Grants from National Trust Preservation Funds (NTPF) are intended to encourage preservation at the local level by supporting on-going preservation work and by providing seed money for preservation projects. These grants help stimulate public discussion, enable local groups to gain the technical expertise needed for preservation projects, introduce the public to preservation concepts and techniques, and encourage financial participation by the private sector. A small grant at the right time can go a long way and is often the catalyst that inspires a community to take action on a preservation project. Grants generally start at $2,500 and range up to $5,000.
For the June 1, 2023 grant round, the National Trust Preservation Funds grant program has dedicated funding to award in the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C.
If your project is located in a state not listed above, we encourage you to contact us at grants@savingplaces.org to discuss other National Trust grant opportunities that might be available.
There are three deadlines per year in February, June, and October. The selection process is very competitive. The next deadline for this program will be June 1, 2023. The application becomes available in our online grants application portal about 6-8 weeks prior to the deadline. The review process is generally completed within ten weeks of the application deadline, and applicants are notified via email once the review process is complete.
Applicants must be either a public agency, 501(c) (3), or other nonprofit organization to be considered eligible. Applicants that have received previous National Trust financial assistance are eligible provided that all grant requirements are current.
No more than three grants will be awarded in any two-year period to a single grantee. Only one grant will be awarded per organization in any grant round. Only one grant will be awarded for a particular project phase.
Only Organizational Level Preservation Leadership Forum Members, Main Street America Community Members, and Main Street America General Members are eligible to receive funding from the National Trust Preservation Fund. Organizations do not need to have an active membership to apply for a grant, but selected grantees will be required to become members prior to the release of funds. Your membership status will be verified by our grants office once award decisions have been made. If you have questions about your membership status, please email members@savingplaces.org.
Applicants must be capable of matching the grant amount on a one-to-one basis. Both cash and in-kind donations count toward the one-to-one required match.
The required match can come from private or public sources, from income earned from registration fees or sales, or from fundraising activities. In-kind donations of labor, materials or services will also be considered eligible for meeting the matching requirement. Matching funds must be used to fund eligible expenses listed below. Other funding from the National Trust may not be used to match an NTPF grant.
National Trust Preservation Fund grants are awarded for planning activities and education efforts focused on preservation. Grant funds can be used to launch new initiatives or to provide additional support to on-going efforts.
Planning: Supporting existing staff (nonprofit applicants only) or obtaining professional expertise in areas such as architecture, archaeology, engineering, preservation planning, land-use planning, and law. Eligible planning activities include, but are not limited to:
Education and Outreach: Support for preservation education activities aimed at the public. The National Trust is particularly interested in programs aimed at reaching new audiences. Funding will be provided to projects that employ innovative techniques and formats aimed at introducing new audiences to the preservation movement, whether that be through education programming or conference sessions.
Grant recipients will be selected by considering, among other points, the following criteria:
Through the National Trust Preservation Funds grant program, the National Trust has very limited emergency/intervention funding available for which we accept inquiries on a rolling basis. Funding is awarded in emergency situations when immediate and unanticipated work is needed to save a historic property or site, such as when a fire or other natural disaster strikes or if a building is immediately threatened with demolition. Funding follows the same guidelines outlined on this page, however, a match is not required. If you have an emergency project that fits this description, please contact our Grants Office at grants@savingplaces.org and share a brief description of the historic property or site, the nature of the emergency, and the expected use of funds. A representative from our Grants Office will follow up to share if we have funding available in your geographic area, if your project qualifies for this type of funding, and how to submit a formal application.
You will need the following items as part of your Preservation Funds application:
National Trust grants staff can provide helpful guidance for the application process if you have questions. If you have specific questions about your project's eligibility, please contact our grants staff.
Fill out an application for the National Trust Preservation Funds here. (Please note: you will be taken to our grants application system where you will need to create a user profile for your organization. This is a separate login than your National Trust login.) If you have questions please email us.
Please add administrator@grantinterface.com to your address book to ensure you receive email communications sent from our grants application system about your application.
Deadline 6-1-2023