Cultural Tourism Funding Opportunities

AIANTA collects funding opportunities that may be of interest to Indigenous or Native American tourism & hospitality enterprises looking to grow their tourism, culture, heritage, arts, agritourism or other culture and heritage programming.

Open Funding Opportunities

US Forest Service Inflation Reduction Act Forest Landowner Support: Landowner Payment Programs for Carbon Stewardship Practices

Deadline: Sep 30, 2024 

Tourism Tip: Implementation practices that provide measurable increases in carbon sequestration and storage.

USDA Forest Service Inflation Reduction Act Forest Landowner Support: Landowner Cost Share Payment Programs for Climate Mitigation and/or Forest Resilience Practices

Deadline: Sep 30, 2024 

Tourism TipDevelop strategies to access markets that will help address the climate crisis, support Indigenous Knowledge and strengthen local economies.

 Northern Border Regional Commission Timber for Transit Program

Deadline: Sep 6, 2024 

Tourism TipFeasibility or implementation of transportation infrastructure projects in ME, NH, NY and VT that use wood products to address climate-adaptive transportation improvements.

NPS Historic Preservation Fund- Annual Tribal Historic Preservation Office Grants

Deadline: July 31, 2024

Tourism Tip: Preserve historic properties and cultural traditions through the designation of Tribal Historic Preservation Offices.

ConocoPhillips SPIRIT of Conservation 2024 Request for Proposals

Deadline: July 31, 2024

Tourism Tip: Support birdwatching. Use funds to advance bird species and habitat conservation.

AXS Film Fund invites applications from creators of color in documentary filmmaking or nonfiction new media

Deadline: July 31, 2024

Tourism Tip: Use to complete their documentary project. A person of color living with a disability must be a part of the team or a key contributor to the project.

O’Reilly Automotive Foundation Inc.

Deadline: July 31, 2024

Tourism Tip: In communities with O’Reilly Auto Parts companies, create a project that addresses economic stability in your tourism programs.

NEA Our Town Grants

Deadline: August 1, 2024

Tourism Tip: Develop a placemaking project that integrates arts, culture, and design activities to strengthen communities over the long term. 

Small Business Administration Office of Native American Affairs 2024 Natep

Deadline: August 1, 2024

Tourism Tip: Provide management and technical assistance, entrepreneurial education and training in business development to Native American business communities across the country.

PEN/Phyllis Naylor Grant for Children’s and Young Adult Novelists

Deadline: August 1, 2024

Tourism Tip: Creating vibrant arts communities that are attractive to visitors. Use funds to complete and publish a children’s book.

Access Fund’s Climbing Conservation Grant Program

Deadline: August 1, 2024

Tourism TipEncourage access or enhance opportunities for climbing. Open climbing areas or mitigate climbing impacts.

EPA Community Change Grants (CCG) Program

Deadline: August 9, 2024

Tourism Tip: Address environmental and climate justice challenges through projects that reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience and build community capacity.

NEH Public Humanities Projects

Deadline: August 14, 2024

Tourism Tip: Use humanities scholarship to analyze themes in disciplines such as history, literature, ethics and art history and present the findings to the public.

 NEH Media Projects

Deadline: August 14, 2024

Tourism TipUse funds to develop, produce and distribute radio programs, podcasts, documentary films and documentary film series that engage general audiences with humanities.

USDA Broadband Technical Assistance 

Deadline: August 20, 2024

Tourism Tip: Develop broadband for your community by using technical assistance in project planning and community engagement, financial sustainability, environmental compliance and/or construction planning and engineering.

Polaris TRAILS GRANTS Program

Deadline: September 1, 2024

Tourism Tip: Use funding for off-road trail development and maintenance, safety and education initiatives and projects to increase and maintain land trail access.

NEH Climate Smart Humanities Organizations

Deadline: September 18, 2024

Tourism Tip: Use to develop a comprehensive organizational assessment that leads to strategic climate action and adaptation plans for your humanities organization, such as museums, libraries, archives, historic sites, colleges and universities

T-Mobile Hometown Grants Program

Deadline: September 30, 2024

Tourism Tip: Use this funding to build, rebuild or refresh community spaces that foster local connections in small towns.

 DOT Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program

Deadline: September 30, 2024

Tourism Tip: Use to plan activities or support construction projects that enhance community connectivity, such as access to cultural centers and visitor information locations.

America Walks: Community Change Grants  

Deadline: October 17, 2024

Tourism Tip: Use funds to create change and walking opportunities within your community.

