NOTE: A Letter of Intent (LOI) is required and, if the proposal is determined to be eligible, an invitation to apply will be made. LOIs must be received at least 12 weeks before the proposed project start date. LOIs must include the description of the proposed project and how it will address your organization’s accessibility goals as well as a budget estimate describing the expenses for your project. After review and approval of the LOI, organizations will receive an invitation to apply.  After organizations have been invited to apply, the application will be due 8 weeks prior to the proposed start date. While funds are available, grants are awarded in the order in which the completed applications are received.

Our Mission: The mission of the Nebraska Arts Council is to promote, cultivate and sustain the arts for the people of Nebraska. In doing so, the Nebraska Arts Council provides grants and services to artists, organizations and communities that:

• Build creative and proactive leadership in the arts
• Forge partnerships that create and expand opportunities for the arts
• Cultivate new resources needed to sustain the arts in Nebraska
• Establish the arts as basic to education and lifelong learning
• Use the arts as a catalyst for understanding among cultures
• Advocate for increased awareness and access to the arts

The Arts Accessibility Grant for Improvement Projects grant is designed to provide non-matching funds to enhance access, to an arts organization’s existing programs or facility for persons with disabilities, beyond the minimum ADA requirements.  No cash match is required for the grant amount.

About Peter Kiewit Foundation

The foundation supports efforts that align with our strategic impact areas, primarily in the Omaha metro area and across the state of Nebraska. We also make grants in that portion of Western Iowa within 100 miles of Omaha, as well as other geographies of interest to Mr. Kiewit.

Strategic Priorities

College Access and Success

• Goal: Increase (2- and 4- year) college-going, persistence, and completion.
• Investments in:
  • Programs and initiatives that help students to improve readiness for, access to, and success in post-secondary education.
  • Post-secondary institutions’ efforts to build their own capacity to improve student success outcomes.
  • Programs and initiatives that strengthen the alignment between high schools, post-secondaries, and employers to create a seamless school-to-career pathway.
• Two Scholarship Programs:
  • “Kiewit Vocational Scholarship” Program with Nebraska Community Colleges and Iowa Western
  • “Peter Kiewit Foundation Engineering Academy” at the University of Nebraska

Youth Development

• Out Of School Time
  • Goal: Increase the number of opportunity youth (K-12) participating in high quality out-of-school programs that enhance academic, professional, and personal learning.
  • Investments in:
    • Omaha metro area nonprofit organizations that provide high-quality out of school programs (after school/summer learning, college/career readiness, mentoring, and character-building).
    • Nebraska nonprofit intermediaries working to build the quality, capacity, and reach of the out-of-school time and mentoring sectors across the state.
• Stem Learning
  • Goal: Increase the number of high-quality STEM programs and learning experiences accessed by youth (outside of school).
  • Investments in:
    • Omaha metro nonprofit organizations and educational institutions that provide high quality STEM awareness, experiences, and exposure opportunities.
    • Quality of place amenities that provide STEM experiences (science museums, children’s museums, libraries, etc.)
    • Networks that support quality STEM experiences and connect them to educational and career pathways.

Economic Development and Opportunities

• Strengthen Omaha’s Urban Core
  • Goal: Increase the number of people who live, work, and play in Downtown Omaha
  • Investments in:
    • Civic, cultural, and recreational amenities that engage and improve the quality of life for residents in the Omaha Metro’s Downtown and Urban Core.
    • Catalyst projects that spur economic development in jobs, talent attraction, or housing.
    • Efforts that build an “ecosystem” for entrepreneurs to thrive and spur innovation.
    • Efforts that take a capital project from “basic to beautiful.”
    • Efforts that support walkable, bikeable communities as well as multi-modal transportation options (e.g., bikeshare programs, trail networks, bus rapid transit programs and supports, etc.

