In their article, “Follow the Money?”: Funding and Digital Sustainability" (Digital Humanities Quarterly Vol 17 No.1, 2023) Jessica Otis and Roy Rosenzweig offer the following opening remarks:
"Humanities scholarship requires funding, whether for books or journals, database access or server space, research assistants or a trip to the archives, or simply a scholar's time to think and create. In the traditional book- and article-based humanistic workflows, colleges, universities, archives, special collections, publishers, and libraries have established labor and funding models that aim to support text-based research, writing, publishing, distribution, and preservation pipelines. But digital humanities (DH) projects don't fit neatly into these pipelines and digital humanists often struggle to work within these preexisting labor and funding models. While the differences between traditional and digital forms of humanities scholarship can cause funding difficulties at any stage of a DH project's lifecycle, these differences are particularly problematic when it comes to sustainability."
As we think about developing a proposal for a digital humanities project, we need to think about the types of activities we want to fund, who the work is designed for, and what the final products will be. The list of funding opportunities appearing on this page is not exhaustive yet it does provide a useful array of funding opportunities, as a start.
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency created in 1965. It is one of the largest funders of humanities programs in the United States. The NEH Office of Digital Humanities (ODH) offers grant programs that fund project teams experimenting with digital technologies to develop new methodologies for humanities research, teaching and learning, public engagement, and scholarly communications.
As a first step, go to comprehensive information and tips for funding available at Resources for Applicants to the NEH Office of Digital Humanities. Among the many resources you will find: What Grant Program Fits my Digital Project? Start-up Grants; as well as Application Tips.
California Humanities is an independent nonprofit organization and partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. It promotes the humanities – focused on ideas, conversation and learning – as relevant, meaningful ways to understand the human condition and connect us to each other in order to help strengthen California. California Humanities has provided grants and programs across the state since 1975.
For a listing of Digital Humanities grants awarded since 1996 search the site, key words: Digital Humanities. See also: Programs and Initiatives; Grant Deadlines.
Andrew Mellon Foundation. The Foundation makes grants in four core program areas—Higher Learning, Public Knowledge, Arts and Culture, and Humanities in Place—and through its signature Presidential Initiatives. Search Mellon's Database of Grants; See Application Process; for a listing of Digital Humanities Grants use the Key word search: Digital Humanities.
Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR): Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives: Amplifying Unheard Voices. A grant competition administered by CLIR for digitizing rare and unique content stewarded by collecting organizations in the US and Canada. / Launched in 2021, the program is designed to support efforts to digitize materials that deepen public understanding of the histories of people of color and other communities and populations whose work, experiences, and perspectives have been insufficiently recognized or unattended.
The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Digital Extension Grants. These grants are designed to advance humanistic scholarship by enhancing established digital projects, extending their reach to new communities of users, and supporting teams of scholars at all career stages as they participate in digital research. / This program aims to promote inclusion and sustainability by extending the opportunity to participate in the digital transformation of humanistic inquiry to a greater number of humanities scholars. ACLS Digital Extension Grants support projects that have advanced beyond the start-up phase of development. See Fellowships and Grants Programs.
The Digital Humanities Summer Institute (DHSI). DHSI is an ideal environment for discussing, learning, and building skills in the digital humanities: intensive seminars, colloquium presentations, affiliated events, and much more. See: Scholarships and Bursaries: an annual digital humanities training program held in June at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. DHSI now attracts over 600 participants for two weeks of courses, forum discussions, paper sessions, and unconferences. / These scholarships are open to all and cover course registration costs with the exception of a non-refundable administration fee.
The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities (IATH). IATH is a research unit of the University of Virginia established by the University of Virginia in 1992. Our goal is to explore and develop information technology as a tool for scholarly humanities research. To that end, we provide our Fellows with consulting, technical support, applications development, and networked publishing facilities. We also cultivate partnerships and participate in humanities computing initiatives with libraries, publishers, information technology companies, scholarly organizations, and other groups residing at the intersection of computers and cultural heritage. See Fellowships Guidelines.
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) seeks to drive openness, cultivate public participation, and strengthen the nation’s democracy through equitable public access to high-value government records. NARA offers the following grants:
Archival Projects - For projects that ensure online public discovery and use of historical records collections.
Public Engagement with Historical Records - For projects that encourage public engagement with historical records.
Publishing Historical Records in Collaborative Digital Editions - For projects to publish documentary editions of historical records. This program has two application cycles.
Major Collaborative Archival Initiatives - For collaborative projects that will significantly improve public discovery and use of major historical records collections.
Archives Collaboratives - For projects to plan and develop a working collaborative designed to enhance the capacity of small and diverse organizations with historical records collections.
National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) of the National Archives - Planning Grants for Collaborative Digital Editions in African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, and Native American History and Ethnic Studies.
For grant deadlines see The National Archives’ Grant Opportunities page.