rochester Area Foundation’s competitive grant awards, providing unrestricted funding for the core mission of critical community organizations. The purpose of these grants is twofold. First, we seek to empower nonprofits to expand, improve or pursue their best ideas, and second, to build the capacity and infrastructure of organizations that are poised for growth. RAF recognizes that support for general operations is some of the hardest funding to secure. Yet the uninterrupted running of core organizational activities is essential to the success of thriving communities.July 27
“We Are Water MN” is a Minnesota Humanities Center program that uses the humanities to deepen connections between and among Minnesotans and the water we all rely on, through a network of partnerships, a traveling exhibit, and public events. Each year, five host sites are selected to display the exhibit and engage community members with its content and one another over an eight-week period.August 13
The Public Humanities Projects program supports projects that bring the ideas of the humanities to life for general audiences through public programming. Projects must engage humanities scholarship to analyze significant themes in disciplines such as history, literature, ethics, and art history. Awards support projects that are intended to reach broad and diverse public audiences in non-classroom settings in the United States. Projects should engage with ideas that are accessible to the general public and employ appealing interpretive formats.August 13
The Media Projects program supports the development, production, and distribution of radio programs, podcasts, documentary films, and documentary film series that engage general audiences with humanities ideas in creative and appealing ways. Projects must be grounded in humanities scholarship and demonstrate an approach that is thoughtful, balanced, and analytical. Media Projects offers two levels of funding: Development and Production.August 15
The Lois Lenski Covey Foundation awards grants to organizations that operate a lending bookmobile that travels into neighborhoods populated by underserved youth. The grants are for purchasing books published for young people preschool through grade 8. Bookmobiles operated by charitable [501(c)(3)] and other non-taxable agencies, including public libraries or schools, are eligible. The Foundation provides grants to organizations that serve economically or socially at-risk children, have limited book budgets, and demonstrate real need. Grants range from $500 to $3000 and are specifically for book purchases, and cannot be used for administrative or operational usesSeptember 1
Grants for public programs and community projects are awarded to nonprofit (501(c)3) organizations. These grants encourage the perpetuation of Scandinavian cultural traditions through the support of community events such as festivals, celebrations, and heritage events as well as workshops, performances, classes, and demonstrations. Grants for public programs and community projects range from $5,000 to $50,000.September 30
T-Mobile Hometown Grants is a $25 million, five-year initiative to support the people and organizations who help small towns across America thrive and grow. Hometown Grants are given every quarter to up to 25 small towns. Elected officials, town managers/employees, tribal leaders, and nonprofit community leaders from town with a population less than 50,000 can apply for up to $50,000 in funding to support a community project of your choice, like revitalizing or repurposing a historic structure, creating a downtown asset or destination, or improving a space where friends and neighbors gather. Projects that add to a sense of place or could lead to further investment are of particular interest.October 15
Grants of $1,500 are intended to assist the costume and textiles collection of a small museum (including historical societies, historic houses or sites, and other similar institutions) that has a very limited budget and staff. Funding may be used to support the care, conservation, and/or exhibition of costume and textiles that have historic, regional, or other significance and are intended for preservation.October 15
Grants of $1,500 are intended to assist the costume and textiles collection of a college or university that receives little or no financial support from its institution. Funding may be used to support the care, conservation, and/or instructional mission of a collection of historic, period, or otherwise informative costume and textiles that are intended for preservation and are used for study by an institution that has a degree program in apparel, textiles, or theatre.Letter of inquiry required - invitation to submit a proposal may follow
Mellon makes grants to support communities through the power of the arts and humanities, supporting ideas and organizations that contribute to a more connected, creative, and just society through four core grantmaking areas and signature Presidential Initiatives. The four core areas are1. Arts and Culture: Art and artists are essential to human connection2. Higher Learning: Knowledge is produced everywhere3. Humanities in Place: How and where we tell our stories matters4. Public Knowledge: Knowledge should be accessible to allMellon only accepts proposals by invitation. If you are interested in funding from Mellon, you can submit a letter of inquiry, which may be followed by an invitation to submit a proposalProjects must be completed by 5/31/2026
Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) is the premier educational program by the Library of Congress. The TPS Midwest Region, which covers Minnesota, is managed by Illinois State University. The Midwest Region offers grants up to $25,000 to organizations interested in the Library's mission to engage all Americans with the use of primary source material. A successful grant application will include a thorough description of the intended project, its audience, and content, as well as be supported by a timeline of activities, budget, and narrative. Evaluators also look for management supports and a sustainability plan. TPS Regional directors make granting decisions within six weeks of submission.