Virginia Humanities Regular Grants

Virginia Humanities offers Regular Grants to support public humanities projects that engage diverse audiences and deepen understanding of history, culture, and the human experience. As part of its mission to connect Virginians with their history and cultural heritage, the organization provides financial assistance to a broad array of programs that reflect and elevate the voices, experiences, and contributions of different communities across the state. These grants are awarded twice per year, alternating with the Rapid Grants cycle, and are designed to fund projects that encourage community engagement and stimulate public discussion. The Regular Grants program offers funding amounts ranging from $3,500 to $15,000 for projects with a twelve-month performance period. These funds may be used for a variety of programmatic costs, including but not limited to the development and execution of community forums, public discussions, academic symposia with a public-facing component, history and oral history projects, K–12 educational resources, exhibits, festivals, lectures, media production, planning stages of projects, print publications, and travel expenses directly associated with project personnel. The program emphasizes support for research and activities that culminate in publicly accessible humanities content. Virginia Humanities outlines clear restrictions on the use of grant funds. The Regular Grant may not be used for advocacy, political action, or projects promoting a singular viewpoint. Additionally, grants will not fund creative or performing arts as standalone projects, international travel, alcoholic beverages, building construction or renovation, awards or gifts, or courses for credit (with exceptions for educator-focused content). Indirect costs are also ineligible. Applicants are required to use standardized budget forms provided in the application and justify all projected expenses. The budget must match the amount requested, and cost share—either cash or in-kind—is mandatory for all applications. Eligible applicants include 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations and other qualifying entities as outlined in the organization's FAQ. Importantly, applicants cannot apply to both the Rapid and Regular Grants simultaneously, nor may they hold two open grants concurrently. Additional rules prohibit reapplication for the same project more than twice, and all applicants must have submitted and received approval for their final report from a previous grant before applying again. To apply for a Regular Grant, organizations must first submit a Letter of Intent (LOI), which is a required gating step. For the current cycle, the LOI submission window opens on February 16, 2026, and closes on March 13, 2026. Full applications are only assigned to applicants whose LOIs are approved. The application deadline is Friday, April 17, 2026. All applications are reviewed with decisions issued by Monday, June 15, 2026. Approved projects receive their full funding disbursement following the decision date. Virginia Humanities hosted a virtual open house in September to guide prospective applicants, and the session was recorded for those who could not attend live. These outreach efforts underscore the funder’s commitment to accessibility and transparency in its grantmaking. While the program is not rolling, it follows a biannual cycle, allowing applicants to plan for upcoming opportunities well in advance.

Attend open house. Use grant-provided forms. Explain cost match clearly. Public benefit is critical.