2025-2027 Emergency Response Grants
Through the State of Minnesota’s 2025-2027 biennial legislation and the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund (Legacy), the Minnesota Humanities Center (MHC) will administer $600,000 for emergency grants to organizations that work to create, celebrate, and teach the art, culture, and heritage of the many diverse cultural groups that make up Minnesota, including but not limited to Indigenous organizations, communities whose culture and heritage have been historically underrepresented, recent immigrant communities, and veterans.
Questions?
Contact Laura Adams
Community Identity and Heritage:
Emergency Response Grant Snapshot
| Open To: | Organizations |
| Application Deadline: | Thursday, October 15, 2026, or until all funds have been expended, whichever occurs first. |
| Grant Term: | October 15, 2026 |
| Grant Reporting: | October 15, 2026 |
Grant Goals
For organizations that work to create, celebrate, and teach the art, culture, and heritage of the many diverse cultural groups that make up Minnesota, including but not limited to Indigenous organizations, communities whose culture and heritage have been historically underrepresented, recent immigrant communities, and veterans.
Emergency Response grants are to be used to assist communities responding to major events in Minnesota to:
- Facilitate the process of grieving,
- Encourage healing,
- Create memorials, and/or
- Assist in recovery of the community.
MHC will award $600,000 in Community Identity & Heritage, Emergency Response grants (less allowable administrative fee) to MHC for design, award, and monitoring of the grant program, on a rolling basis to organizations until October 15, 2026, or until all funds have been expended, whichever occurs first. Applicants may request any amount of funding up to $50,000.
An applicant is eligible to apply for funding:
- If the applicant is in good standing with the IRS,
- If the applicant is in good standing with MHC, and
- If the applicant is working to:
- Preserve and honor the cultural heritage of Minnesota,
- Provide education and student outreach in 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.
MHC uses the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search to confirm compliance. If you are unsure whether you are in good standing with MHC, please contact Grants Administrator Laura Adams at laura.adams@mnhum.org. MHC may grant an exemption to an organization that is not in good standing if the applicant uses a fiscal agent.
Additional financial information may be requested based on review an assessment of applications submitted.
MHC will accept applications and make funding determinations on a rolling basis as applications are submitted through October 15, 2026, or until all grant funds have been expended, whichever occurs first.
MHC will review applications on a rolling basis as applications are submitted. In determining whether to issue an Emergency grant, MHC will consider the following factors:
- Significance of the major event or emergency that prompted the application.
- How the project will facilitate grieving, encourage healing, create a memorial, or assist the community in recovery.
- Is the success of the project clear?
- The timeliness of the response.
- How was the community involved in developing the application?
- How will the goals of the project be accomplished?
- Are itemized expenses detailed, clear, and consistent with Legacy?
- Is the budget in MHC’s required template?
Applicants are encouraged to apply online through MHC’s grants management system.
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.
The application will require a budget submission using MHC’s budget template.
MHC offers feedback on draft proposals and budgets. To receive feedback, please send your project narrative and budget to laura.adams@mnhum.org before submitting your application. Once an application is submitted, we can no longer provide feedback.
Applicants must submit a complete application to be considered. Applications contain the following sections:
- Applicant Contact Information
- Project Overview
- Project Alignment
- Project Narrative
- Project Budget
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:
- Reimburse costs incurred before the grant agreement is fully signed.
- Start, match, add, support or complete any type of fundraiser.
- Support a benefit(s).
- Purchase promotional giveaway items such as t-shirts, keychains.
- Fund out-of-state expenses, such as out-of-state travel and lodging and contractor expenses.
- Pay for expenses or other institutional overhead costs that are not directly related to the activities outlined in the project proposal.
- Food expenses when expenses are either (i) incurred during the planning phase of the project, or (ii) are not essential to the final program.
- Wages, salary, and benefits of staff for the time that such individuals are not working on the project.
If you have any questions about this RFP, applying in English is a barrier, or you need a reasonable accommodation to submit your application, please contact:
Laura Adams
Minnesota Humanities Center
Grants Administrator
987 Ivy Avenue East
St. Paul, MN 55016
laura.adams@mnhum.org
