INDIANA — The Indiana Historical Society’s (IHS) Heritage Support Grants, an annual program to bolster historical societies statewide, will continue thanks to Lilly Endowment, Inc’s $5.6 million grant.
Heritage Support Grants bolster Indiana’s local, county, and regional historical societies, museums, and sites in their essential work. Grants are for projects to help Indiana’s local history organizations meet high-priority needs in various areas, offering critical funding and assistance to preserve and promote local historical efforts. These grants help historical organizations in Indiana improve stewardship of the cultural materials in their care and develop institutional capacity to play more significant, more effective roles in their communities.
“For the past 10 years, it has been our privilege to administer the Heritage Support Grants program and witness the enormous impact these funds have had on so many communities across the state,” said Jody Blankenship, IHS President and CEO. “We are pleased Lilly Endowment is continuing to place its confidence in the program, which helps IHS get much-needed grant dollars to many hard-working organizations throughout Indiana for vital history projects and initiatives.”
In addition to the grant awards, IHS offers fundraising education workshops, ongoing coaching for grant applicants, and opportunities to serve on grant award selection committees.
Funding priority is given to Indiana-focused history projects that support:
Collections Stewardship: Projects that address the storage, management, and care for collections and associated documentation entrusted to the organization’s care. This includes historic objects, structures, and landscapes as part of collections care.
- (NOTE: Structures and landscapes will only be considered if they are primarily used to facilitate historical interpretation or house significant historical collections).
Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion (DEAI): Projects that focus on ensuring that diverse individuals fully participate in all aspects of organizational work, broaden organizations beyond public accommodations, and work to achieve genuine inclusion.
Sustainability: Projects that focus on identifying and accessing the organization’s internal and external resources to achieve goals for greater capacity and take critical next steps. Sustainability projects meet the present needs and help set the organization up for future success.
Planning: Projects that identify organizational objectives and assess organizational capacity.
During its first 10 years, the Heritage Support Grants offered 26 grant opportunities and awarded more than $5.1 million through 352 awards to 157 different organizations in 72 of Indiana’s 92 counties.
For more information on the Heritage Support Grants, including grant cycle details, how to apply, and deadlines, visit www.indianahistory.org. More information about Lilly Endowment is available at lillyendowment.org.
