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LGBTQ+

HERITAGE ALLIANCE

2026 National Grant Program
for LGBTQ+ Historic Places

The LGBTQ+ Heritage Alliance facilitates the first nationwide grant program dedicated to documenting, recognizing, and interpreting historic places connected to LGBTQ+ culture and heritage in the United States. 

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Building on a successful pilot round, the program continues to promote a fuller understanding of the contributions of LGBTQ+ people in American history with a focus on historic preservation projects. 

Highlights

  • Grants up to $10,000 will be awarded. 

  • Projects must have a direct connection to LGBTQ+ historic places including buildings, landscapes, streetscapes, or other resources.

  • Open to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, as well as individuals, initiatives, or projects applying through a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor.

  • Applicants at all levels of experience are welcome.

Key Dates

  • Application Webinars: July 21 and July 23

  • Deadline: August 31 at 5:00 p.m. ET

  • Awards Announced: November 2026

  • Project Period: November 2026 to October 2027

Optional Application Webinars

​Prospective applicants are invited to attend an optional virtual meeting to review program goals, eligibility requirements, and the application process. These sessions will not be recorded to protect participant privacy.

 

Register here:

Program Guidelines

Project proposals must deepen the public understanding, recognition, protection, or interpretation of one or more LGBTQ+ historic places.
 
For the purposes of this grant program, historic preservation is the practice of identifying, documenting, recognizing, protecting, and interpreting places that are important to our shared cultural heritage. These places may include buildings, structures, sites, streetscapes, landscapes, and archaeological resources.

Application Resources

The following documents are available for download to help applicants review the program requirements and prepare submissions. ​

Applicant Eligibility

Applicants without formal experience are welcome. Eligible applicants include 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. Individuals, initiatives, and projects without 501(c)(3) status may apply with a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor, which will receive and administer grant funds on behalf of the project if awarded. All applicants must be based in the United States or its territories. Previous grantees may apply. 
 
Applicants are encouraged to review the Required Document Checklist below to confirm eligibility and ensure all materials can be provided. 

What We Fund

The program supports public-facing projects that research, recognize, or interpret historic places with LGBTQ+ importance, with priority given to places connected to LGBTQ+ history before 2000. Awarded projects for this round must be completed by October 31, 2027. Multi-year or phased proposals are welcome for consideration. 

Research projects document, investigate, and expand knowledge of LGBTQ+ historic places.

  • Historic context statement on LGBTQ+ history in a city or state

  • Survey of LGBTQ+ historic sites in a city, region, or state

  • Research identifying historic LGBTQ+ spaces (bars, gathering places, community centers, etc.)

  • Research leading to the reinterpretation of a house museum

  • Research on a specific historic place

  • Oral history project documenting a specific LGBTQ+ historic place

  • Study of an LGBTQ+ historic landscape

Recognition projects formally acknowledge LGBTQ+ historic places, streetscapes, landscapes, and other resources through preservation or commemorative frameworks.

  • Nomination to the State or National Register of Historic Places

  • Local landmark designation

  • Installation of a historic marker or interpretive plaque

Interpretation projects share and interpret LGBTQ+ place-based history for public audiences through exhibitions, tours, digital platforms, and educational materials connected to specific historic places.

  • Public exhibition or museum installation

  • Walking tour or heritage trail highlighting LGBTQ+ places

  • Digital heritage project, map, or website interpreting LGBTQ+ history

  • Online exhibition or multimedia storytelling project

  • Educational materials or teaching resources on LGBTQ+ place-based history

We especially welcome submissions documenting historically marginalized communities under the LGBTQ+ umbrella, including but not limited to people of color, Two-Spirit and Indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, and transgender, non-binary, intersex, or gender nonconforming people. We also encourage proposals from geographically underrepresented areas, including rural, suburban, and other communities that have received limited LGBTQ+ research attention. 

What We Do Not Fund

General education programs, oral history, archiving, collecting, and digitization projects are ineligible unless they are directly tied to the interpretation of a specific place with LGBTQ+ historic significance. Political advocacy campaigns, documentaries, books, social media projects, performances, travel costs, food, equipment purchases, and capital projects are always ineligible.

Grant Amounts and Future Funding

Grant awards may range from $500 to $10,000, allowing applicants to seek support for projects of varying scope and scale. Applicants should request funding appropriate to the proposed project’s scope, complexity, and anticipated deliverables. Budgets must be clear, well-documented, and justified.

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Applicants may submit one application per grant cycle. Awarded grantees are welcome to apply for additional funding in future years as projects progress, expand, or move into new phases.

Application Process

Applications will be accepted through Submittable, an online grants management platform hosted by the LGBTQ+ Heritage Alliance’s fiscal sponsor, the National Center for Civic Innovation (NCCI). The Alliance leads program design, review, and implementation, while NCCI serves as the official grantor and is responsible for application processing, compliance, and the disbursement of funds. 

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The application requests information about the proposed project, including activities, experience, intended audiences, promotion or collaboration plans, budget, schedule, and required compliance documentation. Time-limited projects (such as exhibitions or walking tours) must include a plan to ensure its results and deliverables remain publicly accessible, and connected to the place-based focus, after completion.

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The budget section in the application requests the total project budget, including all eligible and ineligible expenses, followed by a cost breakdown of only eligible expenses to be covered by the grant request. The grant request must not include any ineligible expenses, such as political advocacy campaigns, documentaries, books, social media projects, performances, travel, food, equipment purchases, or capital projects. 

Application Deadline

The application must be submitted including all required materials, by Friday, August 31 at 5:00 p.m. ET.

 

Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Required Documents Checklist

The application requires the upload of supporting materials and compliance documents, including: 

 

Nonprofit Organization or Fiscal Sponsor Eligibility Documents

  • IRS 501(c)(3) Determination Letter

  • Most recent IRS Form 990

  • List of Board of Directors, including titles and institutional or professional affiliations

  • Most Recent Audited Financial Statements

    • If your organization does not have audited financial statements available, please provide the reason along with either of the following alternative documentation for your most recently completed fiscal year: 

  1. an internally-prepared balance sheet and income statement from the most recently completed fiscal year that includes dates of the organization’s fiscal year

  2. an organizational budget showing actual income and expenses from the most recently completed fiscal year including  fiscal year dates

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Project Supporting Documentation

  • Resume, CV, or brief biography for the project’s Primary Contact

  • Up to three relevant images or documents (For example: site photograph, ephemera, website screenshots, brochures, maps, or media clippings

Review Process

Applications will be reviewed by the grant review committee, composed of professionals  with experience in historic preservation, LGBTQ+ history, and public history. Projects will be evaluated based on the historical significance of the place and the extent to which the project advances the documentation, recognition, or interpretation of LGBTQ+ historic places. Strong applications will clearly explain the importance of the place, the proposed work, and the outcomes or deliverables the project will produce. 

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Reviewers will also consider the applicant’s capacity to complete the project within the grant period and whether the proposed work will result in publicly accessible outcomes, such as web-based resources, reports, or interpretive materials that extend the project’s impact beyond the grant period.

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Applicants will be notified of funding decisions in November 2026. Successful applicants will be required to sign a grant agreement before funds are released, complete the project within the grant project period, and submit a final report and project deliverables by the conclusion of the grant.

Contact

Please contact us at info@lgbtqheritagealliance.org with any questions, including those about eligibility requirements or whether your proposed project fits within the grant guidelines. 

About the Program

The LGBTQ+ Heritage Alliance is fiscally sponsored by the National Center for Civic Innovation, which has received support from the Mellon Foundation. 

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