NEH Calendar

National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) provides a number of grants throughout the year. The grants are listed according to the calendar month. Actual due dates will change from year to year, but this should give you a general idea of the time of year the grants are usually due. Check the links for each grant to find out the exact dates as well as the most current requirements and application procedures. Be advised that some of the grants require collaborative/matching requirements.

  • Digital Humanities Advancement Grants

    Digital Humanities Advancement Grants (DHAG) support digital projects at different stages throughout their lifecycles, from early start-up phases through implementation and sustainability. Proposals are welcome for digital initiatives in any area of the humanities. This program is offered twice per year (January & June).

    • Maximum award amount: $325,000 in outright, $50,000 in match
    • Collaborations/Cost Sharing/Matching: Required
    • Application Length: Application includes narrative: for level I grants – 4 pages, for level II grants – 6 pages and for level III grants – 10 pages, biographies, project budget and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: 12 to 36 months

      

    Media Projects: Development Grants

    The Media Projects: Development Grants program supports the collaboration of media producers and scholars to develop humanities content and to prepare documentary film, television, radio, and podcast projects that engage public audiences with humanities ideas in creative and appealing ways. Awards should result in a script for documentary film or television programs or a detailed treatment for radio programs or podcasts. This program is offered twice per year (January & August). Applicants may use voluntary cost sharing for projects in which the total costs exceed the amount awarded by NEH.

    • Maximum award amount: $75,000
    • Collaborations/ Cost Sharing/Matching: Not required but recommended
    • Application Length: Application includes narrative of 20 pages, treatment – 5 pages, budget, bibliography and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: 6 to 12 months

     

    Media Projects: Production Grants

    The Media Projects: Production Grants program supports the production and distribution of documentary film, television, radio, and podcast projects that engage general audiences with humanities ideas in creative and appealing ways. This program is offered twice per year (January & August). Applicants may use voluntary cost sharing for projects in which the total costs exceed the amount awarded by NEH.

    • Maximum award amount: $1,000,000
    • Collaborations/Cost Sharing/Matching: Not required but recommended
    • Application Length:  Application includes narrative of 20 pages, script or detailed treatment – 15 pages per hour, budget, bibliography and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: 12 to 36 months

      

    National Digital Newspaper Program

    The National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) is a partnership between NEH and the Library of Congress to create a national digital resource of historically significant newspapers published between 1690 and 1963. Awards are made to an organization within each U.S. state or territory, which typically collaborates with relevant state partners in this effort.

    • Maximum award amount: $325,000
    • Collaborations/ Cost Sharing/Matching: 20% required
    • Application Length: Application includes abstract, narrative of 15 pages, budget, appendices and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: 2 years 

     

    Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions

    Preservation Assistance Grants help small and mid-sized institutions—such as libraries, museums, historical societies, archival repositories, cultural organizations, town and county records offices, and colleges and universities—improve their ability to preserve and care for their significant humanities collections. Applicants must draw on the knowledge of consultants whose preservation skills and experience are related to the types of collections and the nature of the activities on which their projects focus.

    • Maximum award amount: $10,000 ($15,000 for projects related to the 250th anniversary of American independence)
    • Collaborations/ Cost Sharing/Matching: Not required
    • Application Length: Application includes narrative of 5 pages or 6 pages for disaster-related activities, budget, appendices and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: 18 months 

     

    Public Humanities Projects

    The Public Humanities Projects program supports projects that bring the ideas and insights of the humanities to life for general audiences through in-person programming. Projects must engage humanities scholarship to analyze significant themes in disciplines such as history, literature, ethics, and art history. This program supports projects in three categories: Exhibitions; interpretive programs at Historic Places; and Humanities Discussions related to the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding. This program is offered twice per year (January & August).

    • Maximum award amount: Planning grants (up to $75,000) Implementation grants (up to $ 400,000)
    • Collaborations/ Cost Sharing/Matching: Not required
    • Application Length: Application includes narrative of 23 pages for planning grants and 31 pages for implementation grants, walkthrough – 10 pages for implementation grants, budget, bibliography, appendices and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: 3 to 36 months

     

    Short Documentaries

    The Short Documentaries program supports documentary films (single films or a series of thematically-related short films addressing significant figures, events, or ideas) up to 30 minutes that engage audiences with humanities ideas in appealing ways. Programs may be intended for regional or national distribution, via broadcast, festivals, and/or online distribution. This program is offered twice per year (January & August).

