Special to the Enquirer

The Alabama Humanities Alliance began accepting applications July 1 for $800,000 in special grant funding to help humanities organizations recover financially from the COVID-19 pandemic.

AHA will award funding through individual grants of up to $20,000. Applications should be submitted through AHA’s online grant management system at alabamahumanities.org. The application process will be open from July 1–30.

“AHA’s recovery grants will help humanities-focused organizations thrive beyond the pandemic,” said Chuck Holmes, AHA’s executive director. “Robust cultural organizations make Alabama a richer, smarter and more vibrant place to live and learn.

“These grants will sustain the humanities in our communities and contribute to the state’s economic recovery in the months ahead.”

These recovery grants are available thanks to funding provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities through the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

Grant eligibility

Alabama Humanities Recovery Grants are available to Alabama-based nonprofit organizations with a demonstrated commitment to providing public humanities programming, including museums, libraries and archives, historic sites and more.

To receive an Alabama Humanities Recovery Grant, an organization must:

• Provide public humanities programming as a significant part of its mission and work.
• Be a registered nonprofit organization.
• Be physically located in Alabama and serve Alabama residents as its primary audience.

Detailed grant application guidelines are available at alabamahumanities.org/grants. Grant requests may include funding for a variety of needs, such as:

• Staff salaries and fringe benefits for personnel involved in humanities programming and administration.
• Administrative, operational and marketing expenses.
• Strategic planning, professional development, equity assessments and capacity-building efforts.
• Professional fees.
• Programming, publication and dissemination expenses.
• Technical assistance, consultation, or training provided by experts that will directly enhance humanities programming capabilities.
• Collaborative activities that promote partnership, networking and leveraging the resources of multiple public humanities providers, resulting in enhanced programming capacity.

Coming to the rescue – again

In 2020 the AHA administered and distributed $500,000 in CARES Act grants to 79 agencies across Alabama, which provided relief to retain staff and pay bills during the height of the pandemic.

“Our CARES grants were often the first, and sometimes only, relief funding humanities organizations received,” AHA Grants Director Graydon Rust said at the time.

“Imagine your community with the public library shuttered or public programming slashed at your local museum,” Holmes said. “Or beloved historical sites like the Jesse Owens Memorial Park or the Helen Keller Birthplace closed.

“Last year’s CARES Act funding helped those kinds of groups ride out the economic impact of the pandemic. Now we want to help these treasured institutions start thriving again as invaluable resources for their communities and for all Alabamians.”

The Alabama Humanities Alliance is the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Its mission is to foster learning, understanding and appreciation of Alabama’s people, communities and cultures.

Learn more at alabamahumanities.org.