BIA Tribal Climate Resilience Annual Awards Program

Deadline: October 18, 2024

Tourism TipAddress climate change impacts on Tribal Treaty and Trust resources, economies, regenerative agriculture and food sovereignty, conservation practices and infrastructure.

NDN Collective Community Action Fund

Deadline: October 31, 2024

Tourism Tip: Support climate disaster response efforts to climate disasters such as flooding, fires and earthquakes.

Western SARE Professional Development Program

Deadline: November 1, 2024

Tourism Tip: Engage professionals to conduct educational programs and activities that incorporate environmental, economic and social dimensions of agriculture. 

Western SARE Local Education and Demonstration (LED) 

Deadline: November 6, 2024

Tourism Tip: Use funds to demonstrate a project for further development in a tourism-based business.

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Guides & Publications

USDA Resource Guide for American Indians and Alaska Natives

The USDA recently published a Resource Guide for American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) to provide tribal leaders and tribal citizens, 1994 Land-Grant Tribal Colleges and Universities, AI/AN businesses and non-governmental organizations serving AI/AN communities with a tool for navigating USDA resources. This guide provides readers with a comprehensive summary of USDA Programs. 

Recreation Economy at USDA Economic Development Resources for Rural Communities

USDA’s Forest Service (FS), Rural Development (RD) and the National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) developed this resource guide for rural communities to identify resources that develop the recreation economy. The report forecasts that interest in outdoor recreation will continue over the next 30 years.

Resources for Rural Entrepreneurs: A Guide to Planning, Adapting, and Growing Your Business

In 2022, in collaboration with a network of federal partners, the USDA Resources for Rural Entrepreneurs guide provides resources for start-ups and already-established rural businesses. RD offers more than 40 loan, grant, and technical assistance programs to help improve the economy and quality of life in rural America. Many of these programs can also support community-based entrepreneurial planning and growth. USDA partners with community leaders and developers, local, state and Tribal governments, cooperatives, nonprofits, private organizations and a nationwide network of participating lenders skilled at building local economies.

Stronger Together, Federal funding and planning strategies designed to promote sustainable economic development in rural America

In 2022, the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development (USDA RD) published Stronger Together a joint planning resource guide to help community organizations access USDA and EDA resources to build strategies to boost economic development in rural America. The guide is separated into four key focus areas: Planning and technical assistance, Infrastructure and broadband expansion, Entrepreneurship and business assistance and Workforce development and livability.

Federal Resources for Native Arts & Cultural Activities

In 2020, the National Endowment for the Arts published the Federal Resources for Native Arts & Cultural Activities, a guide providing information to connect Native communities to resources that can sustain and invigorate arts and cultural heritage initiatives. It is a consolidation of opportunities offered by federal agencies for organizations looking for funding and other resources to support Native arts and culture activities.

Grants.gov

Grants.gov provides a unified site for interaction between grant applicants and the U.S. federal agencies that manage grant funds. The site allows applicants to search for funds by agency.

Federal Agencies

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
www.hud.gov/program_offices/public_indian_housing/ih

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)

National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)

Institute of Museum and Library Sciences (IMLS)

U.S. Department of Transportation
www.transportation.gov/grants

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

State Tourism, Arts & Economic Development Agencies

Arts.gov State and Regional Arts Councils
arts.gov/partners/state-regional

California Arts Council
arts.ca.gov/grants

California Governor’s Office of Business & Economic Development
business.ca.gov

Montana Tourism Office
marketmt.com

Nevada Arts Council: Folklife Community Grant
nvartscouncil.org/grants

New Mexico Tourism Office
newmexico.org/industry/work-together/grants

Oregon Tourrism
traveloregon.com/grants

 

Additional Resources

Community Foundations
www.cof.org/community-foundation-locator

The Council on Foundations, founded in 1949, is a nonprofit leadership association of grantmaking foundations and corporations. Use their search tool to find local funding resources.

The Grantsmanship Center
www.tgci.com

The Grantsmanship Center offers training, publications and consulting to help organizations find funding. The Center provides free access to its Funding State-by-State database listing each state’s top grantmaking foundations, community foundations, corporate giving programs and State website homepages.

Candid (formerly the Foundation Center and GuideStar)
candid.org/

Candid is an online source for grants available through private foundations, corporate foundations, and other nonprofits that accept grant proposals. It also provides research on nonprofits and guides, like the 990 Finder.