    • Maximum award amount: $250,000
    • Collaborations/ Cost Sharing/Matching: Not required
    • Application Length: Application includes narrative of 15 pages, detailed treatment, work sample, budget, bibliography and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: 6 to 24 months

     

    Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections

    The Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections (SCHC) program helps cultural institutions including libraries, archives, museums, and historical organizations meet the complex challenge of preserving large and diverse holdings of humanities materials for future generations by supporting sustainable conservation measures that mitigate deterioration, prolong the useful life of collections, and support institutional resilience: the ability to anticipate and respond to disasters resulting from natural or human activity.

    • Maximum award amount: Planning: $50,000; Implementation: $350,000
    • Collaborations/ Cost Sharing/Matching: Required. 20% for planning projects and 50% for implementation projects.
    • Application Length: Application includes abstract, narrative of 12 pages for planning grants and 15 pages for implementation grants, budget, appendices and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: Up to 2 years for planning projects; up to 5 years for implementation projects

  • Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops

    The Landmarks of American History and Culture program supports a series of one-week workshops for K-12 educators across the nation that enhance and strengthen humanities teaching at the K-12 level. The same project (that is, a project with essentially the same substantive content) may not be offered in consecutive years. Projects with budgets exceeding $170,000 must cost share the amount above $170,000.

    • Maximum award amount: $170,000
    • Collaborations/Cost Sharing/Matching: Not required but recommended
    • Application Length: Application includes narrative of 15 pages, budget, appendices and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: 15 months

     

    Public Scholar Program

    The Public Scholar Program supports the creation of well-researched books in the humanities intended to reach a broad readership. Such scholarship might present a narrative history, tell the stories of important individuals, analyze significant texts, provide a synthesis of ideas, revive interest in a neglected subject, or examine the latest thinking on a topic. The program is open to both individuals affiliated with scholarly institutions and to independent scholars, researchers, and writers. Projects may be at any stage of development.

    • Maximum award amount: $5,000 per month
    • Collaborations/Cost Sharing/Matching: Not required
    • Application Length: Application includes narrative of 4 pages, a writing sample of 12 pages, budget, appendices and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Individuals.
    • Period of Performance: 6 to 12 months

     

    Summer Seminars and Institutes for K-12 Educators

    NEH Summer Seminars and Institutes for K-12 Educators provide school teachers across the nation the opportunity to broaden and deepen their engagement with the humanities. One- to four-week residential programs, led by scholars and K-12 professionals, allow participants (NEH Summer Scholars) to study a variety of humanities topics. Voluntary cost sharing may be used to cover costs that exceed the award amounts.

    • Maximum award amount: From $70,000 to $200,000 depending on project length.
    • Collaborations/Cost Sharing/Matching: Not required but recommended
    • Application Length: Application includes narrative of 15 pages, budget, appendices and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: 15 months

     

    Summer Seminars and Institutes for Higher Education Faculty

    NEH Summer Seminars and Institutes for Higher Education Faculty provide higher education faculty across the nation the opportunity to broaden and deepen their engagement with the humanities. The one- to four-week professional development programs allow participants (NEH Summer Scholars) to explore recent developments in scholarship, teaching, and/or curriculum through study of a variety of humanities topics. Voluntary cost sharing may be used to cover costs that exceed the award amounts.

    • Maximum award amount: From $70,000 to $200,000 depending on project length.
    • Collaborations/Cost Sharing/Matching: Not required but recommended
    • Application Length: Application includes narrative of 15 pages, budget, appendices and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: 15 months

  • Institutes for Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities

    The Institutes for Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities (IATDH) program supports national or regional (multistate) training programs for scholars, humanities professionals, and advanced graduate students to broaden and extend their knowledge of digital humanities. Applicants may now propose institutes that meet virtually rather than in person. Applicants may use voluntary cost sharing for projects in which the total costs exceed the amount awarded by NEH.

    • Maximum award amount: $250,000
    • Collaborations/Cost Sharing/Matching: Not required but recommended
    • Application Length: Application includes narrative of 10 pages, budget, appendices and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: 1 to 3 years

  •  Fellowships

    NEH Fellowships are competitive awards granted to individual scholars from all disciplines of the humanities pursuing projects that embody exceptional research, rigorous analysis, and clear writing. Applications must clearly articulate a project’s value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both.

