Learn more about how to fund historic preservation projects and heritage outreach programs with local, statewide and national funding opportunities.

Grants

Capital Grants

Preservation Maryland – Heritage Fund

The Preservation Maryland Heritage Fund provides direct assistance for the protection of historical and cultural resources and promotes innovative demonstration projects that can be successfully replicated to meet Maryland’s historic preservation needs. Grants range from $500 to $5000 and are reviewed and awarded by the Heritage Fund Selection Committee in three rounds each year. The Fund is intended to serve the needs of tangible cultural resources in Maryland. Historic sites, buildings, districts, objects, and archaeological resources are eligible for funding.

Maryland Historical Trust – African American Heritage Preservation Program Grants

The African American Heritage Preservation Grant Program is administered as a joint partnership of the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture (MCAAHC) and the Maryland Historical Trust (MHT). The Program provides support for the acquisition, construction, and capital improvement buildings, sites, or communities of historical and cultural importance to the African American experience in Maryland. Grant awards may require that the owner to convey a perpetual preservation easement to the Maryland Historical Trust.

Baltimore National Heritage Area – Small Capital Grants

Project and Program Grants

Maryland Heritage Area Authority – Non-Capital Project Grants

Grants of up to $50,000 are available for non-capital projects. A one-to-one match of the grant award with non-state support is required. Potential projects include work in the categories of Planning (research, field investigation, data recovery, feasibility and planning studies, design documents and other planning activities that support the heritage area); Interpretation (exhibits, signage, pedestrian wayfinding signage, interpretive brochures, educational programs and materials, other interpretive activities that support the heritage area); and Programming (seminars, conferences, performances, reenactments, commemorations, festivals). Grant awards may require that the owner to convey a perpetual preservation easement to the Maryland Historical Trust.

Maryland Humanities Council – Grant Programs

MHC provides grants to nonprofit organizations that use the humanities (literature, philosophy, history, etc.) to engage Marylanders. Grant categories and criteria encourage free, public programming in many forms including discussions, exhibits, lectures, living history, and seminars using the humanities as the central tools to explore and understand the complexity of an issue.

Maryland Traditions – Project Grants

Maryland Traditions Project Grants support research and programming that adds significance to Maryland communities by encouraging and funding professionals as well as community scholars, organizations, and artists to document, preserve, sustain, and present Maryland’s traditional arts and culture. Past project grants have included a row house arts festival hosted by a major museum, an oral history of oyster workers, and an Arabber wagon restoration project. Contact Clifford Murphy at 410-767-6450 or Michelle Stefano at 410-767-6570 for more information.

National Trust for Historic Preservation – Preservation Funds

Grants from National Trust Preservation Funds (NTPF) are intended to encourage preservation at the local level by providing seed money for preservation projects. These grants help stimulate public discussion, enable local groups to gain the technical expertise needed for particular projects, introduce the public to preservation concepts and techniques, and encourage financial participation by the private sector.

Loan Programs

Maryland Historical Trust – Loan Program

Nonprofit organizations, local governments , individuals, and business entities may apply for loans to acquire and/or rehabilitate historic properties.  All rehabilitation work must meet the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. MHT Loans require the conveyance of a perpetual historic preservation easement to the Maryland Historical Trust.

Maryland Heritage Area Authority – Loan Program

MHAA Loans must be within a Target Investment Zone and endorsed by the Certified Area management entity.  MHAA may require the conveyance of a perpetual historic preservation easement to the Maryland Historical Trust.

Foundation Support

Baltimore Community Foundation – Neighborhood Grants Program

Funds projects that get more neighbors involved in the community, build new leaders or improve existing leadership for the neighborhood, or increase neighborhood vibrancy through the arts.

Baltimore Community Foundation – William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund

Grants from the William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund will increase access to cultural opportunities, enrich the lives of metropolitan residents and support civic engagement through the arts.

Knott Foundation – Arts & Humanities Program

The Knott Foundation values arts and humanities for the well-rounded education it brings to humanity and the role it can play in strengthening a community. They make grants that support performing, visual and instructional arts programs in the community.

Tax Credits

Local, State, and Federal Historic Tax Credits

Baltimore City, Maryland and the National Park Service each administer historic tax credits programs.

New Markets Tax Credits

The New Markets program is designed to encourage investments in low-income communities that traditionally have had poor access to debt and equity capital.

Solar Tax Credits

The federal energy investment tax credit (ITC) program, authorized under 26 USC 48 (section 48), encourages the use of renewable energy, including solar energy. The energy ITC program reduces federal income taxes by offering a 30 percent tax credit to its owners for long-term lessees for an energy property that meets established performance and quality standards.

Additional Resources

Fundraising

Live Baltimore – Financial Incentives for Homebuyers, Homeowners, and Renters
Baltimore City offers a variety of incentive programs to homebuyers, homeowners, and renters. Each program has specific qualifications, managed by different city departments or nonprofits. If you think you qualify, contact the program administrator listed.

Partners for Sacred Places – Fundraising Guide

All congregations are concerned about finances, but those that care for historic buildings find that money is on their minds more often than most. America’s older and historic churches, synagogues, meetinghouses, temples, and mosques are blessings to their congregations and their neighborhoods, but they also require regular repair and an occasional major overhaul. guide is designed to aid you in fundraising planning: to understand the needs of your older house of worship, to decide whether to begin a capital campaign in your congregation, and to extend your campaign to your community and other funders.

Connecting to Collections – Fundraising for Collections Care

Collections are central to the mission of most cultural institutions, from libraries and archives to museums and historical societies. Finding and sustaining funds to care for those collections, however, can often be a daunting task. In this five-part course, we explored fundraising strategies that to empower you—whether you’re a seasoned fundraiser or a rookie—to embrace this essential endeavor.

Additional Resources

Revised October 22, 2014. This guide is based on a 2008 resource on funding sources (PDF) published by the Maryland Historical Trust. Please contact us for any suggestions, corrections or additions.