Inspire Grants for Small Museums (Inspire) is a special initiative of the Museums for America grant program designed to support small museums of all disciplines in project-based efforts to serve the public through educational programs and exhibits, community partnerships, and collections stewardship activities.

The goal of the Inspire program is to build the capacity of small museums to provide museum services to their communities through supporting:

• The development of experiential learning and discovery in small museums; and
• The management and care of collections in small museums.

The primary audiences for this program are small museums, museum professionals, and the public they serve.

Small Projects will be awarded between $5,000 - $25,000, and Large Projects will be awarded between $25,001 - $75,000.

Eligibility

Eligible organizations must meet all three of the following criteria:

1. Be either a unit of State, local, or Tribal government; or a private, nonprofit organization that has tax-exempt status;
2. Be located in one of the 50 States of the United States of America, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia , or the Republic of Palau.; and
3. Be a museum that: uses a professional staff; is organized on a permanent basis for essentially educational, cultural heritage, or aesthetic purposes; owns or uses tangible objects, including living collections; cares for these objects; and exhibits these objects to the general public on a regular basis through facilities that it owns or operates.

A public or private nonprofit agency that is responsible for the operation of a museum that meets the eligibility criteria in 1, 2, and 3, may also apply on behalf of the museum.

For further details regarding eligibility, please see the full Notice of Funding Opportunity.

Match 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.

How to Apply

Applications must be submitted through the Grants.gov listing, which requires accounts for both Grants.gov and SAM.gov.

If you need help with Grants.gov, you can call 800-518-4726 or email support@grants.gov.

If you need help with SAM.gov, you can call 866-606-8220.

Contact

If you have questions, please contact the staff members listed under the objective that best fits your project.

Lifelong Learning

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.

Collections Stewardship and Access

Mark Feitl
Senior Museum Program Officer
mfeitl@imls.gov
202-653-4635

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

Deadline

Applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time on March 13, 2026.