Historic Building Grants

National Endowment for the Humanities

• The National Endowment for the Humanities offers a number of grants for historic preservation projects. These include Challenge Grants, which require institutions to independently raise two to three times the grant amount, America's Historical and Cultural Organizations Planning Grants, which fund the development of historical interpretation areas, and Preservation Assistance Grants for the maintenance of important humanities collections. These grants are generally open to foundations and organizations rather than individuals, and may target certain groups specifically. Challenge grants, for example, lower fundraising requirements for applications form Historically Black Colleges and Native American tribal groups. Application deadlines vary by grant.

  National Endowment for the Humanities
  1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
  Washington, DC 20506
  1-800-NEH-1121
  neh.gov

Save America's Treasures Grants Program

• The National Parks Service, in cooperation with other governments agencies, heads the Save America's Treasures grants program. According to the National Park Service, these grants fund "preservation and/or conservation work on nationally significant intellectual and cultural artifacts and nationally significant historic structures and sites." Nationally significant properties must have played an important role in the intellectual or historical development of the United States, or be associated with an important individual in American history. Grants come in a minimum amount of $125,000 and a maximum of $700,000. In 2006, the average grant award to historic properties was $236,000. The application process is open to federal agencies, non-profit organizations, state governments, federally recognized Indian Tribes, and historic properties associated with active religious organizations. 2010 application will become available in March and are due in May.

  National Park Service
  1849 C Street NW
  Washington, DC 20240
  (202) 208-3818
  nps.gov

National Trust for Historic Preservation

• The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a non-profit organization "dedicated to saving historic places and revitalizing America's communities," offers a variety of historic preservation funding opportunities. These include the Johanna Favrot Fund for Historic Preservation, which provides $2,500 to $10,000 for the "preservation or recapture of an authentic sense of place," and the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Fund, which provides $2,500 to $10,000 for the "preservation of historic interiors." The National Trust Loan Fund gives loans to residential, commercial, and public-use renovation projects. The organization also partners with a number of federal preservation programs. Applications vary grant. Contact the National Trust for details.

  The National Trust for Historic Preservation
  1785 Massachusetts Ave. NW
  Washington, DC 20036
  202.588.6000
  preservationnation.org