    • Maximum award amount: $5,000 per month
    • Collaborations/Cost Sharing/Matching: Not required
    • Application Length: Application includes narrative of 3 pages, a writing sample of 10 pages, Resume, bibliography, appendices and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Individuals.
    • Period of Performance: 6 to 12 months

     

    Fellowships for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan

    The Fellowships for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan program is a joint activity of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission (JUSFC) and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The program aims to promote Japan studies in the United States, to encourage U.S.-Japanese scholarly exchange, and to support the next generation of Japan scholars in the U.S. Awards support research on modern Japanese society and political economy, Japan's international relations, and U.S.-Japan relations.

    • Maximum award amount: $5,000 per month
    • Collaborations/Cost Sharing/Matching: Not required
    • Application Length: Application includes narrative of 3 pages, Resume, bibliography, appendices and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Individuals.
    • Period of Performance: 6 to 12 months

     

    NEH-Mellon Fellowships for Digital Publication

    Through NEH-Mellon Fellowships for Digital Publication, the National Endowment for the Humanities and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation jointly support individual scholars pursuing interpretive research projects that require digital expression and digital publication.

    • Maximum award amount: $5,000 per month
    • Collaborations/Cost Sharing/Matching: Not required
    • Application Length: Application includes narrative of 3 pages, Resume, bibliography, appendices and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Individuals.
    • Period of Performance: 6 to 12 months

  • Infrastructure and Capacity Building Challenge Grants

    The mission of this Challenge Grants program is to strengthen the institutional base of the humanities by enabling infrastructure development and capacity building. Applications are welcome from colleges and universities, museums, public libraries, research institutions, historical societies and historic sites, scholarly associations, state humanities councils, and other public and nonprofit humanities entities. Up to 10 percent of total funds (federal matching funds plus certified gifts) may be used for fundraising costs during the period of performance. A $500,000 grant requires a $1.5 million match; a $600,000 grant requires a $2.4 million match.

    • Maximum award amount: $750,000
    • Collaborations/Cost Sharing/Matching: Required
    • Application Length: Application includes narrative of 3 pages, Resume, bibliography, appendices and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: 5 or 6 years, Depending on Type of Institution

     

    Preservation and Access Education and Training

    The Preservation and Access Education and Training program supports the development of knowledge and skills among professionals responsible for preserving and establishing access to humanities collections. Eligibility has been expanded to include projects that offer national, regional, or statewide education and training programs across the pedagogical landscape, and at all stages of development. Required cost sharing consists of the cash contributions made to a project by nonfederal third parties raised to release federal matching funds.

    • Maximum award amount: $350,000
    • Collaborations/Cost Sharing/Matching: Not required but recommended
    • Application Length: Application includes narrative of 12 pages, budget, appendices and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: Up to 3 years

     

    Research and Development

    The Research and Development program supports projects that address major challenges in preserving or providing access to humanities collections and resources. Research and Development offers two funding tiers in order to address projects at all stages of development and implementation. Required cost sharing consists of the cash contributions made to a project by nonfederal third parties raised to release federal matching funds.

    • Maximum award amount: Tier I provides awards up to $75,000; Tier II provides awards up to $350,000
    • Collaborations/Cost Sharing/Matching: Not required but recommended
    • Application Length: Application includes narrative of 10 pages for Tier I projects and 15 pages for Tier II projects, budget, appendices and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: Tier I: 1 to 2 years Tier II: 3 years

  • Digital Humanities Advancement Grants

    Digital Humanities Advancement Grants (DHAG) support digital projects at different stages throughout their lifecycles, from early start-up phases through implementation and sustainability. Proposals are welcome for digital initiatives in any area of the humanities. This program is offered twice per year (January & June).

    • Maximum award amount: $325,000 in outright, $50,000 in match
    • Collaborations/Cost Sharing/Matching: Required
    • Application Length: Application includes narrative: for level I grants – 4 pages, for level II grants – 6 pages and for level III grants – 10 pages, biographies, project budget and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: 12 to 36 months.

     

    Digital Projects for the Public

    The Digital Projects for the Public program support projects that interpret and analyze humanities content in primarily digital platforms and formats, such as websites, mobile applications and tours, interactive touch screens and kiosks, games, and virtual environments. The projects must be designed to attract broad, general, non-specialist audiences. Although cost sharing is not required, this program is rarely able to support the full costs of projects approved for funding. Applicants are also welcome to use voluntary cost sharing for projects in which the total costs exceed the amount provided by NEH.