• Revitalize Distressed Communities
  • Goal: Improve the built environment to stabilize and grow neighborhoods and communities experiencing decline and disinvestment.
  • Investments in:
    • Catalyst projects and initiatives that revitalize the built environment.
• Economic Opportunity
  • Goal: Increase employment, jobs, and building of financial assets in distressed communities.
  • Investments in:
    • Small business programs that provide financial and technical assistance to minority- and female-owned businesses (e.g., loan funds, business acumen programs, business coaching/training).
    • Programs that build financial literacy for community residents to acquire assets and build wealth.
    • Workforce development programs that build skills and connect individuals to employment.
    • Programs that provide support and technical assistance to spur housing development and homeownership.

Quality of Place Amenities

• Goal: Increase access to quality civic, arts, and cultural and recreational amenities.
• Investments in:
  • Capital projects with community-wide support.
  • Innovative programs and collaborations that engage broad, diverse audiences and are inclusive of the entire community.
  • Occasional operating grants to arts and culture organizations pursuing innovation and best practices.

Community Capacity in Greater Nebraska

• Goal: Improve communities’ ability to lead and respond to their own needs and opportunities.
• Investments in:
  • Planning efforts to develop a community-wide plan for improvement and growth.
  • Community foundations and regional networks working to build capacity of community leaders.

In addition to these strategic impact areas we occasionally support responses to address emerging issues or opportunities that have a large scale, community-wide impact.

Project Type

We consider proposals that are closely aligned to the foundation’s Strategic Impact Areas. We fund general operations, programs, and capital projects.

Matching Funds

Peter Kiewit Foundation grants are awarded on a matching funds basis. An applicant must have developed at least a portion of the matching funds needed before submitting a request.

Our Mission

The mission of Humanities Nebraska is to help Nebraskans explore what connects us and makes us human.

• We believe that culture and connection are essential rights of human expression.
• We value conversation that respects difference and finds points of common experience.
• We provide inclusive opportunities to learn from the past to enrich our future.
• We expose people to other worlds of expression and human existence.
• We celebrate shared histories and diverse cultures.
• We develop engaging experiences for all Nebraskans.
• We are flexible and responsive to the changing and pressing needs of Nebraskans.
• We foster lives of purpose and meaning.

Special consideration may be given to projects that reach across Nebraska or that target underserved audiences (due to geography or socioeconomic status).

Starting summer 2023, Humanities Nebraska grant reviewers will prioritize projects that meet a “connections” theme, linking the humanities and other disciplines, connecting the humanities with other activities, or bringing together a humanities organization and a nontraditional project partner or underserved audience.

Our Mission

The mission of Humanities Nebraska is to help Nebraskans explore what connects us and makes us human.

Our Vision

Nebraskans possess the knowledge, understanding, and empathy to cultivate a more informed, thoughtful, and just society.  

Our guiding principles: 

• We believe that culture and connection are essential rights of human expression.
• We value conversation that respects difference and finds points of common experience.
• We provide inclusive opportunities to learn from the past to enrich our future.
• We expose people to other worlds of expression and human existence.
• We celebrate shared histories and diverse cultures.
• We develop engaging experiences for all Nebraskans.
• We are flexible and responsive to the changing and pressing needs of Nebraskans.
• We foster lives of purpose and meaning.

Media and Website/Digital Requirements

Under certain circumstances funding for pre-production aspects of media and Web site/digital projects is available through the mini grant process. Consult with HN staff about this possibility.

HN will send media and Web site/digital grant applications to outside reviewers who have expertise in the area. Each reviewer will assess the technical merits of the project and the capability of the project team to deliver the proposed results. The applicant will receive a copy of each reviewer’s assessment and will be allowed to submit a formal response to the technical review as part of the application process.

Following the technical review, media and Web site/digital grant applications will be included in the major grant process.

Applicants from outside the state of Nebraska must submit a $150 processing fee to subsidize the cost of the technical review process.

