Best History Grants in Virginia

Schools and educational groups in Virginia planning live bluegrass ensemble presentations for students can seek mini-grants to support these programs. With a mission to support bluegrass-related education, the IBMA Foundation provides US $500 to help pay bands for history- and culture-focused assemblies that explore bluegrass origins, instruments, harmony, and its place today.

Virginia schools, nonprofits, governments, and VCA teaching artists can receive up to US $2,000 to support short-term, in-person artist residencies and workshops in Virginia. History-focused programs that use teaching artists to explore memory, personal narratives, or historical themes may be eligible for reimbursement of up to 50 percent of residency or workshop fees, with a required 15 percent cash match.

Virginia Humanities offers Community Action Grants to support local organizations in enhancing public humanities engagement through festivals and events. These grants, with a maximum funding of $1,500, aim to lower barriers for participation and encourage first-time applicants. Rolling applications are accepted, with funding decisions made every two months. Successful projects will foster dialogue and shared learning, connecting Virginians with their rich history and culture.

Virginia nonprofits, government entities, and state-recognized nonprofits can seek US $3,000 - US $5,000 to support firearms safety, shooting sports, hunting safety, and related educational programs. Virginia history organizations that teach firearms history, marksmanship traditions, or youth shooting sports may be eligible for The NRA Foundation’s charitable, educational, or sports-competition-focused support.

501(c)(3) public charities serving parts of Virginia with community, arts, or educational programs can apply for Philip L. Graham Fund’s grants, awarding US $30,000 - US $75,000 for primarily one-time projects or expenses. Eligible organizations in Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, Alexandria, Falls Church, Manassas, and Manassas Park may benefit, including those with history-focused museums or cultural initiatives.

Nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations and public schools or colleges in Virginia can apply for IBMA Foundation project grants, awarding US $1,000 - US $2,500 for bluegrass-focused arts, education, literary, or historic preservation projects. History organizations incorporating bluegrass music into interpretive or preservation work may be especially competitive.

With a mission to strengthen communities, Cameron Foundation provides Virginia 501(c)(3) organizations with project, operating, and capital grants ranging from US $10,000 - US $200,000. Eligible nonprofits serving the Tri-Cities and nearby counties can fund historic preservation, sacred landmarks, conservation, and related community revitalization efforts when most beneficiaries live within the foundation’s service area.

Nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations working on mental health and substance use disorder programs, including those in Virginia, can apply for Elevance Health Foundation’s Behavioral Health Grant to expand treatment, prevention, and early intervention services. Grants support scalable, culturally relevant initiatives that reduce risks, improve access to care, and decrease loneliness among affected individuals nationwide.

Virginia Humanities offers Opportunity Grants to support cultural nonprofits in Virginia for public humanities projects. With funding of up to $5,000, these grants are designed for projects with a shorter timeline and scope, awarded twice a year. The grants aim to encourage community engagement and storytelling, allowing organizations to implement initiatives quickly. Eligibility includes 501(c)(3) nonprofits and similar entities, while funding excludes advocacy, certain arts, and international travel.

Virginia-based 501(c)(3) nonprofits, municipalities, and federally recognized tribes can apply for Health Resources in Action’s Jeffress Trust Awards, offering US $150,000 over two years for planning collaborative, action-oriented research on health equity. Projects may analyze policies, systems, environments, or community programs, which can include historically informed studies of social and structural determinants of health in Virginia.

Virginia 501(c)(3) nonprofits planning capital projects for historic sites, cultural institutions, or related facilities can seek challenge or matching grants from the Mary Morton Parsons Foundation, typically covering up to one-third of project costs. Awards range from US $50,000 - US $500,000 and support history-focused preservation, arts, education, environment, and social services infrastructure.

Museums, libraries, archives, and historical societies in Virginia’s Rappahannock River Region can seek funding to preserve and share documentary history. Focused on historic preservation and archival records, the Community Foundation of Rappahannock River Region supports projects in Stafford, Spotsylvania, King George, Caroline, and the City of Fredericksburg that safeguard and provide access to local history.

Virginia history and cultural organizations that are 501(c)(3) nonprofits can seek project support for education, history, science, arts, and community initiatives through the Richard S. Reynolds Foundation, which funds work across the U.S. The foundation emphasizes strengthening communities and supporting future generations, so history-focused programs within broader community impact efforts may be eligible.

Virginia 501(c)(3) organizations seeking support for arts, children’s programs, or environmental initiatives can apply for grants of US $5,000 - US $20,000. Grants from Freeman Family Foundation help community-focused nonprofits, including those with history-related or educational projects that intersect with these priorities, strengthen quality of life across the state.

501(c)(3) organizations with history-related programs in Virginia can apply for the Virginia Sargeant Reynolds Foundation’s grants, which range from US $5,000 - US $150,000. Funding supports work in history alongside arts, education, environment, health, and humanity, with priority for projects connected to the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Nonprofits, public agencies, Tribal, and faith-based organizations in Virginia can seek planning support to design new AmeriCorps programs addressing education, health, economic opportunity, disaster services, environmental stewardship, or veterans’ services. With a mission to expand national service, Serve Virginia provides resources and technical assistance to develop competitive AmeriCorps State program proposals.

Nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations running food-as-medicine or nutrition programs in Virginia and nationwide can use this grant to improve clinical outcomes for people with diet-related conditions and increase access to nutritious foods. Grants from Elevance Health Foundation help evidence-based, scalable initiatives that serve populations facing high social risk and food or nutrition insecurity.

Fall 2026 Early Childhood Education Funding Cycle

Overall Early Childhood Education Program Blueprint

The Stranahan Foundation’s Early Childhood Education grant program supports efforts to improve access to high-quality early care and education for young children (birth to five), especially those from low-income families. We do this by investing in strategies that strengthen, support, and retain a high-quality, thriving early educator workforce.

