October 5, 2024

The humanities help to engage, inform, and inspire us all in ways that broaden understanding of the complex world in which we live. To help ensure that all South Dakotans share in these benefits, the South Dakota Humanities Council awards federal grant funding annually,providing non-profit organizations and tax-exempt government agencies with funds to develop and implement meaningful humanities programming in communities across our state. 
 
The next major grant deadline is October 15, 2024, for programs that take place after December 1, 2024.The current grant funding limit is $10,000. If you have an exceptional humanities program that requires funding above that level, please contact SDHC. 

What are the humanities? Broadly, humanities refer to the study of human society and culture and include academic disciplines such as history, sociology, philosophy, language arts, foreign languages, and the history, criticism and theory of the arts, both performing arts (e.g., theater, music, dance) and visual arts (e.g., painting, sculpture, photography).

Programs can come in a variety of formats, including workshops, presentations, reading/discussion events, exhibits, media projects and more. Programs should be free, open to the public, and designed to attract a diverse audience. All applications must include a public discussion event and the active participation of a humanities scholar.

Successful applicants will advance SDHC’s mission, “to celebrate literature, promote civil conversation, and tell the stories that define our state,” through projects in three categories: discussion, media, and research.

1. Discussion – These programs include opportunities to engage the public with a scholar or scholars during one or more public events such as conferences, festivals, lectures, and invited speaker presentations.

• Media – These projects require engaging the public with a scholar or scholars during one or more public events related to the creation of a media project. Media projects might include, but are not limited to, humanities-related films, videos, scripts, podcasts, exhibits, photography, and publications such as books or e-books. While we support these types of projects, SDHC will not fund publication or production costs (including equipment rental related to production) for them. We will, however, support pre-production research, the public event, and other expenses as indicated on the budget form.

• Research – These programs encourage scholarly research in the humanities, especially topics relevant to South Dakota culture and heritage, and include one or more public presentations of the research by the scholar(s).

To prepare your grant application, please visit the Grants page on the SDHC website. There, you will find updated FY25 Grant Guidelines with updated Media grant information,General Grant Requirements, a grant application template, a grant writing video, and other application instructions. Keep in mind that, to apply, the sponsoring organization must not have any currently open grant with the South Dakota Humanities Council.

UEI REQUIREMENT: As of April 4, 2022, all recipients of federal money must register for a Unique Entity ID (UEI) through the SAM.gov website. SDHC grant applicants are required to have a UEI and be actively registered in SAM.

Please contact Melinda Berdanier, SDHC Grants Coordinator, at melinda@sdhumanities.org or (605) 688-4530, to ask questions and receive guidance. 

Learn more about humanities programming in South Dakota by signing up for SDHC e-Updates!