Digital products, such as Web sites, DVDs, or CD-ROMs, may be components of a larger project or be projects in their own right. Projects relying heavily or solely on a digital format should have strong humanities content, be based on sound scholarship, and offer users an interactive and engaging experience. These projects could be humanities-based Internet presentations such as online exhibitions that might be interactive and could include open dialogue moderated by humanities scholars. Projects must be humanities-based programs. HN will not fund organizational Web sites or promotional Web sites or CD/DVDs.

The Artistic Innovations Grant Program encourages the spirit of experimentation and exploration, exclusively engaging in-region artists and organizations in the creation of new, original works for audiences in the M-AAA region.

This grant program offers up to $15,000 in support of expenses incurred in the art-making process and premiere of these endeavors. Through generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts, M-AAA supports individual artists and arts-based nonprofit 501c3 organizations in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas for projects that meet the eligibility requirements listed below.

A great Artistic Innovations project is one that has in-person experiences of art, art making, or artists at the heart of the initiative and introduces a new or original idea or product to the applicant’s audience. Engagement through feature presentation and outreach includes but is not limited to performance, publication, lecture/demonstration, exhibition, master class and/or workshop.

Program Objectives

The objective of the Artistic Innovations Grant Program is to support the creation of new, original works of art by eligible in-region artists and organizations.

The works of art culminate in at least two public-facing events: one, the premiere feature presentation and the second, an educational outreach event that occurs in M-AAA’s six-state region between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024. 

M-AAA will incorporate principles of equity, access, and inclusion in our implementation of the Artistic Innovations Grant Program. Applications will be assessed for artistic merit and artistic excellence.

Awards will be made across the six-state M-AAA region, with at least two grants awarded per state (Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas). This program will disburse matching grants of up to $15,000 to no less than twelve grantees.

Project Eligibility

A great Artistic Innovations project is a work that has in-person experiences of art, art making, or artists at the heart of the endeavor and introduces a new original idea or artwork to the applicant’s audience. (M-AAA recognizes that in-person projects might not be possible given ongoing public health concerns surrounding COVID-19, but for the purposes of the application process we ask that the applicant plan for the best-case scenario in which in-person experiences are a safe option.)

Eligible projects must:

• be new and original work that culminates in at least two accessible, public-facing events: one, the premiere feature presentation and the second, an educational outreach event. These events must occur in M-AAA’s six-state region between July 1 of this year and June 30 of the following year. Public-facing events include but are not limited to performance, publication, lecture/demonstration, exhibition, master class and/or workshop;
• exclusively draw upon the talent of artists who reside in the M-AAA region at the time of application and throughout the grant period; and
• have an anticipated project budget that reflects a 1:1 dollar-for-dollar match for the grant amount requested. Grant requests are limited to $15,000. Organizational applicants must show evidence of a cash match. Individual artist applicants may meet the 1:1 match requirement through both cash and in-kind contributions. In-kind contributions and all other funding procured or pending for any project should be included in the budget. Federal and other M-AAA grant funding cannot be used to meet the 1:1 match requirement for any applicant.

Financial support is limited to most direct expenses incurred in the art-making process and the public-facing events. Allowed expenditures include, but are not limited to commissioning fees, artists’ fees, rehearsal or studio expenses, production or exhibition materials, as well as promotion and audience development for all public-facing engagements related to the project. Indirect costs and expenses associated with the project’s opening or closing (e.g., receptions) are not allowed.

Supporting Historic Sacred Places

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.

What We Offer

The National Fund for Sacred Places provides matching grants of $50,000 to $250,000 to congregations undertaking significant capital projects at historic houses of worship, along with wraparound services including training, technical assistance, and planning support.

What We’re Looking For

The National Fund for Sacred Places assesses applicant eligibility according to the core criteria shown below, while also striving to build a diverse participant pool that reflects a broad range of geographic, cultural, and religious identities.

Historic, Cultural, or Architectural Significance

We are looking for buildings that have historic, cultural, or architectural significance—and sites that have important and relevant stories to tell. Many of our participants are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the state register, or the local register. Your building does not have to be on one of these lists, but eligibility for one or more of these lists is a good benchmark for National Fund eligibility.