    • Maximum award amount: $30,000 (Discovery grants)
      $100,000 (Prototyping grants)
      $300,000 (Production grants)
    • Collaborations/Cost Sharing/Matching: Not required but recommended
    • Application Length: Application includes narrative of 15 pages, bibliography, Resume, description of a work sample, budget, appendices and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: 1 to 3 years

  • Humanities Collections and Reference Resources

    The Humanities Collections and Reference Resources (HCRR) program supports projects that provide an essential underpinning for scholarship, education, and public programming in the humanities. The program includes two funding categories: Implementation and Foundations. When matching funds are requested, the applicant must raise contributions from nonfederal third parties and have them certified before the funds are released to the award recipient.

    • Maximum award amount: Implementation projects: $350,000 
      Foundations projects: $50,000 (NEH offers an additional $10,000 to support interinstitutional planning and pilot activities).
    • Collaborations/Cost Sharing/Matching: Not required but recommended
    • Application Length: Application includes narrative of 10 pages for foundations and 15 pages for implementation, budget, appendices and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: Implementation projects: 3 years Foundations projects: 2 years

  • The Media Projects: Development Grants

    The Media Projects: Development Grants program supports the collaboration of media producers and scholars to develop humanities content and to prepare documentary film, television, radio, and podcast projects that engage public audiences with humanities ideas in creative and appealing ways. Awards should result in a script for documentary film or television programs or a detailed treatment for radio programs or podcasts. This program is offered twice per year (January & August). Applicants may use voluntary cost sharing for projects in which the total costs exceed the amount awarded by NEH.

    • Maximum award amount: $75,000
    • Collaborations/ Cost Sharing/Matching: Not required but recommended
    • Application Length: Application includes narrative of 20 pages, treatment – 5 pages, budget, bibliography and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: 6 to 12 months

     

    Media Projects: Production Grants

    The Media Projects: Production Grants program supports the production and distribution of documentary film, television, radio, and podcast projects that engage general audiences with humanities ideas in creative and appealing ways. This program is offered twice per year (January & August). Applicants may use voluntary cost sharing for projects in which the total costs exceed the amount awarded by NEH.

    • Maximum award amount: $1,000,000
    • Collaborations/Cost Sharing/Matching: Not required but recommended
    • Application Length:  Application includes narrative of 20 pages, script or detailed treatment – 15 pages per hour, budget, bibliography and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: 12 to 36 months

     

    Public Humanities Projects

    The Public Humanities Projects program supports projects that bring the ideas and insights of the humanities to life for general audiences through in-person programming. Projects must engage humanities scholarship to analyze significant themes in disciplines such as history, literature, ethics, and art history. This program supports projects in three categories: Exhibitions; interpretive programs at Historic Places; and Humanities Discussions related to the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding. This program is offered twice per year (January & August).

    • Maximum award amount: Planning grants (up to $75,000)
      Implementation grants (up to $ 400,000)
    • Collaborations/ Cost Sharing/Matching: Not required
    • Application Length: Application includes narrative of 23 pages for planning grants and 31 pages for implementation grants, walkthrough – 10 pages for implementation grants, budget, bibliography, appendices and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: 3 to 36 months

     

    Short Documentaries

    The Short Documentaries program supports documentary films (single films or a series of thematically-related short films addressing significant figures, events, or ideas) up to 30 minutes that engage audiences with humanities ideas in appealing ways. Programs may be intended for regional or national distribution, via broadcast, festivals, and/or online distribution. This program is offered twice per year (January & August).

    • Maximum award amount: $250,000
    • Collaborations/ Cost Sharing/Matching: Not required
    • Application Length: Application includes narrative of 15 pages, detailed treatment, work sample, budget, bibliography and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: 6 to 24 months

  • Documenting Endangered Languages (DEL)

    The Documenting Endangered Languages (DEL) program is a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop and advance knowledge concerning endangered human languages. Awards support fieldwork and other activities relevant to recording, documenting, and archiving endangered languages, including the preparation of lexicons, grammars, text samples, and databases. Provide funding opportunities for DEL Senior Research Grants as well as for Fellowships.

    • Maximum award amount: $4,800,000
    • Collaborations/Cost Sharing/Matching: Not required
    • Application Length: Application includes project summary, a narrative of 15 pages, budget and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: For Preservation, up 3 years; for Fellowships, 6-12 months

     

    Humanities Connections Planning Grants

    Humanities Connections Planning Grants support the interdisciplinary collaboration of faculty from two or more separate departments or schools (a minimum of one in and one outside of the humanities), with the goal of designing a new, coherent curricular program or initiative. Institutions may draw on current short-term initiatives or curricular programs run by individual departments in this effort. The outcome of a successful planning phase should be a project in, or ready for, the implementation stage.

