2025-2027 Ethnic Media 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 $472,500 for ethnic media grants to ethnic media 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.

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Contact Lizzie Neary

Ethnic Media Grants

Open To:	Organizations
Deadline to Request MHC Feedback: (MHC will complete one proposal review per application)	Monday, March 9, 2026
Application Deadline:	6:00 p.m. CST, Monday, March 16, 2026
Applications Under Review:	Tuesday, March 17, 2026
Grant Term:	May 31, 2027
Grant Reporting:	June 30, 2027

The Legislature in providing this funding is seeking to fund ethnic media organizations throughout Minnesota to create video content in a language other than English.

An applicant that receives funding under this grant opportunity must do at least one of the following:

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, or
Empower communities in building identity and culture, including preserving and honoring communities whose Indigenous cultures are endangered or disappearing.

View Complete RFP

Grant Information Sessions

MHC will host two 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 will be conducted via Zoom.

Thursday, February 19, 2026: 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m.

Friday, February 20, 2026: 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m.

Funding Availability

MHC will award $472,500 in Community Identity & Heritage; Ethnic Media grants, (less allowable administrative fee) to MHC for design, award, and monitoring of the grant program.

Applicants may request any amount of funding up to $75,000.

Legacy funding may only be used for new work or new additions to existing work. Funding must supplement and not substitute existing funding sources or be sued as reimbursement of expenses for existing projects.

If you request $25,000 or more, you will need to submit financial documentation with your application.

Eligibility

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 Lizzie Neary at lizzie@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 and assessment of applications submitted.

Selection Criteria & Weight
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All eligible applications will be evaluated on a 75–point scale using the following scoring factors and weight criteria:

Organization Capacity (30)

How long has your organization been in existence?
How long has your organization been creating videos?
How will your organization ensure accuracy of translated materials?
What is the technical competence, expertise, and experience of the individual that will ensure project success?

Audience Reach (40)

What experience does the applicant have in translating materials in a language other than English?
What language(s) other than English will materials be translated to and support?
What is the size of the audience you are attempting to reach with the project?
What is the geographical area in Minnesota that you intend to reach with the project?
What are the ethnic communities the project will serve?

Primary Audience (5)

What is the organization’s primary information source for your audience?

Application Content
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Applicants must submit a complete application to be considered. Applications contain the following sections:

Application Contact Information
Project Overview
Project Alignment
Project Narrative
Project Budget

Please don’t submit any additional materials other than what is requested, such as binders or photos, in the application. Unrequested materials will not be reviewed.

Funding Requirements
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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:

Cover costs incurred before the grant agreement is fully signed,
Start, match, add, or complete any type of capital campaign,
Support capital costs (such as improvements, construction, property, or equipment),
Support benefits and fundraisers,
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 indirect costs or overhead charges 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, and
Cash/Gift card payments.

Additional Information
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How to Apply

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 lizzie@mnhum.org before submitting your application. Once an application is submitted, we can no longer provide feedback.

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Technical Support

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:

Lizzie Neary
MHC Grants Administrator
987 Ivy Avenue East
St. Paul, MN 55016
lizzie@mnhum.org

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