Division of Public Programs: Grants for Humanities Projects in Historical and Cultural Organizations

NEH offers two categories of grants for America’s Historical and Cultural Organizations: planning and implementation grants.

Planning grants are available for projects that may need further development before applying for implementation. See application guidelines for Planning Grants. This planning can include the identification and refinement of the project’s main humanities ideas and questions, consultation with scholars, preliminary audience evaluation, preliminary design of the proposed interpretive formats, beta testing of digital formats, development of complementary programming, research, or the drafting of interpretive materials.

Implementation grants support the final preparation of a project for presentation to the public. Applicants must submit a full walkthrough for an exhibition, or a prototype or storyboard for a digital project, which demonstrates a solid command of the humanities ideas and scholarship that relate to the subject. Applicants for implementation grants should have already finished most of the planning for their projects, including the identification of the key humanities themes, relevant scholarship, and program formats. For exhibitions, implementation grants can support the final stages of design development, but these grants are primarily intended for installation. Sample narratives from successful implementation grant applications are available under the Program Resources section of the sidebar on the first page of the guidelines. You may request additional samples by sending an e-mail message to publicpgms@neh.gov.