    • Maximum award amount: $35,000
    • Collaborations/Cost Sharing/Matching: Not required but recommended
    • Application Length: Application includes summary, a narrative of 15 pages, budget, and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: 12 months

     

    Humanities Connections Implementation Grants

    Humanities Connections Implementation Grants support the interdisciplinary collaboration of faculty from two or more separate departments or schools (a minimum of one in and one outside of the humanities), with the implementation of a sustainable curricular program or initiative as the outcome.

    • Maximum award amount: $100,000
    • Collaborations/Cost Sharing/Matching: Not required but recommended
    • Application Length: Application includes summary, a narrative of 15 pages, budget, and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: Between 18 and 36 months

     

    Summer Stipends

    Summer Stipends program aims to stimulate new research in the humanities and its publication. NEH funds may support recipients’ compensation, travel, and other costs related to the proposed scholarly research.

    • Maximum award amount: $6,000
    • Collaborations/Cost Sharing/Matching: Not required
    • Application Length: Application includes narrative of 3 pages, bibliography, Resume and an appendix.
    • Open to: Individuals.
    • Period of Performance: 2 months

  • Dialogues on the Experience of War

    The program supports the study and discussion of important humanities sources about war, in the belief that these sources can help U.S. military veterans and others think more deeply about the issues raised by war and military service. When matching funds are requested, the applicant must raise cash contributions from nonfederal third parties and have them certified by NEH before the funds are released to the award recipient.

    • Maximum award amount: $100,000
    • Collaborations/Cost Sharing/Matching: Not required but recommended
    • Application Length: Application includes narrative of 15 pages, preparatory program schedule and syllabus (for discussion leaders) of 2 pages, budget, and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: 12 to 24 months
  • Currently, there are no grant programs due in this month. 

  • Collaborative Research Grants

    The Collaborative Research grant program encourages collaboration that proposes diverse approaches to topics, incorporates multiple points of view, and explores new avenues of inquiry that lead to publications and other resources for humanities scholars, general audiences, or both. Collaborators may be drawn from a single institution or several institutions across the United States; up to half of the collaborators may be based outside of the U.S. Funding is available for sustained full-time or part-time activities during the period of performance to facilitate collaboration. Although voluntary cost sharing is not required, the Collaborative Research program is rarely able to support the full costs of projects approved for funding. The balance of the costs is to be borne by the applicant’s institution or other sources.

    • Maximum award amount: Convening Grants: $50,000; Publication Grants: $250,000 (no more than $100,000 per year)
    • Collaborations/Cost Sharing/Matching: Not required but recommended
    • Application Length: Application includes statement of significance and impact, narrative of 15-25 pages, budget and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: Convening Grants: 1 year; Publication Grants: 1 to 3 years

     

    Save America's Treasures

    Save America’s Treasures is a grant program to support preservation and/or conservation work on nationally significant historic collections and properties. It is a competitive grant program and requires a dollar-for-dollar, non-Federal match (at least 50%), which can be cash or documented in-kind.

    • Maximum award amount: Collections projects – Minimum of $25,000 and maximum $500,000 Federal share. Historic property projects – Minimum of $125,000 and maximum $500,000 Federal share. Please note that the selection panel may, at its discretion, award less than these minimum grant requests.
    • Collaborations/Cost Sharing/Matching: Required
    • Application Length: Application includes the mandatory forms (for example: Application for Federal Assistance, Budget Information, Assurances Disclosure of Lobbying Activities) and any applicable optional forms as required by the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).
    • Open to: Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: 1 to 5 years

     

    Scholarly Editions and Translations Grants

    Scholarly Editions and Translations grants support the preparation of editions and translations of pre-existing texts of value to the humanities that are currently inaccessible or available only in inadequate editions or transcriptions. Projects must be undertaken by at least two scholars working collaboratively. These grants support sustained full-time or part-time activities during the periods of performance of one to three years. Although voluntary cost sharing is not required, the Scholarly Editions and Translations program is rarely able to support the full costs of projects approved for funding. The balance of the costs is to be borne by the applicant’s institution or other sources.

    • Maximum award amount: $300,000
    • Collaborations/Cost Sharing/Matching: Not required but recommended
    • Application Length: Application includes a statement of significance and impact of 1 page, narrative of maximum 25 pages, project budget, appendices of maximum 35 pages and other supplemental documents.
    • Open to: Individuals, Organizations.
    • Period of Performance: 1 to 3 years
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