Inquiries and Guidelines

Inquiries

In the Humanities in Place program, Mellon makes grants to institutions and organizations, not to individuals. While we are unable to consider uninvited proposals, qualifying organizations are welcome to submit inquiries. Please do not send inquiries about possibilities for support to more than one program. If you already have an account on Mellon’s grantee portal, please contact program staff directly. Otherwise, please submit an inquiry through the grantee portal at https://mellon.fluxx.io.  

Program staff review all grant ideas to make informed judgments about the merits of a project and its alignment with Humanities in Place funding priorities. Please note that, in response to your inquiry, program staff may ask for further information on the following: project rationale; key goals, activities, and expected outcomes; fitness of the institution and/or network to carry out the proposed project; project leadership; project beneficiaries and demographics; and anticipated duration and cost. If invited, the applicant would work iteratively with program staff on the development of their proposal, submitting drafts and revisions over several weeks. Once staff accept a final proposal, they would then recommend it to Mellon’s Board of Trustees for funding.

Please note that the Humanities in Place program generally does not provide support for PreK-12 education; social services programs; standalone publication, film, or documentary projects; private property or commercial uses; and business-class travel.

If the Humanities in Place program has invited a proposal, please see our proposal guidelines. If you are a current grantee, please see our guidelines for reporting and/or grant modification.

Grantmaking Policies and Guidelines

Please see Mellon’s grantmaking policies and guidelines for more information regarding the submission of proposals, annual reporting requirements, and grant modification procedures.

Other Funding Opportunities

Mellon Foundation supports the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, which has supported more than 100 historic sites to date. Learn more about Action Fund grant opportunities.