The National Endowment for the Humanities received $75 million as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), which became law on March 27th. Of that total, $30 million was distributed to Maryland Humanities and our 55 sister-state and territorial councils for emergency grantmaking in support of the public humanities community.
On May 1st, Maryland Humanities will begin accepting applications to its $500,000 CARES Act Emergency Relief Grants Fund. The goal of this new fund is to help sustain Maryland’s infrastructure to ensure that organizations can continue to provide opportunities for public humanities programming and civic learning in Maryland’s diverse communities during this unprecedented time. Grants will support nonprofit general operating expenses. Eligible nonprofit organizations include: museums, historic sites, preservation and historical societies, and community and cultural organizations with a significant humanities focus.
A minimum of 50 and a maximum of 100 grants will be awarded. The minimum grant award will be $5,000 and the maximum grant award will be $10,000. Applications will be competitively reviewed with a focus on both need and geographic location in an effort to disperse funds to all regions of the state. All grant awards will be for the same amount.
We ask you to help us spread the word about this opportunity so that we may quickly and efficiently award these monies to organizations in crisis. Please note the application window is brief, with applications due no later than 11:59 p.m. on Monday, May 11th.
Full grant guidelines and eligibility requirements are on our website at mdhumanities.org/grants/CARES.