As part of the National Trust’s commitment to telling the full American story, we particularly encourage congregations to apply that illuminate a unique or overlooked aspect of American history and that expand our understanding of our shared national heritage. We encourage submissions related to historic sacred places of importance to historically and contemporaneously underrepresented communities including, but not limited to, women, immigrants, Asian Americans, Black Americans, Latinx Americans, Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, and LGBTQIA communities.

Successful applicants are able to demonstrate their place in history by answering questions such as:

• Does the building tell a story relevant to our history—either cultural or religious?
• Does the history highlight previously underrecognized communities, stories, or locations?
• How has the building served the community over time? Does the building have a great physical presence in its community due to its location or programming?
• Is the building the work of a notable architect? If so, is it a high-quality example of their body of work?
• Is the building an exceptional example of its architectural style or building technology?
• Does the building embody the congregation’s resilience over time?

Community-Serving Congregations

We are looking for congregations that are engaged in their communities and that are serving others. Engaged congregations operate and host programming that serves vulnerable, at-risk, and diverse populations; share space with non-affiliated groups and organizations (often at subsidized rates); work with other congregations, faith-based organizations, nonprofit organizations, and/or municipalities; and have a widespread reputation for being a welcoming center of community life.

Project Scope and Need

We fund historic preservation projects addressing urgent repair needs and/or life safety. We also fund projects that increase congregations’ ability to open their buildings to new populations or to serve greater numbers of people. All projects must adhere to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation, which is a universally accepted framework for doing work to older and historic properties.

We prioritize congregations/projects where there is a demonstrated need (meaning that the congregation cannot raise the funds alone) or where it is clear that our grant will have a catalytic effect (meaning that our grant is likely to lead to additional monies being contributed to the project).

Readiness

Once-in-a-generation capital projects require a great deal of planning. We are looking for applicants that understand their buildings’ needs and that are ready to undertake a capital campaign. National Fund congregations typically have a history of successful capital campaigns, which demonstrate an ability to raise significant funds and complete a project.

Successful congregations come to us with a realistic fundraising goal, which has been generated with the help of qualified preservation professionals and is not too far beyond the congregation’s fundraising capacity.

Healthy Congregations

The National Fund prioritizes healthy, stable congregations so that our investment is truly impactful and lasting. We look for the following, although this is not an exhaustive list of characteristics that indicate healthy congregations: tenured, well-respected clergy; capable lay leadership; stable or growing membership; financial strength and stability; support of the judicatory or governing body, if applicable; and a history of weathering any congregational conflict or trauma with resilience.

NOTE: All applicants must be invited to apply for a grant from Bayer Fund. Invitation codes can be requested from the Bayer site in your community or through the Contact Us page.

We support high-quality educational programming by schools and nonprofit organizations that enable access to knowledge and information and empower students and teachers in communities around the nation, with a focus on furthering STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) education. Priority is given to programs that take place during the school day, but also includes after school and summer programs, technical training programs, and academic programs that enrich or supplement school programs.

The in-school educational programs we support target grades K-12 and under-served students (50%+ students qualify for free/reduced lunch) and take place during the school day. The after school and summer programs we support include those offered by youth development organizations that take place outside of the regular school day and provide students in grades K-12 with opportunities to enhance their skills and interests through exposure to STEM fields.

All funding requests and budgets must be for program activities and expenses that start after funding decisions are made. All programs must be completed within one year of the start date, except in limited situations where longer term programs have been agreed upon. Grant award amounts vary, depending on the size of the community, the type of programming, and the reach/impact of the organization.

Our Mission

Because Humanities Nebraska (HN) believes that culture and connection are essential rights of human expression, HN offers grants to nonprofit organizations in support of projects related to the humanities. This includes history, literature, languages, jurisprudence, philosophy, comparative religion, ethics, and the history, theory and criticism of the arts.

