Illinois Humanities Grants in 2023

2023 Grants

Community Grants

Vision and Action grants provide project-based support for nonprofit organizations based in or working in Illinois. General Operating grants provide unrestricted funds for organizations to utilize toward areas of greatest need.

Vision Grants

• Amount: $2,000; Plus:
  • Accessibility stipend: $150
  • Photography and documentation stipend: $100
• Goal: These grants fund humanities-focused organizations to take on planning, evaluation, and DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusiveness) projects
• Who’s Eligible: Illinois tax-exempt nonprofit organizations (not necessarily 501c3). Priority is given to organizations with budgets of less than $1 million.
• Example: Chicago Books to Women in Prison surveyed and hosted focus groups with their stakeholders to better understand their reading interests as well as explore better delivery systems to improve their free programs
• Cycles: Two grant cycles annually
• Deadlines: Jan. 17, 2023, and May 15, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. CST

Action Grants

• Amount: $4,000; Plus:
  • Accessibility stipend: $150
  • Photography and documentation stipend: $100
• Goal: These grants support nonprofits to take on public humanities projects, target and engage with new audiences, and experiment with new tools and platforms
• Who’s Eligible: Illinois tax-exempt nonprofit organizations (not necessarily 501c3). Priority is given to organizations with budgets of less than $1 million.
• Example: Freeport Public Library’s “One Book, One Freeport” event series produced free public events about Shelton Johnson’s novel “Gloryland”
• Cycles: Two grant cycles annually
• Deadlines: Jan. 17, 2023, and May 15, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. CST

General Operating Grants

• Amount: $10,000 as of June 1, 2023
• Who’s Eligible: Illinois tax-exempt nonprofit organizations (not necessarily 501c3). Priority is given to organizations with budgets of less than $250,000
• Goal: To provide unrestricted support to smaller public humanities-focused organizations based in Illinois and offer the flexibility for grantees to utilize funds however it will make the most impact toward their mission.
• Example: The Mitchell Museum of the American Indian in Evanston utilized a general operating grant to fund things like payroll, utilities, and facility fees that many grant opportunities restrict.
• Cycles: One annually
• Deadline: September 15, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. CST

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR COMMUNITY GRANTS

Activate History Micro-grants

Activate History grants are small grants that provide a boost in resources for local history projects.

• Amount: $750; Plus:
  • Accessibility stipend: $150
  • Photography and documentation stipend: $100
• Goal: To support stewards of local historical archives and/or collections and opportunities for audiences to engage with local history.
• Who’s Eligible:
  • Individual archivists, historians, cultural workers, and other stewards of local history
  • Illinois tax-exempt nonprofit organizations (not necessarily 501c3). Priority is given to organizations with budgets of less than $400,000
• Example: History on Wheels (H.O.W.) received an Activate History grant to continue their mobile exhibit, “From Slavery to Soldier,” in Will County.
• Cycles: Two grant cycles annually
• Deadlines: Mar 1, 2023, and Sept. 1, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. CST

LEARN MORE ABOUT ACTIVATE HISTORY MICRO-GRANTS

Envisioning Justice Grants

Envisioning Justice grants provide project-based support for individuals and nonprofit organizations utilizing the arts and humanities in a variety of ways to explore alternatives to the U.S. criminal legal system and empower communities affected by mass incarceration.

• Amounts:
  • Individuals: $5,000
  • Organizations: $10,000; Plus:
    • Accessibility stipend: $150
    • Photography and documentation stipend: $100
• Goal: To support projects that address the injustices of mass incarceration, and that expand our collective imagination of what is possible through the arts and humanities
• Who’s Eligible:
  • Illinois tax-exempt nonprofit organizations (not necessarily 501c3). Priority is given to organizations with budgets of less than $1 million
  • Individual artists, educators, humanists, organizers, and others
• Examples:
  • Chicago Torture Justice Memorials received funding to support a pedagogical project using sites of state violence across the City of Chicago to engage residents in Chicago’s history of police torture.
  • Educator and community organizer Renaldo Hudson created “Chasing Hearts,” a series of virtual, public, and pre-recorded speaking events about topics related to mass incarceration, policing, and reentry.
• Cycles: One annually
• Deadline: Friday, July 14, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. CST
• Applications will open on Monday, May 15, 2023

LEARN MORE ABOUT ENVISIONING JUSTICE GRANTS

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Gen Ops, anyway? General Operating grants, or unrestricted grants, are meant to support organizations to do what they do, without strings attached. Whereas a project grant is generally tied to specific goals, budget, timeline, and activities, General Operating grants are, in a sense, open, to be used to advance your mission on your terms.

Can my organization apply for more than one grant? The one restriction to applying for multiple grants applies to individuals or organizations with an open Community Grant, i.e., Vision, Action, or Gen Ops grant. If this is the case, you cannot apply for another Community Grant until you have closed out your open grant with a final report. In other words, if you have an Action grant, you must wait to apply for Gen Ops support until that first grant is closed out.

This restriction does not apply to our other grant categories. You may apply for both an Activate History microgrant and Envisioning Justice grant, say, or an Envisioning Justice grant and a Vision grant. Sound confusing? Reach out to us for clarity before beginning your application to ensure your eligibility.

What doesn’t Illinois Humanities fund? We don’t fund alcoholic beverages, businesses or for-profit companies, capital projects, endowment campaigns, foreign travel, lobbying, major equipment purchases, or programming outside of the humanities. If you have questions or concerns about a project budget and what to include, please get in touch with our team.

Who do we reach out to with questions? For Community Grants, feel free to email Mark Hallett (mark.hallett@ilhumanities.org) or Joanne Hsu (joanne.hsu@ilhumanities.org). With questions on Envisioning Justice grants, reach out to Tyreece Williams (tyreece.williams@ilhumanities.org).