THRIVE General Operating Support Grants

THRIVE General Operating Support Grants is sponsored by Rhode Island Humanities. Provides general operating support to small cultural heritage organizations and local historical and preservation societies in Rhode Island.

RI Humanities will announce the third cycle of THRIVE general operating support grant award recipients in January 2026, check our Recent Grants page for details. THRIVE provides funding for small cultural heritage organizations and local historical and preservation societies that support and strengthen Rhode Island’s many diverse, dynamic communities.

This program is funded thanks to an allocation and legislative grant from the State of Rhode Island. To download a PDF of the 2025 FAQs, click here . Eligibility, Funding Priorities, and Use of Funds: Who is eligible to apply?

To be eligible for THRIVE funds, organizations must: Be located in Rhode Island and primarily serve Rhode Island residents and visitors; Be a nonprofit registered with the State of Rhode Island (federal tax-exemption not required); Meet the definition of one of the two types of humanities organizations outlined below, as determined by organizational mission and programmatic activities: Cultural heritage organization: an organization whose mission and programs include a focus on the preservation, perpetuation, and promotion of heritage, histories, and/or cultural practices and traditions representative of a particular culture and/or people.

Local historical and/or preservation society: an organization whose mission and programs are dedicated to the preservation, perpetuation, and promotion of the history and culture of a particular place. Have projected income in your current fiscal year of $150,000/year or less.

Have organizational leadership (e.g. Board, staff, or other leadership roles) that meaningfully reflects the communities served by the organization, as defined by the organization. Individuals, for-profit organizations, foreign entities, K-12 schools, institutions of higher education, state and local governmental entities, and non-profits that do not fit the above criteria are NOT eligible for this grant opportunity.

Participation in any other RI Humanities grantmaking program will not affect eligibility or new/return applicant status for the THRIVE program. Fiscal sponsorship is not accepted for this program. What are the funding priorities?

How will funding decisions be made? The application is open to any organization that fits the program’s eligibility requirements (see Who Is Eligible to Apply? ).

The program accepts applications from both applicants who have not previously applied to the THRIVE program—known as new applicants—and applicants who have previously applied to the THRIVE program—known as return applicants. Previous applications to RI Humanities outside of the THRIVE program do not affect new/return applicant status for the program.

RI Humanities will grant THRIVE awards based solely on eligibility in relation to the funds available. Following the application deadline, RI Humanities staff will review applications for eligibility.

If there are more eligible applicants than resources available, then funding will be distributed based on the following order of priority (updated for the FY26 cycle): Return applicants whose previous THRIVE application did not receive funding; New applicants, with priority given to: A. Organizations with the smallest projected income for the current fiscal year. B.

Organizations in municipalities that are not otherwise receiving funding in this grant cycle, or if that criteria is not met, organizations in municipalities that did not receive funding in earlier grant cycles. Return applicants whose previous THRIVE application(s) did receive funding, with priority given to: A. Organizations with the smallest projected income for the current fiscal year.

B. Organizations in municipalities that are not otherwise receiving funding in this grant cycle, or if that criteria is not met, organizations in municipalities that did not receive funding in earlier grant cycles. What can I use this grant award for?

THRIVE funds may be used for the operational costs of the organization, including: Program supplies and materials. Website and database development and maintenance. Marketing and communications.

Minor facilities repairs and/or improvements. Physical and digital accessibility improvements. If your organization has a question about a possible THRIVE expense not included in the categories above, please contact us at grants@rihumanities.

org. There is no cost-share/cash-match requirement for this grant opportunity. What can’t I use this grant award for?

Awardees who receive a grant through this program may NOT use the general operating support funds for the following: Expenses unrelated to the operations of the grantee organization. Purchase of alcoholic beverages. Purchase of firearms, guns, and/or explosives.

Purchase of land and/or construction of facilities. Purchase of gambling equipment or anything related to gambling. Competitive regranting, prizes, or awards.

Donation or loans to other individuals or organizations. Placement of funds in the custody of any individual. Pre-award costs prior to December 12, 2025.

Promotion of a particular political, religious, or ideological point of view; advocacy of a particular program of social or political action; support of specific public policies or legislation; lobbying; political activities. Transportation of voters or prospective voters to polling places. Any fundraising or for-profit activities.

Payment for entertainment or amusement activities (subject to approval). Activities which are part of a graduate or undergraduate degree program, or for which academic credit is received. What is the timeline for making decisions and for the submission of final reports for awardees?

Applicants will be informed of grant decisions by Friday, December 12, 2025 and funds will be disbursed to grantees in January 2026 . Awardees must conclude their grant-funded activities by Tuesday, June 30, 2026 . All awardees will be responsible for completing a final report for their grant.

There will be one required written final report due on Wednesday, September 30, 2026 , through the RI Humanities grants portal, and no other reporting requirements. The report will be brief and focused on assessing the impact of the award and ongoing grantee needs. Where did the THRIVE general operating support program come from?

RI Humanities is an independent nonprofit founded in 1973 as Rhode Island’s state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), a federal agency. Over the last 52 years, we have awarded over $10 million in federal funds through over 2,000 grants for public humanities projects to seed, support, and strengthen public history, cultural heritage, civic education, and community engagement by and for all Rhode Islanders.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, nonprofits across the country experienced a surge in public demand for their services and simultaneously, an enormous reduction in their income.

As part of the national pandemic response, RI Humanities administered over $900,000 in federal relief funds through multiple grants, including working in collaboration with our colleagues at the RI State Council on the Arts to develop more equitable, accessible, and responsive grantmaking models. The needs that the COVID-19 pandemic amplified did not begin with the pandemic, nor have they ended.

With the insights gained from these experiences, RI Humanities pursued state funding for a regular general operating support program for the humanities sector. In 2024 and again in 2025, the State of Rhode Island included $100,000 in the State Budget for grants to humanities organizations.

In 2025, thanks to Speaker Joe Shekarchi, Representative Mary Ann Shallcross Smith, and Co-Sponsors, we also received an additional $20,000 State Legislative Grant. With these funds, we developed the THRIVE general operating support program, which has supported 39 organizations to date. For information on past THRIVE grant recipients, visit the Recent Grants page .

We are grateful to the State of Rhode Island for including $100,000 in the 2026 State Budget and awarding a $20,000 State Legislative Grant for the third cycle of the THRIVE program. We thank the Rhode Island Department of State for their support of and partnership on this program, as well as Speaker Shekarchi, Representative Shallcross Smith, and Co-Sponsors.

We are proud that our state government has taken this historic step toward a long-term investment in one of Rhode Island’s most important assets—our cultural heritage and our history—and thrilled for the opportunity to help the state’s humanities sector thrive. Grant Archive Digital Library Want to be the first to hear about all the humanities related news and updates? Get on the list!

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