Deadline: November 15, 2024*
Application: The FY 2025 Notice of Funding Opportunity is not yet available. The FY 2024 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) (PDF, 637KB) is available for reference.
Grant Amount: $5,000–$75,000
Grant Period: One to two years
Cost Share Requirement: If your total request for federal funding is between $5,000 and $25,000, then no cost share is required. If your request for federal funding is between $25,001 and $75,000, you must provide funds from non-federal sources in an amount that is equal to or greater than the amount of your IMLS request.

Program Overview:
Inspire! Grants for Small Museums is a special initiative of the Museums for America program. It is designed to support small museums of all disciplines in project-based efforts to serve the public through exhibitions, educational/interpretive programs, digital learning resources, policy development and institutional planning, technology enhancements, professional development, community outreach, audience development, and/or collections management, curation, care, and conservation. Inspire! has three project categories:

  • Lifelong Learning
  • Institutional Capacity
  • Collections Stewardship and Access

Program Contacts:
If you have questions, please contact any of the staff members listed under the category that best fits your project.

Lifelong Learning

Institutional Capacity

Collections Stewardship and Access

Reagan Moore
Senior Museum Program Officer
rmoore@imls.gov
202-653-4637

To schedule a time to talk to Reagan Moore about Lifelong Learning, click here.

Reagan Moore
Senior Museum Program Officer
rmoore@imls.gov
202-653-4637

To schedule a time to talk to Reagan Moore about Institutional Capacity, click here.

Mark Isaksen
Supervisory Grants Management Specialist
misaksen@imls.gov
202-653-4667

To schedule a time to talk to Mark Isaksen about Collections Stewardship and Access, click here.

Webinars:
The FY 2024 webinars are available for reference.

Getting Started with IMLS Museum Grants for FY 2024 is a general presentation on IMLS museum grant programs. We recommend that you view this presentation for an overview before considering a specific grant program. Click here to access the recording or to read the transcript.

FY 2024 Inspire! Grants for Small Museums provides detailed information about the goal of this specific grant program and how to apply. Click here to access the recording or to read the transcript.

To view all archived webinars, please click here.

*All grant programs are subject to the availability of funds and IMLS discretion. Deadlines are tentative.