Community Identity & Heritage – Festivals Grant
Through the State of Minnesota 2023-2025 biennial legislation, Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund (Legacy), the Minnesota Humanities Center (MHC) will administer $450,000 in grants to individuals and/or organizations in Minnesota working to create, celebrate, and teach the art, culture, and heritage of diverse Minnesota communities.
Grant Information Sessions
MHC hosted three virtual information sessions for applicants to ask additional questions about this grant opportunity and/or technical questions related to the application process.
All information sessions were conducted via Zoom.
Questions?
Laura Adams
Community Identity & Heritage – Festivals Grant Snapshot
| Open To: | Individuals and Organizations |
| Application Deadline: | Rolling basis through May 30, 2025 |
| Grant Term End Date: | May 30, 2025 |
| Grant Reporting: | June 30, 2025 |
Grant Goals
Provide funding to individuals/organizations that have a history of working with diverse cultural communities to support community events, music and jazz festivals, or cultural festivals for art installations, music, and other performances and activities that support festivals and events.
MHC will administer $450,000 in Community Identity & Heritage Festival grants (less allowable administrative fee) for design, award, and monitoring of the grant program on a rolling basis to individuals and organizations until funds are expended or June 30, 2025, whichever occurs first. An applicant can be awarded up to $50,000.
If you request $25,000 or more, you will need to submit financial documentation with your application.
An applicant awarded a Festival grant must demonstrate one of the following:
- Preserve and honor the cultural heritage of Minnesota
- Provide education and student outreach on cultural diversity
- Support the development of culturally diverse humanities programming, including arts programming, by individuals and organizations, or
- Empower communities in building identity and culture, including preserving and honoring communities whose Indigenous cultures are endangered or disappearing.
Festival grants are to be used in Minnesota for:
- Community events,
- Music and jazz festivals,
- Cultural festivals for art installations, music, and other performances and activities that support festivals and events.
An applicant, excluding municipal entities and school districts, is eligible to receive grant funding if it is in good standing with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), in good standing with MHC, has no outstanding open grants with MHC and that actively and regularly seeks to create, celebrate, and teach the art, culture, and heritage of diverse Minnesota communities, including but not limited to:
- African American community,
- Asian and Pacific Island communities,
- Indigenous communities with a focus on the 11 Tribes within Minnesota,
- Latinx communities,
- LGBTQIA+ community,
- Somali diaspora and other African immigrant communities, and
- Other underrepresented cultural groups to celebrate the cultural diversity of Minnesota.
While decisions will be made on a competitive basis, they will be made on a rolling basis. Application reviews will begin November 1, 2024. We anticipate being able to respond to applications within forty-five (45) days.
All applicants will be reviewed on a 100-point scale and go through a financial review process. The factors on which applicants will be scored are:
- Project Details – how does the project (at least one of the following):
- Preserve and honor the cultural heritage of Minnesota,
- Provide education and student outreach on cultural diversity,
- Support the development of culturally diverse humanities programming, including arts programming, by individuals and organizations, or,
- Empower communities in building identity and culture, including preserving and honoring communities whose Indigenous cultures are endangered or disappearing.
- Community Involvement – How community members have been involved in the project and how they will be involved going forward.
- Project Management – how will reporting of expenses and hours be correctly reported, will the project be completed on time, does the budget submitted align with the project, and are itemized expenses detailed, clear, and consistent with Legacy.
- Evaluation & Impact – Is success of project clearly defined, is there a clear evaluation process, who is the audience, and is the impact on the audience clearly defined.
Applicants are encouraged to apply online through MHC’s grants management system. Applicants may review the full application here (PDF).
We recommend reviewing the full application prior to logging on and setting up an account. You may save your initial application entries and subsequently return to the document to finish your application.
Applicants must submit complete applications to be considered. Applications contain the following sections:
Please do not submit any additional materials other than what is requested, such as binders or photos, in the application.
Unrequested material will not be reviewed.
Please make sure that your proposal only seeks funding for events and activities that are allowable. Minnesota law does not allow legacy funding to be used to:
- Fund parades.
- Cover costs expensed before the grant agreement is fully signed.
- Start, match, add to, or complete any type of fundraising.
- Support investments (such as improvements, construction, property, or equipment).
- Pay for expenses or other institutional overhead costs that are not directly related and proportional to, and necessary for, the activities outlined in the project proposal.
- Support benefits/fundraisers.
- Purchase promotional giveaway items like t-shirts, keychains, etc.
- Fund out-of-state expenses, including out-of-state travel.
If you have any questions about this RFP please contact:
Laura Adams
Minnesota Humanities Center
Grants Administrator
987 Ivy Avenue East
St. Paul, MN 55016
laura.adams@mnhum.org
651-772-4244
