IH Action Grants

_NOTE: Apply by submitting a Letter of Intent by one of the three deadline dates. We meet shortly after the LOI deadline date and will get back to a select few groups to request a full proposal. If your organization is asked for a full proposal, you will have just 3 weeks to supply one._

Illinois Humanities, the Illinois affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, is a statewide nonprofit organization that activates the humanities through free public programs, grants, and educational opportunities that foster reflection, spark conversation, build community, and strengthen civic engagement.

Action Grants

Action Grants are project grants of up to $4,000 to nonprofit organizations located in Illinois or doing work impacting Illinois audiences. Action Grants are meant to provide support to groups that want to try out innovative approaches to public humanities programming. Applicants must be nonprofit organizations and can include churches, libraries, colleges or universities, and others.

Action Grants cover projects or initiatives that explore the digital humanities, apply new techniques in audience engagement, and build new and diverse audiences. Our hope is that these grants will help spark more risk-taking and experimental and engaging public humanities work on the part of Illinois nonprofits. Project budgets can cover project expenses as well as engagement activities. Projects must utilize the humanities. Media projects such as oral history, filmmaking, journalism, story telling, and other disciplines are all a part of this field.

Through this grants area, we hope to learn more about the following questions along with grantees:

• What are models for building creative interactivity and growing audiences?
• Can creative programming help to grow audiences?
• How can this experimentation bolster organizations’ longterm viability?

Eligibility

_You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website._

• Nonprofit organizations can apply for Illinois Humanities grants.
• This includes 501c3 organizations and nonprofits under state law, as well as libraries, schools, faith-based organizations and universities.
• Action Grants are project grants to nonprofit organizations located in Illinois or doing work impacting Illinois audiences.
• Action Grants are meant to provide support to groups that want to try out innovative approaches to public humanities programming.
• Projects must have a humanities angle.
  • Media projects such as oral history, filmmaking, journalism, and other story telling are very much a part of this portfolio.
• Illinois Humanities supports public humanities programs, initiatives, and organizations.
• In general, Illinois Humanities will have one open VAMs Community Grant with any single entity at a given time.
  • However, if your organization acts as fiscal agent for another, you can still receive funding for a project grant that is funded by Illinois Humanities

Ineligibility

• We do not accept grant applications from individuals or for-profit companies.
• We do not fund:
  • Activities that promote a specific political position or ideology
  • Alcoholic beverages
  • Businesses
  • Capital projects (i.e., renovation or purchase of buildings or land)
  • Endowment contributions
  • Foreign travel
  • General operating (though indirect costs can be included in project budgets)
  • Lobbying
  • Major equipment purchases (though equipment to assist a specific program is admissible)
  • Out-of-state programs that have no specific relevance or thematic connection people in Illinois (though technically a grant recipient or fiscal agent can be located elsewhere in the U.S.)
  • Programming that falls outside of the humanities
  • Social services (though a social services agency may apply for funding of a humanities project)