The Foundation has a history of supporting professional development (PD) and learning systems through its Provider strategy (). We believe strong professional development systems are essential for building a skilled early childhood workforce and creating positive learning environments for young children.

The Fall 2026 funding cycle is available for organizations that align with this Provider strategy.

Funding Opportunity

This funding opportunity will provide up to $750,000 to support early childhood education providers in strengthening existing professional development (PD) systems. Funding is intended to improve a specific area of an established PD system—not to build a brand-new system from scratch or put the foundational elements in place.

What kind of improvements can funding support?

Organizations should focus their projects on strengthening their professional development systems. The Stranahan Foundation defines a strong professional development system as one that includes:

• Connect learning opportunities that build on one another over time.
• Use adult learning best practices.
• Align staff learning to educator competencies, credentials, career growth, or compensation.
• Provide learning experiences that are individualized, scaffolded, and responsive to educators’ needs, experience, and goals.
• Have dedicated leadership and organizational capacity to support ongoing implementation.

• Gather regular feedback from staff and families.
• Use standardized assessment and evaluation tools to understand what is working and where improvements are needed.
• Make ongoing improvements based on what is learned.
• Support reflective practice, peer learning, and collaborative inquiry among educators.

• Offer both individual and group learning opportunities, such as training, professional learning communities, coaching, and mentoring.
• Provide learning opportunities on an ongoing basis rather than in a one-and-done situation.
• Connect internal and external learning opportunities to make the best use of available resources.
• Support classroom implementation through observation, modeling, feedback, and continuous improvement cycles.

• Provide learning experiences that are practical, relevant, and easy to apply in daily work.
• Include fundamental topics such as family engagement, effective instruction, developmentally appropriate practice, and classroom management.
• Align with established standards, research, and effective practices in the early childhood field.
• Equip educators to support all learners, including multilingual learners, children with disabilities, and children impacted by trauma or adverse experiences.

Virginia history and historic preservation nonprofits serving Shenandoah County can access funding through Shenandoah Community Foundation for projects in civic affairs, education, environment, health, arts, and social welfare. 501(c)(3) organizations, including some serving the wider Shenandoah Valley, may receive US $250 - US $10,000 to strengthen community programs and address local needs.

Virginia performing arts presenters that regularly book touring artists can access funding through Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation’s Jazz Touring Network, with awards up to US $3,000 to support jazz presentations. Eligible applicants are 501(c)(3) organizations or government units in the mid-Atlantic region seeking to start, expand, or enhance jazz programming and touring performances.

Virginia 501(c)(3) nonprofits working on food, shelter, education, arts, health, community, or youth programs can access funding through the United Company Foundation. Organizations in Bristol, VA, Bristol, TN, and Southwest Virginia may be eligible for project support that strengthens local communities rather than ongoing operating budgets.

About Our Foundation

Our history, people and finances

Hampton Roads Community Foundation has a proud history. We began in 1950 as The Norfolk Foundation with total donations of $2,350. Despite the city-focused name, we were always regional -- giving scholarships and grants across southeastern Virginia to ambitious students and essential nonprofits. Over the past 75 years we have put almost $395 million into action through nonprofit grants and student scholarships awards.

Giving Together

We are pleased to introduce an opportunity for our region's small and mid-sized nonprofits to promote their work to our donors.

What is the Giving Together PRogram

The Giving Together program is a crowd-funding opportunity for our donor-advised fundholders within HRCF’s private donor portal. It allows our donor advisors to view submitted projects from a wide range of small to mid-sized nonprofit organizations during the last quarter of the year. Fundholders can make grants in any amount over $250 from their donor-advised funds to support those projects they select. Grants from participating donor-advised funds will be pooled together and distributed to the recipient organization in January. Due to space limitations, we will post 50 projects at a time. HRCF staff will select 50 projects to post initially. If a project is fully funded, it will be removed and a new one selected and posted. Your organization will be notified when your project is posted.

Virginia 501(c)(3) nonprofits and fiscally sponsored projects preserving cultural heritage or historical sites can seek up to US $300,000 for programs in Fredericksburg-area counties. The Community Foundation of Rappahannock River Region funds cultural heritage preservation alongside STEM education, community development, digital skills, sustainability, and health initiatives that benefit local residents.

Virginia nonprofits, 501(c)(3) organizations, local government agencies, and state or federally recognized American Indian tribes can receive support for history education and preservation projects in Virginia. The Virginia Historical Society’s Commonwealth History Fund backs activities like restoration, preservation, research, documentation, educational programs, digitization, and related projects that highlight significant and often underserved historical narratives.

Nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations providing domestic violence and abuse services for adults and children in Virginia’s South Hampton Roads region can apply for $5,000 - $65,000 in funding. Focused on supporting residential facilities for children, the Hampton Roads Community Foundation’s Sue Cook Winfrey Fund may benefit programs documenting or interpreting the history and impact of abuse.

Nonprofit organizations supporting arts and humanities activities or high school programs on the Virginia Peninsula can apply for Hampton Roads Community Foundation’s Mary E. and Curtis M. Chappell Jr. Fund; awards US $1,000 - US $10,000 for eligible projects. History-focused arts or humanities initiatives in Virginia may be particularly well suited.

VA 250 Grants

The VA250 Commission offers grant programs to support local commemorative events, programs, and activities. Local VA250 committees whose local governing body has passed a resolution of support are encouraged to apply. Funding for VA250 Grants is provided by the VA250 Commission. Projects should be focused on content on the American Revolution.

Applicants may apply for up to $10,000, and a 1:1 match is required. Grants will be managed as subawards through the University of Virginia.

The Commission prefers that the local committees choose one project per grant cycle to support.