Since March 2013, the History Fund grant program of the Ohio History Connection has made $522,000 in grants to 53 organizations across Ohio. The History Fund invites you to join this distinguished group! Apply for History Fund grant at www.ohiohistory.org/historyfund.

The application deadline is September 1, 2017 (by 11:59 pm).

The History Fund application for the 2017-2018 grant cycle mirrors application forms from previous years, but contains a few tweaks in response to comments from last year’s applicants.  Example: see the website for a sample application you can print for reference.

We’ve also added a new resource: “Do This, Don’t Do That / History Fund Grant Application.”  This short list is not a substitute for reviewing the History Fund’s Application Instructions, but will help you steer clear of obstacles that have bedeviled applicants in the past.

If listening and seeing is a way you learn, check out our History Fund Help webinars at www.ohiohistory.org/historyfund. There’s two webinars.  The “History Fund Help” webinar is an introduction to the grant program and a detailed overview of the grant application.  The second webinar, “Digitization Nuts and Bolts,” will help you compile a strong application for digitization project (it’s more than buying a scanner). We originally hosted both webinars in 2016, and the information still applies in 2017.  Please note that 2017’s application deadline is September 1 (NOT September 7, 2016 as in the webinars).

The Ohio History Connection will announce grant recipients at the annual advocacy event Statehood Day, scheduled February 28, 2018.  Between the application deadline of September 1, 2017 and February 2018, History Fund grant projects undergo a rigorous review involving subject area experts at the Ohio History Connection and a panel of outside experts, who make the final grant recommendations.  Local History Services contacts applicants regarding the final status of the applications in February, in advance of the public announcement at Statehood Day.

This spring, the History Fund presented grant-writing workshops at the Region 1, 5, and 10 meetings, as well as at the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor, the Ashtabula Foundation (Region 4), and for Museums and Historic Sites of Greater Cincinnati (Region 8).  At each, we emphasized that if would be applicants have questions they should call or write.  We’re here to help!

For more information, contact Andy Verhoff, Ohio History Fund grant coordinator, 614.297.2341 or [email protected], or visit the History Fund’s website.  Good luck!