The mission of Humanities Nebraska is to help Nebraskans explore what connects us and makes us human.

Our Vision

Nebraskans possess the knowledge, understanding, and empathy to cultivate a more informed, thoughtful, and just society.  

Our guiding principles: 

• We believe that culture and connection are essential rights of human expression.
• We value conversation that respects difference and finds points of common experience.
• We provide inclusive opportunities to learn from the past to enrich our future.
• We expose people to other worlds of expression and human existence.
• We celebrate shared histories and diverse cultures.
• We develop engaging experiences for all Nebraskans.
• We are flexible and responsive to the changing and pressing needs of Nebraskans.
• We foster lives of purpose and meaning.

Special consideration may be given to projects that reach across Nebraska or that target underserved audiences (due to geography or socioeconomic status).

Starting summer 2023, Humanities Nebraska grant reviewers will prioritize projects that meet a “connections” theme, linking the humanities and other disciplines, connecting the humanities with other activities, or bringing together a humanities organization and a nontraditional project partner or underserved audience.

Description of Program

The Nebraska Tourism Commission administers this grant program, per Nebraska Revised Statute 81-3725, to provide innovative tourism grants to communities or organizations that provide tourism and visitor promotion services, host events, or promote attractions which result in either an increased number of nonlocal, in-state visitors or an increased number of both nonlocal, in-state visitors and out-of-state visitors.

Directed-Marketing Projects eligible for funding under this grant cycle include items listed below:

• Develop professional photography content to promote your destination or event to travelers. Need funding to create a photo library to use in print ads or online advertising? Grant funds can be utilized towards service fees of a professional photographer. Applicants are encouraged to develop diverse and inclusive photography, representing individuals of different races/ethnicities, genders, ages, abilities and/or body types. (Lodging and transportation costs are not eligible for grant funding, but can represent matching funds.)
• Promote your community’s group tour destinations. Grant funds can assist with marketing efforts online and in select group tour magazines, development of group tour websites, as well as registration fees to attend (virtually or in-person) American Bus Association’s Marketplace 2024, National Tour Association’s Travel Exchange 2023, Select Traveler Conference 2023, and Travel Alliance Partner’s TAP Dance 2023. (Lodging, transportation and membership dues are not eligible for grant funding, but can represent matching funds.)
• Attend 2023 ESTO. The US Travel Association’s Educational Seminar for Tourism Organizations is a national forum where destination marketing professionals gain critical tools to grow tourism in their area. Grant funds can assist with registration fees to attend virtually or in-person. (Lodging, transportation and membership dues are not eligible for grant funding, but can represent matching funds.)
• Purchase an ad in the 2024 Official Nebraska Travel Guide. The guide is the primary advertising response piece for Nebraska Tourism, and a cost-effective way to increase exposure to an audience interested in Nebraska travel. (Distribution 200,000 guides – guide becomes available January 2024).
• Advertise on VisitNebraska.com between May 1, 2023 and April 30, 2024:
• Leads Program – receive weekly email leads of visitors interested in your destination. Banner Ad – graphic ad inserted between search results on most pages which links to a website of your choice. 
• Participate in a Nebraska Tourism Commission sponsored social media blitz. Our ongoing Visit Nebraska Facebook campaign will spread the word to target audiences about what you have to see and do. Work with our social media specialist to select a 3-day date range to launch your promotion, get help creating your content, and sit back while we track the results and report back to you. 

The Directed-Marketing projects above are recommended by the Tourism Commission this grant cycle and will be prioritized over Non-Directed-Marketing promotions in the application-review process.

If your community or organization wishes to participate in additional promotions not listed on the previous page, you can also request funding for non-directed marketing projects this grant cycle. Be creative and innovative, tell us what marketing tools your community, event, destination or region is lacking that will help you attract more visitors. Outline your needs in your application and include how, when, why, and where you plan to implement the tools.