Grant and Funding Opportunities

The Ohio History Fund was created to support the preservation and sharing of Ohio’s heritage by funding local, regional, and statewide projects, programs, and events related to the broad sweep of the state’s history and pre-history. The Ohio History Fund is a competitive matching grants program that is crowd-funded and made possible through voluntary contributions from people like you! Eligible projects fall into one of three grant categories: Bricks & Mortar, Organizational Development, and Programs & Collections.  History Fund grants are competitive and require matching funds, goods, and/or services from recipients.

Community Vitality

• Organizational Development grants focus on building capacity: providing the training and materials to help historical societies and like organizations help themselves. Grants in this category can include, but are not limited to: training for board and staff, professional assistance with organizational issues, improving governance structures, volunteer or membership program development, and assessments or strategic plans (including paid facilitators/consultants). Applications must explain the issue(s) faced by the organization and how the grant will address the issue(s). Solutions must align to the issues identified.
   
• Programs & Collections encompasses a variety of projects that further the study, recordation, interpretation, publication and dissemination of historical information, engagement of communities in history, or preservation of historical collections and archives. Projects funded under this broad category can include, but are not limited to, public programs, exhibits, care and management of archival materials and artifacts, digitization of collections, oral history, archeological/architectural/historical surveys, archaeological field work, nominations of historic buildings and sites to the National Register of Historic Places, preparation of historic preservation plans or feasibility studies, mobile or online applications, walking tours, and events.
   
• Bricks & Mortar Bricks & Mortar projects can involve: 
  • Rehabilitation, restoration, protection, or acquisition of historic properties and archaeological sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places or designated by a local historic preservation ordinances (usually as a Certified Local Government).
  • Building work or construction directly related to the preservation of historical or archival collections regardless of the building’s historic status. If an extant building is in the National Register, any addition “shall not destroy historic materials that characterize the property.”

Eligible applicants may include:

• Public entities in Ohio, such as units of local government, public libraries, and educational institutions.
• Ohio-based, nonprofit organizations in good standing, as defined by the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office. Non-profit organizations registered in Ohio and public entities, including, but not limited to,
  • local historical societies and museums,
  • public libraries,
  • genealogical societies,
  • university archives and special collections,
  • historic preservation groups,
  • archaeological societies,
  • county records management offices,
  • and township governments,
  • incorporated “friends” groups of any of the above

Award Ceiling:  $20,000
Award Floor:  $1,000

Deadline: September 9, 2025.

Contact: Andy Verhoff, Ohio History Fund & Outreach Manager, Local History Office Ohio History Connection; email averhoff@ohiohistory.org; phone: (614) 297-2341

See more at:  https://www.ohiohistory.org/preserving-ohio/ohio-history-fund-grant/apply-for-a-grant/

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) Partners for Fish and Wildlife (PFW) Program helps private landowners restore and protect habitats for fish and wildlife. It offers both technical assistance and financial support, mainly through cooperative agreements. The PFW Program has over 250 staff working in all 50 states and territories. They work together with project partners and stakeholders in key areas for conservation and set habitat goals. These focus areas guide the program on where to direct resources for conserving important habitats for federal trust species. The Program also has strategic plans that help determine which projects receive funding. Since it began in 1987, the PFW Program has successfully assisted many landowners.

When choosing projects, the Program aims to support specific priorities set by the Administration and Secretary of the Interior. All projects will promote the goals of the Program, the Department of the Interior, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. These goals focus on increasing biological diversity and are based on sound scientific principles. Applicants seeking technical or financial assistance from the PFW Program are required to contact a local Program office BEFORE developing or submitting an application by visiting our website.

The PFW Program can reject projects that do not fit with regional plans or priorities. To get funding, PFW projects must be on private lands. "Private lands" means any properties not owned by the state or federal government. This includes tribal lands, Hawaiian homelands, cities, municipalities, non-governmental properties, and private properties. Groups with 501(c)(3) status should have proof of their status from the Internal Revenue Service. Tribal applicants may be required to provide an authorizing tribal resolution. The Program seeks projects year-round. Program staff work with applicants to find common conservation goals. We require that all interested applicants contact their local PFW staff before submitting an application.

Eligible applicants may include:

• Public, Private and State institutions of higher education
• Nonprofits with or without a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
• Small businesses
• Individuals
• Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized or otherwise)
• City or township governments
• Special district governments
• Independent school districts
• State governments
• Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
• County governments

Award Ceiling: $750,000

Deadline: September 30, 2025.

Contact: Andreas Moshogianis; email: andreas_moshogianis@fws.gov

See more at: https://www.grants.gov/search-results-detail/358381

The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) supports local Stand Down events that assist veterans experiencing homelessness by providing a wide range of employment, social, and health services.

Stand Down is a military term referring to an opportunity to achieve a brief respite from combat. Troops assemble in a base camp to receive new clothing, hot food, support services, and a relative degree of safety before returning to combat action. A DOL VETS-funded Stand Down event serves a similar purpose; however, it is intended for veterans experiencing or at-risk of homelessness. The critical services provided at these events are often the catalyst that enables those individuals to reenter the workforce.

VETS awards these noncompetitive grants on a first-come, first-served basis to support one-day or multi-day events at up to $7,000 or $10,000, respectively. They are collaborative events coordinated between VA, DOL, other federal, state, and local government agencies and community-based organizations providing services and supplies to veterans experiencing and at risk of homelessness.

