Museums Empowered (ME)

Museums Empowered (ME) is sponsored by Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Museums Empowered is a special initiative of the Museums for America grant program. It supports projects that use the transformative power of professional development and training to generate systemic change within museums of all types and sizes.

Museums Empowered | Institute of Museum and Library Services Deadline: November 13, 2026* Application Instructions: The FY 2027 Notice of Funding Opportunity is not yet available. The FY 2026 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) (PDF, 884KB) is available for reference.

Grant Amount: $5,000–$350,000 Grant Period: One to three years Cost Share Requirement: You must provide funds from non-federal sources in an amount that is equal to or greater than the amount of your IMLS request. Museums Empowered (ME) is a special initiative of the Museums for America grant program that supports projects that use professional development and training to generate change and growth within museums of all types and sizes.

The goals of this program are to support staff learning and training in one of three areas: to provide museum staff with the skills to integrate digital technology into museum operations; strengthen the ability of museum staff to use evaluation as a tool to shape museum programs and improve outcomes; and strengthen and support museum staff as the essential part of a resilient organizational culture.

Interested in learning more about this grant program? Watch the informational video (below) for specific details about this grant program and the process of preparing an application. Schedule a counseling call with a program officer.

Find an available time on the calendar using the link below. Supervisory Grants Management Specialist To schedule a time to talk to Mark Isaksen, click here . The FY 2026 pre-recorded webinars are available for reference: Getting Started With IMLS Museum Grants for FY 2026 is a general presentation on IMLS museum grant programs.

We recommend that you view this presentation for an overview before considering a specific grant program. Click here to access the recording or to read the transcript. Preparing a Budget and Budget Justification provides information to help you prepare these two required parts of the grant application – the IMLS Budget Form and the Budget Justification.

The information in this video supports the instructions in the Notices of Funding Opportunity for each grant program. Click Here to access the recording or to read the transcript. *All grant programs are subject to the availability of funds and IMLS discretion.

Deadlines are tentative. In 2024, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) awarded $266. 7 million through grantmaking, research and policy development, to advance, support, and empower America's museums, libraries, and related organizations.

Advance | Support | Empower