Maine Humanities Council

MHC Grants

• Introduction
• What are the Humanities
• General Guidelines
• Guidelines for Specific Project Types
• Instructions and Definitions for Completing Budget Form
• What We Can’t Fund
• Grant Types, Details & Deadlines
• Available Grants
• Applications Forms
• Past Grants
• For a copy of our logo for your project, click here

What We Can Fund ... and What We Can’t

The Council’s grant program is competitive and limited to programs in the humanities. To avoid disappointment, we urge you to be sure that your project fits the guidelines before you start to write. In addition, you should be aware that

• Creativity and innovation
• Interactive programs
• Interpretive activities
• Exchange of ideas
• Collaboration among community organizations
• Intergenerational programs
• Outreach to under-served audiences
• Balance between critical and celebratory perspective
• Projects from rural areas of the state

• Conferences, lectures and discussions
• Book discussion programs
• Oral histories
• Civic Reflection Programs
• Radio and video productions
• Exhibitions
• Projects that link schools and their communities
• Teacher seminars

• Art performances or projects, unless their primary role is to foster analysis or interpretation using humanities disciplines. The New Century Arts and Humanities Grant Program can accomodate greater emphasis on the arts, but must still include a humanities component.
• Publications, unless integral to public programs
• Grants to individuals, or to pay students for projects that are being done for academic credit
• Grants primarily for group or individual travel
• Projects designed as fund-raising ventures (Council-funded projects need not be free, but participation costs should be reasonable for the type of program being presented)
• Projects that engage in advocacy or discriminate against persons or groups
• Capital expenditures, construction or restoration costs (except for Humanities Infrastructure Grants)
• Equipment valued in excess of $100 (except in extraordinary circumstances)
• Normal organizational operating costs, indirect or overhead expenses unrelated to the project
• Projects that have NO connection to Maine.

Due to the very high cost of films, the Council does not fund film production, except in cases where a Council grant would represent all, or at least a large portion, of the funds needed to bring the project to completion.

For larger film projects, MHC will consider proposals in two areas:

• Scripting: Developing a script or treatment for a film in consultation with humanities scholars, and
• Post-production: activities, including distribution, development of interpretive materials and public interpretive performances relating to the final stages of launching a film.

Scripting and post-production proposals are submitted to the Council’s major grant program, and awards are normally not more than $3,000 in either of these areas.

If your project does not seem to be a good fit for the Maine Humanities Council, be sure to visit the Maine Philanthropy Center. The Center offers resources for organizations seeking grant support, such as instructional programs on grant writing, as well as the state’s most comprehensive directory of funders. Also feel free to talk to Council staff. Not infrequently, we are able to help identify alternate funding possibilities.

Updated April 2011