Indiana Historical Society Will Provide $5.6M to Local Historical Organizations through Heritage Support Grants

The Indiana Historical Society’s (IHS) Heritage Support Grants, an annual program to bolster historical societies statewide, will continue thanks to a $5.6 million grant awarded by Lilly Endowment, Inc.

Heritage Support Grants bolster Indiana’s local, county and regional historical societies, museums and sites in their important work. Grants are for projects that will help Indiana’s local history organizations meet high-priority needs in a variety of 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 greater, 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 so many hard-working organizations throughout Indiana for vital history projects and initiatives.”

In addition to the grant awards, IHS also 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 that are 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 efforts to ensure 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 internal and external resources the organization needs to achieve goals for greater capacity and to take important next steps. Sustainability projects meet the needs of the present 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.

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