The Mercer County Executive and Board of County Commissioners, through the Mercer County Cultural & Heritage Commission (MCC&HC), offers grants to Mercer Countybased organizations that demonstrate professionalism, commitment, and excellence in supporting and producing history-related sites, events, and programs.
Donor Name: Mercer County Cultural & Heritage Commission
State: New Jersey
County: Mercer County (NJ)
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 08/07/2026
Size of the Grant: $1000 to $10,000
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
These funds – offered in support of historic sites, organizations, and history programs throughout Mercer County – are made available through a Community History Partnership (CHPP) grant from the NJHC.
Categories
- General Operating Support (GOS)
- GOS grants are available to non-profit history organizations only. GOS grants provide funding for the basic operating costs of a historical society, historical museum, historic site, or other not-for-profit history organization based in Mercer County. Applicants should describe the full range of their organization’s operations, and their grant must demonstrate high standards of history programming and management.
- Special Project Support (SP)
- Special Project (SP) grants are available to Mercer County-based non-profits and government units. A 1:1 match is required; however 50% of the match for SP grants may be in the form of in-kind donations. These grants support history events, programs, or projects related to the history of NJ, Mercer County, or its municipalities.
Funding Information
Total grant amount not to exceed $7,000.
Grant Period
January 1 – December 31, 2027.
Eligible Expenses
- General Operating Support
- Salaries and wages
- Contracted services/outside fees and services
- Printing, publicity, marketing
- Postage and telephone
- Fundraising and development
- Staff training
- Lease expenses
- Mortgage interest
- Equipment purchase, installation, and lease (e.g., computers, office furnishings, files)
- Utilities/HVAC (purchase, installation & operational costs of heating, ventilation, air conditioning)
- Maintenance of collections and the interiors of structures
- Special Project Support
- Archival folders, boxes, and other materials for conservation of historical materials such as manuscripts, books, costumes, and photographs
- Archival or research library user fees
- Equipment purchases with the following restrictions: only institutions and organizations may use grant funds to purchase major items, such as computers or video cameras. All grant recipients, however, may use grant funds to purchase items such as inexpensive recording devices and computer software.
- Equipment rental
- Materials for fabricating and installing exhibitions
- Microfilming
- Oral history tape transcription
- Payment of exhibition loan fees and shipping costs
- Photography and photocopying
- Production of promotional or advertising materials
- Supplies to be used in the project (such as storage materials, office supplies, display materials, and materials for educational projects)
- Travel and/or maintenance while conducting research
- Travel expenses with the following limits: a. Automobile travel: $.47 per mile b. Train or airplane fares c. Food and accommodations: up to $100 per day
- Publication costs, such as typesetting, printing, copyright permission fees, and binding
- Wages or stipends for project personnel, such as conservators, curators, educational consultants, and researchers
- Multidisciplinary projects when a professional historian is involved
- Signs that provide contextual information about a person, place, or thing that enhances visitors’ understanding of the topic
- Travel and maintenance for speakers and honoraria for speakers in the following amounts:
- Keynote speaker, up to $1,000; one keynote speaker per program
- Main speaker, up to $500
- Chairperson or moderator, up to $250
- Panelist, up to $175
- Additional funds for higher honoraria may be requested if you can demonstrate the speaker’s particular merits
Priorities
The NJ Historical Commission’s established priorities are fully supported by the Mercer County Cultural & Heritage Commission. Grants addressing these priorities are given particular consideration:
- Broadening, deepening and diversifying the audience for New Jersey history
- Strengthening existing history organizations and programs
- Initiating new programming on NJ history
- Increasing accessibility to and awareness of historical resources to diverse communities
- Increasing the body and quality of information on state history available to the public; and
- Preserving materials, ephemera, artifacts, sites, etc., for the ongoing study of NJ history
Eligibility Criteria
Eligible applicants must be:
- Mercer County-based, non-for-profit history organizations, societies, and sites (eligible to apply for GOS or SP grants); OR
- Other Mercer County non-profit organizations offering special programs, services, activities, or materials that relate to the history of the State, County or any of the County’s 12 municipalities
- Mercer County-based community and educational entities, including libraries, universities, colleges, and schools
- Non-profit applicants must:
- Be based in Mercer County
- Be incorporated in the State of New Jersey
- Have been in existence for at least two (2) years prior to submitting a grant application; and must demonstrate an ability to provide history or related services/programs to the general public
- Be approved as a non-profit organization under the Internal Revenue Service’s Section 501(c)(3) or Section 501(c)(4) – or have approval pending at the time of application
- Units of local government/educational groups:
- May apply for Special Project (SP) support grants only
- Must demonstrate an ability to provide Mercer County/local history-related programs, services, or activities to the general public
- Must describe, in detail, how the proposed Special Project relates to the overall mandate of their program.
For more information, visit MCCHC.
