California Humanities Relief Grants 

• Applications Accepted: August 15 - September 15, 2021
• Grant Period: November 1, 2021 - April 30, 2022
• Amount: $5,000 - $20,000

Program Purpose: The primary purpose of the California Humanities Relief Grants is to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from the coronavirus. This funding is meant to assist public humanities organizations and cultural institutions. The Relief Grant program will direct funds for short term general operating support that will enable applicants to meet the immediate needs of their communities and respond to current challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. In keeping with California Humanities’ mission, these Relief Grants aim to provide support to organizations that have experienced the cancellation of their public humanities activities due to a decrease or loss of revenue, cancellation of programming opportunities, or loss of paid staff or venues as a direct result of COVID-19. Appropriate activities include, but are not limited to:

• Staff salaries and fringe benefits for programmatic and/or project administrative personnel

• Professional fees, including honoraria and stipends for humanities advisors, interviewees, artists, technical consultants, etc. 

• Programming, publication, dissemination expenses (e.g., exhibit fabrication and installation, venue rental, web design, videography, screening expenses)

• Supplies and materials for all organizational activities

• Equipment costs below 20% of the overall grant award (rental, unless purchase cost is less)

• Administrative expenses including phone, postage, photocopying, and printing

• Marketing expenses (e.g., design, printing, distribution of announcements or flyers, ad placement)

• Evaluation expenses

• Documentation expenses (e.g., videography of events)

• Food costs incurred by organization across any of its programs

How to Apply: to start a new application, CLICK HERE. Award decisions will be announced by October 15, 2021. 

*Please Note - If you are interested in applying for this grant or have any questions, please contact our Pre- Award Specialists Erika Wright at emw7@humboldt.edu, Pia Gabriel at pg12@humboldt.edu, or Kaz Wegmuller at jkw77@humboldt.edu 

Contact: If you have questions about California Humanities Relief Grants, please contact Program Officer Stanze Quezada at squezada@calhum.org if you have questions about how to develop your proposal or how to interpret guidelines or requirements. Please contact Grants Manager Brett Connor at bconnor@calhum.org for technical assistance with the online application submission process.