Eligible applicants may include:

• Any area other than a city or town with a population greater than 50,000, and the area adjacent to such a city or town and either:

• State, Territory, and Possession, county, city, local, special district, and Native American tribal governments and agencies,
• non-profit and for-profit entities,
• state and local workforce boards,
• institutions of higher education,
• public and tribal housing authorities, and
• faith-based organizations

Award Ceiling: $10,000

Deadline: September 30, 2025.

Contact: Kaila Cwiekalo, Veterans' Employment and Training Service Ohio Office, U.S. Department of Labor, 30 East Broad St., Columbus, OH 43215; phone: 614-255-2400; email: Cwiekalo.Kaila@dol.gov

See more at:  https://www.grants.gov/search-results-detail/345327

The Jobs Plus program develops locally-based, job-driven approaches that increase earnings and advance employment outcomes through work readiness, employer linkages, job placement, educational advancement, technology skills, and financial literacy for residents of public housing. The place-based Jobs Plus program addresses poverty among public housing residents by incentivizing and enabling employment through earned income disregards for working residents and a set of services designed to support work including employer linkages, job placement and counseling, educational advancement, and financial counseling. Ideally, the Jobs Plus Program will “saturate” the target public housing projects (AMPs) with information, services and incentives intended to support resident employment during the program and encourage continued resident employment beyond the end of the program cycle.

Eligible applicants may include:

• Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities

Award Ceiling: $3,700,000
Award Floor: $1,600,000

Deadline: October 27, 2025.

Contact: Jobs Plus Program Office, email: jobsplus@hud.gov

See more at: https://grants.gov/search-results-detail/360278

ODOT is hosting a special solicitation for projects that make walking and biking a safe, convenient, and accessible transportation option for all Ohioans. A variety of pedestrian and bicycle related projects are eligible for this opportunity with an emphasis on projects that can begin construction before July 2026.

The Ohio Department of Transportation is hosting a special solicitation for projects that make walking and biking a safe, convenient, and accessible transportation option for all Ohioans. A variety of pedestrian and bicycle related projects are eligible for this special solicitation, including:

• Plans and Studies - the development of pedestrian and/or bicycle related plans or studies at the state, regional, local, or corridor level.
• Data Collection - the collection of data related to walking and biking.
• Education and Promotion - activities that educate on bicycle and walking matters and those which promote walking, biking, and transit as a transportation option.
• Short Term Infrastructure Projects - engineering, design, and/or construction of pedestrian and bicycle projects that can begin construction by June 30, 2026.
• Traditional Infrastructure Projects - engineering, design, and/or construction of standalone pedestrian and bicycle projects of statewide significance.

Eligible applicants include:

• political subdivisions (i.e. city, village, township, county, school district, health district, park district, etc.),
• regional planning organizations, and
• other non-profit agencies with support from a political subdivision

Award Ceiling:  Cost should be commensurate to the potential impact. Projects for over $3M are highly unlikely to be fully funded through this solicitation.
Deadline: Electronic applications can be submitted at any time and will be reviewed and awarded quarterly (January, April, July, and October) based on funding availability.
Contact: Caitlin Harley, Safe Routes to School & Active Transportation Program Manager, phone: 614-466-3049, email: Caitlin.Harley@dot.ohio.gov

See more at: https://www.transportation.ohio.gov/traveling/bicycling-and-pedestrians/Resources/pedbikefunding

The Ohio Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Grant Program will award approximately $250 million to provide safe, reliable drinking water in areas that lack infrastructure, bring sewage treatment capacity to unsewered areas, and develop regional infrastructure to serve multiple communities. This presentation offers more information.

Water and wastewater construction projects are eligible for up to $5 million in grant funding, and infrastructure engineering design projects are eligible for up to $250,000.

Examples of water infrastructure construction projects include, but are not limited to:

• Sewer/wastewater treatment plant improvements/expansion
• New/replacement sanitary sewer lines
• Excess sanitary sewer infiltration/inflow correction
• Improvements to public drinking water treatment facilities
• Drinking water line improvements or extensions
• Repair, replacement, and construction of drinking water storage towers

Click to download the application to the Ohio Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Grant Program, and contact Matt Lindsay at mlindsay@mvrpc.org to discuss potential projects in your community.

Through its Planning and Local Technical Assistance programs, EDA assists eligible recipients in developing economic development plans and studies designed to build capacity and guide the economic prosperity and resiliency of an area or region. The Planning program helps support organizations, including District Organizations, Indian Tribes, and other eligible recipients, with Short Term and State Planning investments designed to guide the eventual creation and retention of high-quality jobs, particularly for the unemployed and underemployed in the Nation’s most economically distressed regions. As part of this program, EDA supports Partnership Planning investments to facilitate the development, implementation, revision, or replacement of Comprehensive Economic Development Strategies (CEDS), which articulate and prioritize the strategic economic goals of recipients’ respective regions. The Local Technical Assistance program strengthens the capacity of local or State organizations, institutions of higher education, and other eligible recipients to undertake and promote effective economic development programs through projects such as feasibility studies and impact analyses.

Please see the Federal Funding Opportunity for full information on how to apply. Also note that any applicants who are in the process of developing an application under the previous FFO will need to apply under the new FFO and use the associated new forms.

Deadline: Applications are accepted on a continuing basis and processed as received. This Planning and Local Technical Assistance opportunity will remain in effect until superseded by a future announcement.

Contact: Ellen Heinz, State of Ohio Economic Development Representative, (312)505-4953, eheinz@eda.gov

See more at:

 https://www.eda.gov/funding/funding-opportunities/fiscal-year-2021-2023-eda-planning-and-local-technical-assistance

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=280447