Connecting California Grants

About this program

California Humanities, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, offers Connecting California grants to support publicly accessible activities and events that strengthen social connection and cohesion across the state’s diverse communities. Awards of $1,000–$5,000 require a 1:1 match of non‑federal funds and/or in‑kind support; funded projects should bring people together across differences and may be in person or virtual and run up to 12 months. Eligible applicants are California‑based nonprofit organizations (including fiscally sponsored entities) and public agencies such as libraries, municipal arts councils, schools, colleges, universities, and tribal governments; current California Humanities grantees are not eligible. Applications are submitted via the California Humanities online portal, are accepted multiple times per year, and projects must not begin sooner than three months after the application deadline.