The Illinois Humanities Council funds nonprofit organizations that develop public humanities programs for Illinois audiences that are shaped by and significantly involve humanities scholars and/or other community experts and that reach historically underserved audiences.

The IHC's community grants program accepts proposals from nonprofit organizations that have a story to tell about Illinois or who have a way to use the humanities to enrich community life. Mini grants are typically up to $2,000 and major grants are typically up to $10,000.

Because we believe the humanities should belong to everyone, we especially encourage applications from organizations that bring the humanities to new or historically neglected audiences or communities. These include but are not limited to residents of rural communities, men and women with little formal education, inner city or other underserved youth (in after school or weekend programs), people who are economically disadvantaged, or the elderly. We especially invite applications from organizations that serve these communities and strongly encourage other applicants to extend their proposed programs to include such audiences. We will consider supporting other projects on a case-by-case basis.

We make approximately 90 grants per year, ranging from $2,000 (mini grants) to $10,000 (major grants). To see examples of grants recently made this year by the IHC, look at the table of Grant Recipients at the bottom of this page. You may view examples of grants made in the past by clicking on previous years in in the right sidebar.

The IHC conducts grant workshops several times a year throughout the state. Workshops are held at our offices in Chicago on the third Fridays of May and November and in the fall and spring in central, eastern, western and southern Illinois communities. To speak with an IHC Program Officer about applying for IHC funds or attending a grant workshop, please call 312.422.5580 or e-mail ihc@prairie.org.