Deadline: 24-Feb-23
Applications for the National Fund for Sacred Places Grant Program are now open.
A program of Partners for Sacred Places in collaboration with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the National Fund for Sacred Places provides financial and technical support for community-serving historic houses of worship across America.
Funding Information
- All capital grants awarded from the National Fund require a cash match.
- Any grant under $100,000 requires a 1:1 cash match, while grants of $100,001 or more will require a 2:1 cash match (for example, in a 2:1 scenario, a $200,000 grant will require the congregation to raise an additional $400,000 in matching funds).
Eligible Activities
- The National Fund for Sacred Places grants are awarded for capital preservation projects. Grants may be used for the restoration, rehabilitation, stabilization, and preservation of designated historic sites and structures, including bricks‐and‐mortar construction and associated management of construction and design services.
- Bringing a building up to codes and standards, improving usability or ADA accessibility, and renovating vacant or underutilized space are also eligible projects.
Eligibility Criteria
- The property must be located within the United States or its territories.
- The property must have been originally built to be a house of worship, and must be owned by an active community of faith.
- The congregation must be at least 3 years old.
- The applicant must be a religious congregation or closely affiliated nonprofit organization.
- The property must possess historical, cultural, or architectural value and/or be listed on or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.
- The property must be occupied by a congregation that is community-minded and that serves nonmembers.
- The property must have urgent repair needs related to structural components, walls, roofs, and/or other elements of the building envelope that are integral to life safety.
- Anticipated capital projects must respect the property’s historic character and materials, and must adhere to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.
- The congregation must demonstrate a need for project funds that exceeds the congregation’s typical donor base and membership.
- The applicant must exhibit several signs of positive organizational health, including.
- The congregation must work with Partners for Sacred Places and the National Trust for Historic Preservation prior to disbursement of the capital grant to ensure that all program requirements have been met.
- They are particularly interested in applicants from the following locations where they have not previously funded projects: Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, U.S. Territories, including the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam.
For more information, visit National Fund for Sacred Places Program.