The Museum Grants for African American History and Culture (AAHC) program builds the capacity of African American museums and supports the growth and development of museum professionals at African American museums.
Donor Name: Institute of Museum and Library Services
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 03/13/2026
Size of the Grant: $100,000 to $500,000
Grant Duration: 3 Years
Details:
The program supports projects that nurture museum professionals, build institutional capacity, and increase access to museum and archival collections at African American museums and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
The goals of this program are to:
- Build the capacity of African American museums and HBCUs to serve their communities; and
- Support the growth and development of a professional workforce at African American museums and HBCUs.
The primary audiences for this program are museums, museum service organizations, institutions of higher education (especially Historically Black Colleges and Universities), and museum professionals. Secondary audiences include museum visitors and future museum professionals.
Funding Information
- Total amount of funding IMLS expects to award through this announcement: $6,000,000
- Expected amount of individual awards – Small Projects: $5,000 – $100,000
- Expected amount of individual awards – Large Projects: $100,001 – $500,000
Project Period
September 1, 2026 – August 31, 2029.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for an award under the AAHC program, your organization must meet all three of the following eligibility criteria.
Your organization must be:
- a unit of State, local, or Tribal government; or
- a private, nonprofit organization that has tax-exempt status under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended :
Your organization must be located in:
- one of the 50 States of the United States of America,
- the District of Columbia,
- the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,
- the U.S. Virgin Islands,
- Guam, ü American Samoa,
- the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, ü the Republic of the Marshall Islands,
- the Federated States of Micronesia; or
- the Republic of Palau.
Your organization must qualify as one of the following:
- A museum whose primary purpose, as reflected in its mission, is African American life, art, history, and/or culture, encompassing: the period of slavery; the era of Reconstruction; the Harlem renaissance; the civil rights movement; or other periods associated with African American life, art, history, and culture; and:
- uses a professional staff;
- is organized on a permanent basis for essentially educational, cultural heritage, or aesthetic purposes;
- owns or uses tangible objects, including living collections;
- cares for these objects; and
- exhibits these objects to the general public on a regular basis through facilities that it owns or operates.
Eligibility of Museums Located within a Parent Organization
A museum located within a parent organization that is a State, local, or Tribal government or multipurpose nonprofit entity, such as a university, historical society, foundation, or cultural center, may apply on its own behalf if the museum:
can independently fulfill all the eligibility requirements listed in the above three criteria;
- functions as a discrete unit within the parent organization;
- has its own fully segregated and itemized operating budget; and
- has the authority to make the application on its own
Eligibility of Nonprofit Organization Affiliated with a Museum
They may determine that a nonprofit organization affiliated with a museum is eligible for this program if:
- its sole mission is to support the specified museum;
- it has the ability to administer the project; and
- it can ensure compliance with the terms of this Notice of Funding Opportunity and the applicable law, including the IMLS Assurances and Certifications.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
