Grants starting at $50,000 are available to USA state and local agencies, non-profits, universities, libraries, museum, and other organizations that offer humanities programs to the public. Funds can be used to produce humanities based projects and initiatives such as exhibitions, book or film discussions, history presentations, and more. Programs and activities can also be made for specific groups such as families, youth, teachers, at-risk communities, and veterans.

Grants support the following formats:
* Exhibitions at museums, libraries, and other venues;
* Interpretations of historic places, sites, or regions;
* Book/film discussion programs; living history presentations; other face-to-face programs at libraries, community centers, and other public venues; and
* Interpretive websites and other digital formats.

Implementation grants support final scholarly research and consultation, design development, production, and installation of a project for presentation to the public. Implementation grants may be used for:
* Final consultation with scholars or other advisers;
* Final exhibition design and fabrication, as well as crating and shipping;
* Final digital design and production;
* Completion of interactive program components;
* Publication costs for complementary materials, including catalogs and curriculum guides;
* Publicity expenses;
* Staff training specifically for the project’s interpretive programs;
* Development of curriculum guides and other materials for teachers and students;
* Presentation and distribution of public programs and related materials; and
* Audience evaluation.

Positions in Public Humanities requests may be appended to implementation grants proposals to support the creation of two-year employee positions within institutions for recent graduates of appropriate public humanities MA or PhD programs (for example, programs in public history or museum studies) or humanities PhD programs to work on the larger Museums, Libraries, and Cultural Organizations project. More information is available here (PDF).

Chairman’s Special Award projects are complex implementation projects of exceptional significance and impact that promise to address important humanities ideas in new ways, and are likely to reach large national audiences. These projects typically feature collaboration between multiple partners and a broad combination of diverse formats.

All projects should
* Build on sound humanities scholarship;
* Deepen public understanding of significant humanities questions;
* Involve a team of humanities scholars in all phases of development and implementation;
* Appeal to broad audiences;
* Approach a subject analytically and interpretively through an appropriate variety of perspectives; and
* Encourage dialogue and discussion.