ClosedOpportunity AAHC-FY26

Museum Grants for African American History and Culture (2026)

Institute of Museum and Library Services

At a glance

Museum Grants for African American History and Culture (2026) is a closed federal grant opportunity from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The application deadline was March 13, 2026. Individual awards are listed as $5K – $500K, with about 35 awards expected and $6M in total estimated funding. Applicant types listed as eligible include others (see notice). Cost sharing or matching is required. It is funded under Assistance Listing 45.309 (Museum Grants for African American History and Culture).

Summary assembled from the official notice's fields. The official notice governs.

Key facts

Jan 13, 2026Posted
Mar 13, 2026Application deadline

Posted: Jan 13, 2026
Close date: Mar 13, 2026
Award floor: $5,000
Award ceiling: $500,000
Est. total funding: $6,000,000
Expected awards: 35
Cost sharing: Required
Funding instrument: Grant
Opportunity category: Discretionary

Who can apply

Others (see notice)

Additional information on eligibility (from the notice)

See the Notice of Funding Opportunity for eligibility information.

Can your organization apply?

A quick check against the listed applicant types — other requirements in the notice still apply.

Based on the published notice. Review the official notice for complete eligibility requirements.

What it funds

Official synopsis as published by the agency, formatted for readability.

The Museum Grants for African American History and Culture (AAHC) program builds the capacity of African American museums and supports the growth and development of museum professionals at African American museums. The program supports projects that nurture museum professionals, build institutional capacity, and increase access to museum and archival collections at African American museums and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

Additional information from the agency ↗

Full announcement & documents

The full announcement has the complete rules — page limits, required attachments, evaluation criteria and any letter-of-intent dates. Files download directly from Grants.gov.

FY26 Museum Grants for African American History and Culture Notice of Funding OpportunityFull Announcement · fy26-oms-aahc-NOFO.pdfOCTE · 951 KB

Assistance Listing

What is an ALN?

45.309Museum Grants for African American History and CultureProgram →

Reported obligations under ALN 45.309

Historical data · not a prediction

FY24

$6.22M

FY25

$6.24M

FY26

$6M est.

Source: SAM.gov Assistance Listing 45.309. Program-wide totals, not awards from this specific opportunity.

Agency contact (as published)

Institute of Museum and Library Services
imls-museumgrants@imls.gov
202-653-4634

Quick answers

Who is eligible to apply for “Museum Grants for African American History and Culture (2026)”?

The official notice names these applicant types as eligible: Others (see notice). Additional restrictions may apply; review the full notice.

How much funding is available through “Museum Grants for African American History and Culture (2026)”?

Per the notice, individual awards are listed as $5k – $500k, total estimated program funding is $6,000,000 and the agency expects to make about 35 awards.

How do I apply for “Museum Grants for African American History and Culture (2026)”?

Applications are submitted through the official source, not through GrantsJunction. Open the official notice on Grants.gov (opportunity AAHC-FY26), and review the full announcement and application package. Organizations applying through Grants.gov generally need an active SAM.gov registration and a Grants.gov account, which can take several weeks to set up.

Matched on shared Assistance Listings, agency, categories and eligible applicant types.

OpenALN 45.309